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Speaker 1: Now there are urgent calls for more support for Territorians

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Speaker 1: with severe mental illness, as figures reveal an alarming sixty

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Speaker 1: eight percent of people, that's nearly seven out of ten

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Speaker 1: are missing out on any kind of support in the community.

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Speaker 1: That is according to the Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia,

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Speaker 1: which is today launching a national campaign urging governments to act.

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Speaker 1: The CEO, Tony Stevenson, joins me on the line to

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Speaker 1: shed some more light on the situation. Good Morning, Tony,

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Speaker 1: Good morning Katie, Tony. What impact is the lack of

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Speaker 1: support having on Territorians with severe mental illness?

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Speaker 2: Look, it means that firstly, people with severe mental illness

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Speaker 2: are at severe risk of a whole range of impacts.

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Speaker 2: Now it could be in terms of homelessness, even ending

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Speaker 2: up in prison, spending long periods of time in hospital.

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Speaker 2: There are also significant physical health conditions as well that

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Speaker 2: arise mostly from the side effects of medication. But people

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Speaker 2: in the territory with severe and complex mental illness are

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Speaker 2: likely to be dying twenty years younger than the general

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Speaker 2: population and at risk of all of those other conditions

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Speaker 2: that are outlined.

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Speaker 1: Toddy, are you able to sort of quantify how many

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Speaker 1: Territorians are missing out on the support that they need.

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Speaker 2: Yes, so I am able to talk to a report

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Speaker 2: that's just been released in the last few weeks. The

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory government, with the other states and territories and

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Speaker 2: the federal government jointly commissioned this report to understand what

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Speaker 2: the unmet need is across the country. So for the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory, that's about four and a half thousand people

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Speaker 2: with severe and complex mental illness missing out, about another

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Speaker 2: three and half thousand people with less severe mental health conditions.

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Speaker 2: So all up, you know, around about eight thousand people

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Speaker 2: missing out on the support that they need in the

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Speaker 2: community across the Northern Territory.

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Speaker 1: They are quite large numbers, you know, when you think

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Speaker 1: about the kind of support that might be required. And

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Speaker 1: I know I've heard from parents at different times who

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Speaker 1: aren't able to get their young people in for the

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Speaker 1: support that they need as well. I mean, it's clear

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Speaker 1: it's an issue right across the board. But in terms

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Speaker 1: of our youth and our young people being able to

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Speaker 1: get support, is that something that you are also hearing

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Speaker 1: as a worry?

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Speaker 2: Oh? Yes, I mean the figures that I've mentioned include

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Speaker 2: the population from twelve to sixty four, so it includes

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Speaker 2: young people as well, of course, and we do acknowledge

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Speaker 2: the governments have invested a lot in different areas of

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Speaker 2: mental health, and Headspace is an example of that, which

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Speaker 2: is a program which is specifically targeted towards young people,

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Speaker 2: but you know, for conditions such as schizophrenia or psychosis

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Speaker 2: that would normally start to appear around late adolescents early adulthood.

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Speaker 2: These are the types of conditions that we believe are

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Speaker 2: not being adequately addressed, and we are calling on the

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Speaker 2: Northern Territory government to work collaboratively with the federal government

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Speaker 2: for all of the states and territories and the federal

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Speaker 2: government together to start investing in psychosocial support services in

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Speaker 2: the community to keep people well and safe and thriving

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Speaker 2: in their local communities.

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Speaker 1: Tony, that is actually something that I've heard directly from

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Speaker 1: a parent about that exact area that you're talking about.

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Speaker 1: I mean, to me, it's a real worry that then

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Speaker 1: if a parent, you know, has got a young adult,

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Speaker 1: they're not able to get that support, They're not able

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Speaker 1: to get them into to you know, to get the

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Speaker 1: support that is required. I mean, you know, like it's

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Speaker 1: potentially leading that young adult on to a life of

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Speaker 1: difficulty if you're not able to get that support early on.

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Speaker 2: Absolutely, the support has to be there as soon as

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Speaker 2: these issues start to become evident, because you know, it

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Speaker 2: is a critical time for young people. It could be

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Speaker 2: you know, while they're finishing high school or university or

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Speaker 2: starting to work. And we find that if these conditions

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Speaker 2: are left unsupported, and you know, again we are talking

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Speaker 2: about you know, severe mental illness, it means that people

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Speaker 2: you know, may have rarely worked in their lifetime that

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Speaker 2: puts them under enormous pressure in terms of poverty, homelessness,

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Speaker 2: social isolation, and all of the physical health conditions that

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Speaker 2: go along with all of that as well. You know,

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Speaker 2: we can do a lot better for people. We know

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Speaker 2: that support through community organizations such as MIVA NT and

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Speaker 2: other organizations working across the lordern territory, that support can

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Speaker 2: actually work. It can get people connected with their families

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Speaker 2: to have a safe roof over their head, to live independently,

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Speaker 2: to live well as long as they can, to reduce

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Speaker 2: those times that people need to spend in hospital.

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Speaker 1: Tony, what else do we need to see here in

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory from your perspective, you know, to ensure

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Speaker 1: that people are getting the support that they require.

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Speaker 2: We need to ensure that local communities are involved in

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Speaker 2: advising governments about the actual gaps that are occurring in

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Speaker 2: the local communities because you know, communities have different needs.

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Speaker 2: They have, you know, a different set of circumstances and

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Speaker 2: different combination of services that may be operating in those communities.

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Speaker 2: So that's the first place to start across the Northern

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Speaker 2: Territory is actually to work locally with local communities, people

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Speaker 2: living with mental health conditions and their families to understand

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Speaker 2: what the best local solution is needed in those different communities.

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Speaker 1: Well, Mental Illness Fellowship of Australia CEO Tony Stevenson really

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Speaker 1: appreciate your time this morning. Thanks so much for having

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Speaker 1: a chat with me.

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Speaker 2: Thank you, Katie. Well appreciate your support.

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Speaker 1: Thank you.