Report on Government Services 2026

PART E, SECTION 13: RELEASED ON 5 FEBRUARY 2026

Performance – linked to Objectives

Outputs

Equity – Access

• Mental health service use by selected equity groups – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete

Effectiveness – Access

• Timely access to mental health care – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Affordability of mental health care – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Mental health service use estimates – no data reported and/or no measures yet developed

Effectiveness – Appropriateness

• Primary mental health care for children and young people – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Consumer and carer involvement in decision making – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete

Effectiveness – Quality – Safety

• Services reviewed against the National Standards – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete
• Adverse events – most recent data for at least one measure is comparable and complete

Effectiveness – Quality – Responsiveness

• Consumer and carer experiences of mental health services – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete

Effectiveness – Quality – Continuity

• Community follow‑up after psychiatric admission/hospitalisation – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete
• Readmission to hospital within 28 days of discharge – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete

Effectiveness – Sustainability

• Workforce sustainability – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

Efficiency

• Cost of care – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete

Outcomes

• Prevalence of mental illness – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Mortality due to suicide – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Physical health outcomes of people with mental illness – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Social and economic inclusion of people with mental illness – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete
• Mental health outcomes of consumers of specialised public mental health services – most recent data for all measures is either not comparable and/or not complete
• Stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with mental health problems or mental illness – most recent data for all measures is comparable and complete

A description of the comparability and completeness is provided under the Indicator results tab for each measure.

‘Mental health service use by selected equity groups’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services in an equitable manner.

‘Mental health service use by selected equity groups’ is defined by two measures:

• the proportion of the population in a selected equity group using the service, compared to the proportion of the population outside the selected equity group, for the following services:
  • state and territory governments’ specialised public mental health services
  • Medicare/DVA subsidised mental health services.

The selected equity groups reported are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, people from outer regional, remote and very remote locations and people residing in low socio-economic areas (Socio-Economic Indexes for Areas (SEIFA) quintiles 1 and 2).

Results for this indicator should be interpreted with caution. Variation in use could be due to differences in access or the prevalence of mental illness. This indicator does not provide information on whether the services are appropriate for the needs of the people receiving them, or correctly targeted to those most in need.

A higher proportion of the population accessed Medicare/DVA subsidised mental health services than state and territory governments’ specialised public mental health services (table 13A.7). However, the pattern of service use differed across the selected equity groups.

In 2023-24, for state and territory governments’ specialised public mental health services, a higher proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people accessed these services than non‑Indigenous people (figure 13.3a). People residing in lower socio-economic areas (SEIFA quintiles 1 and 2) had greater use of mental health services compared to people residing in higher socio-economic areas (SEIFA quintiles 4 and 5), and people in outer regional, remote and very remote areas had greater use of mental health services compared to people in inner regional and major cities.

Nationally in 2024-25, the proportion of people who accessed Medicare/DVA mental health services (figure 13.3b) was lower for people in lower socio-economic areas compared to higher socio-economic areas (table 13A.15) and lower for people in outer regional, remote and very remote areas compared to people in inner regional and major cities (table 13A.17), although results varied across jurisdictions. Nationally in 2023‑24, the proportion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who accessed Medicare/DVA services was 12.0% compared to 10.4% for non‑Indigenous people, although results varied across jurisdictions (table 13A.16).

Data on the use of private hospital mental health services is available in tables 13A.7 and 13A.15–⁠17.

‘Timely access to mental health care’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services in a timely manner.

‘Timely access to mental health care’ is defined as the proportion of people who present to an emergency department with a mental health-related care need (principal diagnosis of F00–F99) seen within clinically recommended waiting times.

The proportion of people seen within clinically recommended waiting times is defined as the proportion of patients seen within the benchmarks set by the Australasian Triage Scale. The Australasian Triage Scale is a scale for rating clinical urgency, designed for use in hospital‑based emergency services in Australia and New Zealand. Details on the benchmarks, set according to triage category, are available under the 'Explanatory material' tab.

High or increasing proportions of patients seen within the recommended waiting times is desirable. Contextual data for all presentations (not just those with a mental health-related care need) is reported in section 12.

This is a partial measure for this indicator as emergency departments are only one of many services that provide access to mental health care. Future reporting will focus on timely access to state and territory governments’ specialised public mental health services and Medicare‑subsidised services for mental health.

Nationally in 2023-24, 60.0% of people who presented to an emergency department with a mental health-related care need were seen within clinically recommended waiting times, an 8.0 percentage point reduction compared to 2016‑17 (figure 13.4).

‘Affordability of mental health care’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services that are affordable.

‘Affordability of mental health care’ is defined by three measures:

• The proportion of people who delayed seeing or did not see a GP for their mental health due to cost
• The proportion of people who delayed seeing or did not see a psychologist, psychiatrist or other mental health professional for their mental health due to cost
• The proportion of people who delayed filling or did not fill a prescription for their mental health due to cost.

A low or decreasing proportion for each measure is desirable.

Data is not available for measure 3.

Nationally in 2024-25, 19.7% of all respondents delayed seeing any mental health professional in the last 12 months due to cost, a slight decrease from 2023-24 (20.4%). Respondents were almost two and a half times as likely to report delaying mental health care due to cost for psychologists, psychiatrists and other mental health professionals (23.8%) than for GPs (9.6%) (figure 13.5). Survey respondents who self-reported as having a mental health condition were more likely to delay seeking mental health care from providers other than GPs (Psychologists, Psychiatrists and Other mental health professionals) (26.7%) than people who did not self-report having a mental health condition (but who still reported delaying mental health care due to cost) (17.7%) (table 13A.19).

‘Mental health service use estimates’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services that are readily available to those who need them.

‘Mental health service use estimates’ is defined as the estimated proportion of the population with a mental health condition receiving a mental health service.

A high or increasing proportion of the population with a mental health condition receiving services for mental health suggests greater access to treatment. However, not all people with a mental health condition will want or need treatment. Furthermore, accessing a service does not guarantee that the service will be effective.

An agreed method for reporting against this indicator is not yet available.

‘Primary mental health care for children and young people’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to facilitate early detection of mental health issues and mental illness, followed by appropriate intervention.

‘Primary mental health care for children and young people’ is defined as the proportion of young people aged 25 years or under who received a Medicare‑subsidised mental health care service from a GP, psychologist or other allied health professional.

High or increasing proportions of young people who had contact with Medicare‑subsidised primary mental health care services are desirable.

Results for this indicator should be interpreted with caution. Variations in use could be due to variations in access but could also be a result of differences in the prevalence of mental illness. This indicator does not provide information on whether services are appropriate for the needs of young people receiving them, or correctly targeted to young people most in need. Further, some primary mental health services for children and young people are excluded from these data; for example, community health centres, school and university counsellors and nurses and some mental health care provided by state and territory governments’ specialised mental health services.

The proportion of all children and young people who received Medicare‑subsidised primary mental health care services has varied over the past 10 years, from 7.9% in 2015‑16 to 8.8% in 2024‑25. The proportion peaked during 2020‑21, when 10.4% accessed services. Medicare‑mental health service use increases with age. Nationally in 2024-25, 14.4% of young people aged 18-24 years and 6.1% of primary school‑aged children received services (figure 13.6).

Medicare-telehealth services were introduced in 2019-20. Nationally in 2024-25, the proportion of people aged 25 years or under who accessed subsidised primary mental health care consultations via telehealth was 2.0% compared to 6.8% in person, lower than the proportion in 2019-20 (2.1% of consultation via telehealth compared to 7.4% in person) (13A.20 and figure 13.6).

Proportions of young people who access Medicare-subsidised mental health care are higher for females compared to males and higher for young people in major cities and inner regional areas compared to other areas (table 13A.21). Data by Indigenous status and service type is available in tables 13A.21–22.

‘Consumer and carer involvement in decision making’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide universal access to services that are responsive to consumer and carer goals.

‘Consumer and carer involvement in decision making’ is defined by two measures, the number of paid full-time equivalent (FTE):

• consumer workers per 1,000 FTE direct care staff
• carer workers per 1,000 FTE direct care staff.

High or increasing proportions of paid FTE direct care staff who are consumer or carer workers implies better opportunities for consumers and carers to influence the services received.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2023-24 there were 13.9 paid FTE consumer workers per 1,000 paid FTE direct care staff (figure 13.7a)

Measure 2: Nationally in 2023-24, there were 5.9 paid FTE carer workers per 1,000 paid FTE direct care staff (figure 13.7b).

‘Services reviewed against the National Standards’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide universal access to services that are high quality.

‘Services reviewed against the National Standards’ is defined as the proportion of expenditure on state and territory governments’ specialised public mental health services that had completed a review by an external accreditation agency against the National Standards for Mental Health Services (NSMHS) and met ‘all standards’ (level 1). The assessment levels are defined under the 'Explanatory material' tab.

A high or increasing proportion of expenditure on specialised mental health services that had completed a review by an external accreditation agency and had been assessed against the NSMHS as level 1 is desirable.

This is a process indicator of quality, reflecting progress made in meeting the NSMHS. It does not provide information on whether the standards or assessment process are appropriate. In addition, services that had not been assessed do not necessarily deliver services of lower quality. Some services that had not completed an external review included those that were undergoing a review and those that had booked for review and were engaged in self-assessment preparation.

Nationally at 30 June 2024, 93.8% of expenditure on specialised public mental health services was on services that had completed an external review against the NSMHS and met ‘all standards’ (level 1) (figure 13.8).

‘Adverse events’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services that promote recovery, and are high quality, safe and responsive to consumer and carer goals.

‘Adverse events’ is defined by seven measures:

• Measure 1: Restrictive practices:
  • Seclusion, defined as the number of seclusion events per 1,000 bed days in state and territory governments’ specialised mental health acute inpatient units
  • Restraint, defined as:
    • the number of mechanical restraint events per 1,000 bed days in state and territory governments’ specialised mental health acute inpatient units
    • the number of physical restraint events per 1,000 bed days in state and territory governments’ specialised mental health acute inpatient units
    • the number of chemical restraint events. (Measurement of this concept is under development.)
• Measure 2: Suicide in an inpatient facility
  • Suicide in an inpatient facility, defined as suspected suicide of a patient in an acute psychiatric unit or acute psychiatric ward, reported as a number, by jurisdiction.
• Measure 3: Self-harm in an inpatient facility
  • Self-harm is defined as deliberately hurting oneself without conscious suicidal intent.
• Measure 4: Assault in an inpatient facility
  • Assault is defined as physical or sexual assault of a patient in an inpatient facility. (Measurement of this concept is under development.)
• Measure 5: Medical errors in an inpatient facility
  • Medical errors are defined as the administration of an incorrect diagnosis, intervention, or medication, or delay in administration resulting in harm or deterioration. (Measurement of this concept is under development.)
• Measure 6: Absent without leave from an inpatient facility
  • Absent without leave is defined as leaving or not returning to an admitted healthcare facility without prior agreement.
• Measure 7: Falls in an inpatient facility
  • Falls is defined as a loss of balance resulting in serious harm. (Measurement of this concept is under development.)

Measure 1: Restrictive practices

Seclusion involves confining a person at any time of the day or night alone in a room or area from which he or she cannot leave (the ‘Explanatory material’ tab provides further details on seclusion and ‘seclusion events’). Legislation or mandatory policy governs the use of seclusion in each state and territory and may result in exceptions to the definition of a seclusion event and variations in the data collected across jurisdictions (NMHPSC 2011).

Supporting data on the duration of seclusion events is provided in table 13A.26. This data, when considered with the rate of seclusion, provides information on the use and management of seclusion across jurisdictions.

A low or decreasing rate of seclusion events combined with shorter average durations is desirable.

Restraint involves restricting a person's freedom of movement by physical or mechanical means. The ‘Explanatory material’ tab provides further details on mechanical and physical restraint.

A low or decreasing rate of restraint events per 1,000 bed days in specialised public mental health inpatient units is desirable.

Nationally in 2024-25, the rate of seclusion was 6.1 events per 1,000 bed days (figure 13.9a). Rates varied across jurisdictions and unit types. In 2024-25, the lowest rates of seclusion were in older people units (0.1 events per 1,000 bed days) and the highest in forensic services (21.7 events per 1,000 bed days). There were 5.7 events per 1,000 bed days in child and adolescent units, unchanged from 2023-24 (table 13A.26).

Nationally in 2024-25, the rate of physical restraint was 8.8 events per 1,000 bed days, while the rate of mechanical restraint was 0.5 events per 1,000 bed days (figure 13.9b; table 13A.27). Rates of physical and mechanical restraint in public specialised mental health units, by unit type, are in table 13A.28.

Measure 2: Suicide in an inpatient facility

A suspected suicide of a patient in an acute psychiatric unit or acute psychiatric ward is known as a ‘sentinel event’. Sentinel events are adverse events that occur because of hospital system and process deficiencies, and which result in the death of, or serious harm to, a patient.

Australian health ministers agreed version 2 of the Australian sentinel events list in December 2018. All jurisdictions implemented these categories on 1 July 2019. 'Suspected suicide of a patient in an acute psychiatric unit or acute psychiatric ward' is one of ten sentinel events in the Australian sentinel events list. Further details are available in section 12.

A low or decreasing number of suspected suicides of patients in acute psychiatric units or acute psychiatric wards is desirable.

Nationally in 2023-24, there were 11 suspected suicides in psychiatric inpatient facilities, a decrease on the number in 2022-23 (table 13.1; table 13A.29).

Measure 3: Self-harm in an inpatient facility

Self-harm is defined as deliberately hurting oneself without conscious suicidal intent. Most people who self‑harm do not go on to end their lives. However, previous self‑harm is a strong risk factor for suicide (AIHW 2024). Therefore, identifying and managing risks associated with self‑harming are important elements of clinical care. This measure reports on self‑harming events (for example, injury, poisoning) in specialised psychiatric care, as a rate per 1,000 separations.

The AIHW monitoring report Suicide and intentional self‑harm (2024) provides information on patients admitted to hospital for self‑harm. This measure reports on self‑harming events that occurred after admission during an episode of care, using an external cause onset flag. Events only include patients who had a mental health diagnosis and who were in specialised psychiatric care. It is not possible to capture intent within this data set (that is, whether the patient was self‑harming or attempting suicide).

A low and decreasing rate of self-harming events after admission to specialised psychiatric care is desirable, notwithstanding the high‑acuity of people receiving specialised psychiatric care.

Nationally in 2023-24, there were 936 self‑harming events in specialised psychiatric care, equating to 7.3 self‑harming events per 1,000 separations (table 13.2; table 13A.30).

Measure 6: Discharge against medical advice

Discharge against medical advice refers to patients who were admitted to hospital and left against the advice of their treating physician. Patients who discharge against medical advice are at greater risk of clinical deterioration, presentation to emergency departments, readmission and mortality.

Patients might self-discharge from hospital for a variety of reasons, including dissatisfaction with care, poor communication, and feeling better, as well as external factors such as family and employment responsibilities. Discharge against medical advice is a measure of safety (for a patient to return to the community), patient satisfaction, and confidence in care that also recognises patient autonomy.

Data are presented as a rate per 1,000 care type separations. This measure might involve some undercounting as it does not capture episodes until a formal separation has been registered.

Low or decreasing proportions of patients who discharge against medical advice are desirable.

Nationally in 2023-24, 825 involuntary patients and 803 voluntary patients receiving specialised psychiatric care left against medical advice, equating to 13.4 and 12.6 patients leaving against medical advice per 1,000 separations, respectively (table 13.3; table 13A.31).

‘Consumer and carer experiences of mental health services’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide access to services that are responsive to consumer and carer goals.

‘Consumer and carer experiences of mental health services’ is defined by two measures:

• the proportion of mental health service consumers reporting positive experiences of mental health services
• the proportion of carers of mental health service consumers reporting positive experiences of mental health services.

A high or increasing proportion of mental health consumers and carers with positive service experiences is desirable. Data is reported by service delivery setting (residential care, admitted care and ambulatory care – refer to ‘Explanatory material’ tab for definitions).

In 2023-24, for jurisdictions where data is available, a higher proportion of consumers reported positive experiences of service in residential and ambulatory care (non-admitted care) than in admitted care (table 13.4).

‘Community follow-up after psychiatric admission/hospitalisation’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services that are coordinated and provide continuity of care.

‘Community follow-up after psychiatric admission/hospitalisation’ is defined as the proportion of state and territory governments’ specialised public admitted patient overnight acute separations from psychiatric units for which a community-based ambulatory contact was recorded in the seven days following separation.

A high or increasing rate of community follow‑up within the first seven days of discharge from hospital is desirable.

This indicator does not measure the frequency of contacts recorded in the seven days following separation. Nor does it distinguish between the mode of contact. Only follow-up contacts made by state and territory governments’ specialised public mental health services are included.

Nationally in 2023-24, the rate of community follow-up for people within the first seven days of discharge from an acute inpatient psychiatric unit was 77.7%, an increase over the 10 years from 2014-15 (67.4%) (figure 13.10).

Community follow-up rates by Indigenous status, remoteness areas, SEIFA, age groups and sex are in tables 13A.33‑34.

‘Readmissions to hospital within 28 days of discharge’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services that are coordinated and provide continuity of care.

‘Readmissions to hospital within 28 days of discharge’ is defined as the proportion of state and territory governments’ admitted patient overnight separations from psychiatric acute inpatient units that were followed by readmission to the same type of unit within 28 days of discharge.

A low or decreasing rate of readmissions to hospital within 28 days of discharge is desirable.

While readmissions can indicate that inpatient treatment was either incomplete or ineffective, or that follow‑up care was inadequate, they can also reflect the cyclic and episodic nature of some illnesses.

Nationally in 2023-24, the rate of readmission to hospital acute psychiatric units within 28 days of discharge was 13.2% (figure 13.11).

Data by Indigenous status, remoteness areas, SEIFA, age group and sex is in table 13A.36.

‘Workforce sustainability’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide sustainable services. Health workforce sustainability relates to the capacity of the health workforce to meet current and projected service demand.

‘Workforce sustainability’ is defined by two measures:

• mental health workforce age profiles - the proportion of FTE medical practitioners (including psychiatrists), mental health nurses, registered psychologists and other allied mental health practitioners in ten‑year age brackets, by jurisdiction
• mental health workforce attrition rates.

These measures are not a substitute for comprehensive workforce analysis that considers training, migration, emerging work patterns and future demand. However, they can indicate the need for further workforce planning for mental health services.

High or increasing proportions of the workforce that are new entrants and/or low or decreasing proportions of the workforce that are close to retirement are desirable. A low or decreasing rate of workforce attrition is desirable.

Workforce age profiles

Nationally in 2024, other allied mental health practitioners had the highest proportion of FTEs who were aged 30 years or under (27.4%), followed by nurses (15.9%), psychologists (9.9%) and medical practitioners (3.6%) (including psychiatrists). The medical practitioner (including psychiatrists) workforce had the highest proportion of FTEs aged 60 years or over (21.4%) (figure 13.12). Data disaggregated by sex is available in table 13A.38. Data disaggregated by Indigenous status is available in table 13A.39.

Workforce attrition rates

Nationally in 2024, other allied health practitioners employed in the mental health sector had the highest attrition rate (25.5%), followed by nurses (22.6%), medical practitioners (15.3%) and psychologists (5.6%) (table 13A.39).

‘Cost of care’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to provide services in an efficient manner.

‘Cost of care’ has three measures.

• Measure 1: ‘Cost of inpatient care’, defined by two sub measures:

  • ‘Cost per inpatient bed day’, defined as expenditure on inpatient services divided by the number of inpatient bed days – data is disaggregated by hospital type (psychiatric and general hospitals) and care type (acute and non-acute units) and by inpatient target population (acute units only)
  • ‘Average length of stay’, defined as the number of inpatient patient days divided by the number of separations in the reference period – data is disaggregated by inpatient target population (acute units only). Patient days for consumers who separated in the reference period (2023-24) that were admitted during the previous period (2022-23) are excluded. Patient days for consumers who remain in hospital (and therefore are not included in the separations data) are included. Data for this sub measure are not yet reported.

  These sub measures are considered together for the inpatient acute units by target population to provide a ‘proxy’ measure to improve understanding of service efficiency. Average inpatient bed day costs can be reduced with longer lengths of stay because the costs of admission, discharge and more intensive treatment early in a stay are spread over more days of care. Data for forensic services are included for costs per inpatient bed day only, as the length of stay is dependent on factors outside the control of these services.

• Measure 2: ‘Cost of community-based residential care’ is defined as the average cost per patient day. Data is reported for both the care of general adult and older people services.
• Measure 3: ‘Cost of ambulatory care’ is defined by two sub measures:
  • average cost per treatment day
  • average number of treatment days per episode – this measure is provided, along with average costs, as frequency of servicing is the main driver of variation in care costs.

For each measure, a low or decreasing cost per input is desirable as this might indicate more efficient service delivery. However, efficiency data should be interpreted with care as it does not provide information on service quality or patient outcomes.

Mainstreaming (that is, providing mental health care in general health care settings rather than psychiatric settings) has occurred at different rates across states and territories, with some jurisdictions treating a greater proportion of consumers with severe mental illnesses in community‑based services than other jurisdictions (refer to ‘Explanatory material’ tab for a definition of mainstreaming). This can create differences across states and territories in the mix of consumers, and therefore the costs, within service types.

Measure 1: Nationally in 2023-24, the average recurrent cost per inpatient bed day was higher in acute than non‑acute units (figure 13.13a). Older people units have lower costs per inpatient day (table 13A.41) but have considerably longer lengths of stay than general adult or child and adolescent units (table 13A.43). Data on the average cost per inpatient bed day by target population for all care types is reported in tables 13A.41–43.

Measure 2: Nationally in 2023-24, the average recurrent cost for 24-hour staffed residential care was the same for general adult and older people care units ($837 per patient day) (figure 13.13b). Nationally, the average recurrent cost per patient day for general adult units staffed 24 hours a day was 2.5 times the cost of those that were not staffed 24 hours a day (table 13A.44).

Measure 3: Nationally in 2023-24, the average recurrent cost per treatment day of ambulatory care was $505 (figure 13.13c), and the average number of treatment days per episode of ambulatory care was 6.2 days (figure 13.13d).

‘Prevalence of mental illness’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to prevent the development of mental health problems, mental illness and suicide, where possible.

‘Prevalence of mental illness’ is defined as the proportion of the total population who have a mental illness.

A low or decreasing prevalence of mental illness can indicate that measures to prevent mental illness have been effective.

Many of the risk and protective factors that can affect the development of mental health problems and mental illness are outside the scope of the mental health system. These include environmental, sociocultural and economic factors, some of which can increase the risk of mental illness while others can support good mental health.

Not all mental illnesses are preventable and a reduction in the effect of symptoms and an improved quality of life will be a positive outcome for many people with a mental illness.

Nationally in 2020–2022, more than one in five Australians (21.5%) aged 16-85 years reported a mental health disorder with symptoms in the previous 12 months (table 13.5). National data by disorder, age and sex are reported in tables 13A.46–48.

The prevalence of mental illness among children and young people aged 4–17 years was an estimated 13.9% in 2013‑14 (Lawrence et al. 2015). Attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) was the most common mental illness for this age group (7.4%) followed by anxiety disorders (6.9%) (Lawrence et al 2015).

A proxy measure of the overall mental health and wellbeing of the population is the Kessler 5 (K5) Psychological Distress Scale. Very high levels of psychological distress may signify a need for professional help and provide an estimate of the need for mental health services (ABS 2012).

Nationally in 2022, 14.1% of people aged 18 years or over reported having high/very high levels of psychological distress (table 13A.49). Proportions were higher for females compared to males (table 13A.49), people in lower compared to higher socio-economic areas and people with disability (table 13A.50). Data by Indigenous status is available in table 13A.51.

High rates of substance use and abuse can contribute to the onset of, and poor recovery from, mental illness. Information on rates of licit and illicit drug use can be found in tables 13A.52–54 and the National Drug Strategy Household Survey (AIHW 2020).

'Mortality due to suicide’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to, where possible, prevent the development of mental health problems, mental illness and suicide.

‘Mortality due to suicide’ is defined as the suicide rate per 100,000 people. Deaths from suicide are defined as causes of death with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD) 10 codes X60–⁠X84 and Y87.0 (ABS 2025).

There is no acceptable rate of suicide – today or at any other time. However, a low or decreasing suicide rate is desirable.

While services for mental health contribute to reducing suicides, other services also have a significant role including public mental health programs and suicide prevention programs (addressed through the initiatives of government agencies, NGOs and other special interest groups).

Many factors outside the control of services for mental health can affect suicide risk. These include environmental, sociocultural and economic risk factors. Often a combination of these factors can increase the risk of suicidal behaviour.

People with a mental illness are at a higher risk of suicide compared to the general population. For the period 2020–2024, there were 16,351 suicides recorded in Australia – equivalent to 12.3 deaths per 100,000 people (table 13A.55). There were 2.2 deaths per 100,000 people aged 5–17 years in the population, the lowest rate over the reported time series, and 29.1 deaths per 100,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the population (figure 13.14).

Nationally, suicide rates per 100,000 population show that rates are lower for females compared to males in 2023 (5.8 deaths compared to 18.7 deaths) (ABS 2024b), lower in capital cities compared to other areas in 2024 (9.7 deaths compared to 16.2 deaths) (table 13A.57) and lower for non‑Indigenous compared to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for 2020-2024 (11.6 deaths compared to 29.1 deaths) (table 13A.58).

Further information on the historical and ongoing context for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is available on the Closing the Gap Information Repository website – Target 14

‘Physical health outcomes for people with a mental illness’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to promote recovery and physical health and encourage meaningful participation in society.

‘Physical health outcomes for people with a mental illness’ is defined as the proportion of adults with a mental illness (compared to those without a mental illness) who experienced a long‑term physical health condition: cancer, diabetes, arthritis, cardiovascular disease and asthma.

Low or decreasing proportions of people with a mental illness who experience a long‑term physical health condition are desirable.

People with a mental illness have poorer physical health outcomes than people without mental illness (Happell et al. 2015; Lawrence, Hancock and Kisely 2013), but the relationship between the two is complex. Poor physical health can exacerbate mental health problems and poor mental health can lead to poor physical health. In addition, some psychiatric medications prescribed to treat mental health conditions may lead to poorer physical health.

Greater exposure to particular health risk factors can also contribute to poorer physical health. Information on selected risk factors by mental illness status can be found in table 13A.59.

A higher proportion of adults with a mental illness reported having long‑term health conditions compared to adults without a mental illness. Nationally in 2022, the age‑standardised proportion of people who reported having a long‑term health condition was higher for people with a mental illness than people without a mental illness for all reported conditions. For example, almost a quarter of people with a mental illness reported having arthritis (24.7%), compared to 13.4% of people without a mental illness (figure 13.15 and table 13A.60).

‘Social and economic inclusion of people with a mental illness’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to promote recovery and physical health and encourage meaningful participation in society.

‘Social and economic inclusion of people with a mental illness’ is defined by two measures:

• the proportion of people aged 16-64 years with a mental illness who are employed
• the proportion of people aged 15 years or over with a mental illness who had face‑to‑face contact with family or friends living outside the household in the past week.

High or increasing proportions of people with a mental illness who are employed, or who had face‑to‑face contact with family or friends, are desirable.

This indicator does not provide information on whether the employment, education or social activities were appropriate or meaningful. It also does not provide information on why people who were not employed were not looking for work (for example, those outside the labour force).

Measure 1: Nationally in 2022, the age-standardised proportion of people aged 16-64 years with a mental illness who were employed was 72.3%, a large increase since 2017-18 (63.9%) (figure 13.16).

Information on the proportion of people aged 16 to 30 years with a mental illness who were employed and/or are enrolled for study in a formal secondary or tertiary qualification can be found in table 13A.61.

Measure 2: Nationally in 2020, the proportion of people aged 15 years or over with a mental illness who had face‑to‑face contact with family or friends living outside the household in the last week was 40.6% (table 13.6).

‘Mental health outcomes of consumers of specialised public mental health services’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to promote recovery and physical health and encourage meaningful participation in society.

‘Mental health outcomes of consumers of specialised public mental health services’ is defined as the proportion of people receiving care who had a significant improvement in their clinical mental health outcomes, by service type.

Outcomes are calculated for the following consumer groups:

• Group A: Consumers separated from hospital. People who received a discrete episode of inpatient care within a state/territory designated psychiatric inpatient unit during the reference year. The defining characteristic of the group is that the episode of care commenced, and was completed, within the year.
• Group B: Consumers discharged from community‑based ambulatory care. People who received relatively short‑term community care from a state or territory mental health service during the reference year. The defining characteristic of the group is that the episode of care commenced, and was completed, within the year.
• Group C: Consumers in ongoing community‑based ambulatory care. People receiving relatively long‑term community care from a state or territory mental health service. It includes people who were receiving care for the whole of the reference year, and those who commenced community care sometime after 1 July who continued under care for the rest of the year. The defining characteristic of the group is that all remained in ongoing care when the year ended (30 June).

Details on how the consumer outcomes average score is derived are available under the 'Explanatory material' tab. 

A high or increasing proportion of people receiving care in state and territory governments’ specialised public mental health services who had a significant improvement in their clinical mental health outcomes is desirable.

Supplementary data is reported on the proportion of people receiving care who experienced no significant change or a significant deterioration in their mental health outcomes. Information on the proportion of episodes for which completed outcomes data is available is in table 13A.66.

Results for this indicator should be interpreted with caution:

• The outcome measurement tool is imprecise as a single ‘average score’ does not reflect the complex service system in which services are delivered across multiple settings and provided as both discrete, short‑term episodes of care and prolonged care over indefinite periods.
• The approach separates a consumer’s care into segments (hospital versus the community) rather than tracking his or her overall outcome across treatment settings.
• A consumer’s outcomes are measured from a clinician’s rather than the consumer’s perspective.

Nationally (excluding the ACT) in 2023-24, 73.8% of people discharged from a hospital psychiatric inpatient unit, 48.9% of people discharged from community‑based ambulatory care and 25.8% of people in ongoing community‑based ambulatory care showed a significant improvement in their clinical mental health outcomes (figure 13.17). In 2023-24, young people aged 0-17 years who were in ongoing community-based ambulatory care had a higher rate of significant improvement (35.4%) than other age groups, while people aged 18-64 years had the highest rate of significant improvement when discharged from hospital (74.7%) (table 13A.65).

‘Stigma and discrimination experienced by people living with mental health problems or mental illness’ is an indicator of governments’ objective to reduce the impact of mental illness (including the effects of stigma and discrimination).

‘Stigma and discrimination experienced by people with a mental health condition’ is defined by two measures:

• the proportion of people with a mental health condition who have experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly
• the proportion of people with a mental health condition who have experienced discrimination or been treated unfairly because of their mental health condition.

A low or decreasing proportion of people experiencing discrimination or being treated unfairly is desirable.

Data is not available for Measure 2: whether the discrimination was perceived to be due to a person’s mental illness.

Nationally in 2020, 20.8% of people with a mental illness reported experiencing discrimination or being treated unfairly (table 13A.67).

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