THE NSW Government has announced their economic roadmap with mental health as a top priority.

Investing a record $130 million, the Government plans to provide access to support for those who have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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The funding boost will provide more appointments for psychology and psychiatry services, address the sharp rise in eating disorders and self-harm presentations, free up more mental health beds and launch the biggest suicide prevention training program ever undertaken.

Minister for Mental Health Bronnie Taylor said the new funding will provide public access to private psychiatrists, psychologists and mental health beds as well as training 275,000 people in the community to become mental health first aiders.

“We want NSW to be a whole state of mental health champions, which is why we’re launching a state-wide community training blitz to make sure help is always close at hand, from the schoolyard to the sports club and beyond,” Mrs Taylor said.

This announcement will help locals in the area access private psychologists and psychiatrists and will support youth through an additional 55,000 services in local headspace centres including Cessnock, Maitland and Newcastle.

Alongside this, eighteen FTE Aboriginal Care Navigators and eighteen FTE Aboriginal Peer Workers will be employed to support Aboriginal Australians access appropriate mental health and suicide prevention services.

Five million dollars will be directed to funding a local grants program for community wellbeing events that support the greater community access to mental health and wellbeing activities.

“This is all about fast-tracking access to boosted services to support people doing it tough right now as well as preventing the emergence of mental health issues in the future.

“Our focus over the next two years will be on supporting our young people and families, building system capacity to meet demand and supporting our communities to lead the recovery,” Mrs Taylor said.

By Tara CAMPBELL