Edmund Rice Justice Bulletin

One little reported comment during the recent election campaign was the frank admission by the Federal Treasurer Peter Costello that Australia was failing in its care of the mentally ill. Many subscribers to this bulletin are students who have had experience as a volunteer on a St Vincent de Paul Soup Van as part of a ministry retreat. That experience certainly raises questions about how we as a society care for those who suffer from mental illness.

Responding to the Treasurer's statement the CEO of Catholic Health Australia Francis Sullivan commented "On a daily basis Australians see the victims of this policy failure: homeless people isolated from services, exhausted families and carers, frustrated health professionals and young people facing the future with despair," he said. "For too long complacency and inertia have held back real investment in mental health services and in turn have denied people in dire need of assistance."

For more information about an issue that directly affects an estimated one in five Australians visit the website of the Mental Illness Fellowship of Victoria