In the area of reform, COAG has agreed to the terms of reference, work plan and initial milestones for a new Not for Profit Reform Working Group.

Prime Minister Gillard said in a statement that the working group will develop and recommend options for reform of the sector and help progress the Government’s Not for Profit reform agenda.

In February the Federal Government announced the membership and terms of reference of a new working group to consider the support currently provided through tax concessions to the Not for Profit sector. These included concessions for income tax, fringe benefits tax and goods and services tax, and also deductible gift recipient status.

The COAG also agreed to a National Partnership Agreement to help improve the care and support provided to people living with severe and persistent mental illness and complex care needs.

The Gillard Government told the States it will provide $200 million to help address gaps in state and territory mental health systems.

Under the National Partnership, Victoria will be provided with $37.3 million for four projects: mental health outreach support and care coordination to people experiencing homelessness as a result of enduring mental illness; mental health support for secure tenancies enabling people with severe mental illness to maintain accommodation; psychiatric assessment and planning units; and a mental health hospital admission risk program pilot which will focus on providing short term coordination of mental health services.

Read the full article here – http://www.probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2012/04/coag-moves-major-not-profit-issues

The study, which followed 2,123 British civil servants for six years, found that workers who put in an average of at least 11 hours per day at the office had roughly two and a half times higher odds of developing depression than their colleagues who clocked out after seven or eight hours.

The link between long workdays and depression persisted even after the researchers took into account factors such as job strain, the level of support in the workplace, alcohol use, smoking, and chronic physical diseases.

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The move is detailed in a leaked departmental email obtained by The Age, which states that the ”decision is based on a government commitment to consolidate investment in the front end of the mental health service system”.

The government said that Victorians who wanted to call the advice line – which handles an estimated 800 calls every month – would be ”directed to an appropriate service” once the service is shut down in March.

The mental health advice line has been running since 2009 and is manned by mental health practitioners, who advise callers about where they should go to get support and treatment.

It was set up by the previous government as part of a multimillion-dollar strategy to improve the state’s struggling mental health system.

Businesses should consider Wellness Programs as a way to keep their workplace healthy, which is exactly why Out Doors offers one.

In today’s article from Pro Bono Australia, employers are being urged to think about how they can better support the mental health of their staff at work, as the costs of failing to act hurt both the individual and the business.

With one in five Australians affected every year by mental illness, the national mental health charity, SANE Australia, says making supporting mental health a major issue for employers.

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From its beginnings in 1985, the week has grown to encompass hundreds of events and a multitude of individuals, community groups and service providers throughout the state.
Much of the effort of running Mental Health Week comes from dedicated volunteers committed  to promoting mental wellbeing, furthering knowledge about mental health and eliminating the stigma surrounding mental illness.

As co-ordinator of Mental Health Week in Victoria, the Mental Health Foundation of Australia (Vic) has the active involvement and participation of state and federal governments, as well as non-government organisations and communty-based health and social impact agencies. They are sharing the Week with the Victorian Government, along with many other mental health, health, education, recreation and support agencies.

If you would like more information about Mental Health Week 2011 or to see the Events list in Victoria go to http://www.mentalhealthvic.org.au/index.php?id=8.

Labor has been heavily criticised by medical and community groups since it deferred PBS listing of seven drugs in February, even though experts suggested they should be made available.

The government relented on one of those drugs in June and the remaining six are among 48 new medicines added to the list on Friday.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said more than 160,000 Australians would benefit each year from the subsidised access to the new listed drugs.

They include treatments for serious heart conditions, heart failure in infants and children, tuberculosis and cancer.

Ms Gillard and Health Minister Nicola Roxon said budget savings and recent recommendations from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) meant the government could now afford to subside the medicines that had been deferred.

They said the government would work with industry and consumer groups in the future to manage any further deferrals of drug subsidies.

Source: Sky News.  To read the full article go to – http://www.skynews.com.au/health/article.aspx?id=667867&vId=.

**The listings include two antipsychotic medications – Invega Sustenna used in the
treatment of schizophrenia, and Saphris, which is used in the treatment of bipolar 1
disorder and schizophrenia.  For more details, see the PBS summary information on new and approved listings here – http://www.pbs.gov.au/publication/factsheets/professional/summary-of-pbs-listings-1-dec-2011.pdf.

The inquiry follows a report in The Saturday Age exposing the high rates of unexpected and unnatural deaths in the state’s mental health wards, and raising serious questions about standards of care and allegations of cover-ups.

Today, The Age publishes new revelations about the use of electric shock therapy in Victoria, with documents showing how hundreds of mentally ill people are forced to undergo the procedure without their consent.

Mr Baillieu’s office last night announced that the state’s Chief Psychiatrist, Ruth Vine, would investigate the way the state’s health services handled all unexpected, unnatural or violent deaths involving mental health inpatients between January 2008 and December 2010.

The investigation follows The Saturday Age’s revelation that 36 Victorians had died in mental health wards during that period.

Dr Vine will examine each hospital internal inquiry into the deaths and whether all recommendations for improvements by health services or the Coroner were acted on or ignored.

To read the full article go to http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/mental-health-care-inquiry-20110905-1juiy.html.