Accessibility and Quality of Mental Health Services in Rural and Remote Australia Inquiry Snapshot - July 2018
YACSA developed two surveys to gauge the experience of rural and remote young people accessing mental health services to inform our response to the Senate Inquiry into the accessibility and quality of mental health services in rural and remote Australia. One survey was developed for the youth sector and youth sector networks and one for young people in the six local government regions of Eyre Peninsula, Central region, Southern and Hills, Murray Mallee, South East and the Outback.
Key themes
There is a shortage of accessible and affordable mental health services in rural and remote South Australia, particularly those targeted at young people.
While there are mental health services accessible in some regions, the vastness of rural and remote South Australia means there are significant geographical barriers for young people to access services.
Both federal and state governments need to focus resources on greater service provision in rural and remote South Australia to ensure that young people have access to timely, appropriate and affordable mental health services when they need it.