Labor’s decision to fund just 10 Hospital-in-the-Home mental health beds in Melbourne’s west shows just how low a priority mental health and suicide prevention is for this government.
It also serves as a reminder of how the $15 billion lost to CFMEU corruption could have assisted Victorians in need of mental health and suicide prevention support.
Five years after the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System handed down its final report, the sad reality is access to mental health support in Victoria is getting worse under Labor.
Many of the reforms proposed by the Royal Commission remain incomplete or abandoned by Labor, while demand for services continues to rise.
“Across Victoria, people presenting to emergency departments are now waiting around seven hours on average, with over half these people forced to wait well beyond the government’s own eight-hour target for transfer to a mental health bed,” Shadow Minister for Mental Health, Emma Kealy said.
“In some cases, patients are waiting in emergency departments for days before receiving appropriate care.
“Ten Hospital-in-the-Home mental health beds will not fix our broken mental health system, where families are losing hope when it comes to finding help for their loved ones.”
Sadly, suicides in Victoria have increased significantly since the Royal Commission’s final report was tabled. Data from the Coroner’s Court of Victoria shows 782 Victorians took their own lives in 2025 – 118 more than in 2021.
100 Victorians under the age of 25 took their own life in 2025. In 2022, that number was 78.
“These numbers are incredibly hard to read but must not be shied away from. Behind every number is a family, a group of friends, and a community deeply affected by that person’s passing,” Ms Kealy said.
“Ten Hospital-in-the-Home mental health beds in Melbourne’s west will not suffice. Too many Victorians living with acute mental health conditions will continue to miss out.
“The Allan Labor Government must make Victoria’s mental health and suicide prevention systems its number one priority. Not tomorrow, not next week, now.”