Talk is cheap

Ignoring three years of warnings and 18 months of its own talkfests, the Federal Government cannot hide from the mental health crisis on its watch. Assistant Health Minister Rebecca White lauding a government Forum set up in December ('Private health insurers cop flak over clinic', The Mercury 25/10/25), is a bit rich.

The government's agenda identified Mental Health, Maternity, and Regional Health as "priorities for short-term solutions". The Federal Health Department advised that short-term meant six months. That deadline lapsed in June.

This process follows a previous six-month government Roundtable from May 2024. That's 18 months of talking without any government action.
Forcing health insurers to pay their way and easing restrictions on psychiatrists from working in private hospitals was a no-brainer three years ago. Still we wait.

Brisbane's renowned acute psychiatric facility Toowong Private Hospital closed in June, only thanks to the Tasmanian Government has The Hobart Clinic avoided the same fate.

We know of another eight psychiatric hospitals close to collapse. That's on top of 10 mental health facilities that closed in the last two years. The Albanese Government's lack of urgency for a deepening emergency it says it recognises, is baffling.

Brett Heffernan, CEO, Australian Private Hospitals Association. Published in The Mercury newspaper on 29 October 2025.

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