Ballarat needs a Mental Health and Wellbeing Local. The case is clear: more people in our community need support, the current system is under pressure, and too many people are ending up in emergency departments because there is no better front door for care.
This is not a criticism of the committed people working every day on the front line of mental health support and service delivery. They are doing extraordinary work under immense pressure. But goodwill and commitment cannot fill a structural gap in our region’s mental health system.
That gap can be filled in part with a fully resourced Mental Health and Wellbeing Local and we hear this consistently from front-line service providers, carers, clinicians, healthcare professionals and community leaders.
We are the only regional centre in Victoria without one, despite the recommendations of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
A Mental Health and Wellbeing Local would provide a welcoming, public and community-based service for prevention, early intervention and coordinated care. People could receive support and a mental health assessment from skilled clinicians, with further care coordinated through GPs and specialist services where needed.
It would also ease pressure on emergency departments. While our EDs do outstanding work, they are not the right place for someone who needs early support, family support, coordinated care and ongoing monitoring before a situation becomes a crisis.
As Sean Duffy, CEO of Ballarat Community Health, has said: “We cannot build our way out of the mental health challenge by adding capacity at the crisis end of the system while leaving gaps at the front door.” A Mental Health and Wellbeing Local is that front door for Ballarat.
Mental health and wellbeing is not only a health issue. It affects productivity and workforce participation, hospitals, family violence, police resourcing and community safety. Investing earlier is better for individuals, families and the whole community.
A stronger focus on prevention, respect, support and early intervention will see our community better placed to thrive, and a crucial measure of ‘thriving’ is how we treat all in our community.
This is why Committee for Ballarat has made a submission to the State Government and the Opposition ahead of the November 2026 State election, seeking a commitment to fund and fully support a Mental Health and Wellbeing Local for Ballarat.
Thank you to those who continue to lead this issue. Dale Fraser, CEO of Grampians Health; Sean Duffy, CEO of Ballarat Community Health; Dr Mary Hollick from Compassionate Ballarat; and Emily Sweet, Managing Editor of the Ballarat Courier, your leadership is enormous and has kept this issue firmly on the agenda as an election issue.