Fed Govt threatens force over mental health spending!

The Federal Government has threatened to coerce the states and territories to spend more on mental health services.

Parliamentary secretary for health Christopher Pyne says Commonwealth funding for mental health services increased by 128 per cent between 1993 and 2002, while state and territory funding during that time increased by just 40 per cent.

Mr Pyne says while substantial improvements have been made, developments have not been consistent across all states and territories.

"If the Commonwealth is pulling its weight, we expect the states to pull theirs," he said.

"So through negotiation, coercion and simply working together, I guess that's the way we'll try and bring about an improvement in the states' performance in the mental health area."

"The states have a responsibility to provide the right services to people who are suffering with mental health," he said.

By Just Us 29 November 04

Deaths in Custody, Police Powers and Mental Illness
The NSW Police Force should not have a role in the psychiatric diagnosis and medication of the public. Police are not medically trained in this speciality.

Police to uphold law not decide mental health
A diagnosis of mental illness could be made over the phone instead of in person, and involuntary psychiatric patients could lose the right to have their case reviewed by a magistrate, under proposed changes to NSW mental health laws.

At The Ministers Pleasure?
20 people have been recommended for release from Long Bay Prison Hospital yet they are still there.

Jails-The new asylums?
QUENTIN DEMPSTER: Asylum seekers -- no, not what you think -- but those who are so disillusioned with the current approach of our mental health system that they believe we should go back to the old ways and rebuild the asylums.

MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN N S W
Ms CLOVER MOORE (Bligh) [4.43 p.m.]: Today I speak about the shocking situation for people with mental illness, and call for urgent government action. There have been calls for reform of mental health services as far back as the 1983 Richmond report, followed by the 1988 Barclay report and the 1993 Burdekin report.

Conditions in the HRMU
Justice Action is trying to obtain documents on behalf of prisoners held in the Goulburn High Risk Management Unit (HRMU) from the Federal Attorney General's Department, Corrective Services Minister's Conference regarding the process described below, in which the Standard Guidelines for Corrections in Australia were adopted. This documentation will help explain the justification for the conditions in the HRMU.

Forensic Hospital at Long Bay
NSW should reject the government decision to set up a secure forensic hospital at Long Bay - or in any place where it can be influenced by the Department of Corrective Services (DCS) (or probably Corrections Health Service (CHS) for that matter).

Escape from hell?
A third person has escaped from the Adelaide's Glenside psychiatric hospital as health authorities prepare to begin a second review of security.

Escape proof but not so the prisoners mind
Fewer prisoners escape from prison these days because they're "cemented in" by materials that do not break and by legislation that can keep prisoners in jail until they die.

Parents on the inside leave children on the edge
Life in jail is an ordeal but it's a much harsher sentence for the child of a prisoner, writes Paola Totaro. 30 July 03

History of trauma dogs sole parents and the government
Australia's sole parents including those who were squarely divided by the Family Court of Australia which include tens of thousands of lone mothers on welfare benefits have experienced rape, physical assault, torture and mental health disorders at some time during their life, a new study shows.

RESTORING TRUE JUSTICE:
Australian prisons are fast becoming the new asylums of the third millennium. The prison industry is booming, while Australia spends far less on mental health services than similar countries.

Child detainees 'living in a nightmare', report finds
A report being released today documents disturbing evidence about mental health for children in detention centres.The report is a joint work by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, NSW University and NSW psychiatrists.

The children's crusader
It is all about prevention. As Fiona Stanley sees it, with one in five Australian teenagers experiencing significant mental health problems, there are just not enough treatment services to cope with the demand.

One in six youth deaths caused by alcohol: report

ALMOST one in six deaths amongst young Australians can be attributed to the irresponsible consumption of alcohol, research by the National Drug Research Institute (NDRI) has revealed.

In figures released today, the study shows that 2,643 people aged between 15 and 24 died from alcohol-attributable injury and disease between 1993 and 2002 around 15 per cent of all deaths in the age group.

Young people most at risk live in rural areas, and by region in either the Northern Territory or Western Australia.

The latest National Alcohol Indicators Bulletin, compiled by the Perth-based NDRI, also showed 22 per cent of injuries which lead to young people being hospitalised could also be traced back to risky drinking.

More than 100,000 youngsters were hospitalised for an alcohol related illness or injury between 1993 and 2002, the research found.

Tanya Chickarees, NDRI research fellow and alcohol policy team leader said a number of states and territories had shown an increase in alcohol-attributable deaths, following a period of national decline in the 1990s.

"There was a really encouraging decline in deaths and hospitalisations up until about 2000, but now we are just starting to see a reverse," Ms Chickarees said.

"A great amount of tax is generated from alcohol, but we are starting to think now that the costs are so high, attributable to alcohol, that what is made, the profit, is becoming less (important)."

Dr Chickarees said one of the most marked changes in recent years was the increase in drinking deaths and injury amongst young Australian women.

The institute believed this could be attributed to changes to tax on pre-mixed drinks in 2000.

"Pre-mixed drinks essentially became cheaper for young women than what used to be their preferred beverage, straight spirits or bottled wine," Ms Chickarees said.

"These pre-mixed beverages in my opinion are targeted at young people, and when this tax change happened, there was a massive increase in sales.

"Surveys around the country have been saying that young women are drinking more than they ever have, and we are now bearing our more evidence to support that."

Amongst other findings in the research were that a man was four times more likely to die from an alcohol-attributable death than a women, while the most common causes of alcohol-attributable death for young people were road injury, suicide and violence.

Young indigenous Australians are more than twice as likely as their non-indigenous counterparts to die from alcohol-attributable causes.

Death rates among indigenous youth have not improved in the last eight years, the study concluded.

The rate of alcohol-attributable death among young people who live in non-metropolitan areas is about 1.7 times greater than for their city dwelling counterparts.

The study showed the Northern Territory has the highest number of alcohol-attributable deaths among 15-24 year olds, with 4.0 deaths per 10,000, while WA had the second highest rate, 1.3 per 10,000.

The ACT, with 0.6 deaths per 10,000 had the lowest national rate.

The National Alcohol Indicators Bulletin was released ahead of next week's APSAD "Beyond the Drug" 2004 National Conference, being held in Fremantle, where national and international speakers will present research on drug and alcohol issues.

By Mad Broth 12 November 04

Alcohol is just the beginning
People who start using alcohol by there mid teens are more than twice as likely as others to experiment with different drugs and to become dependent on drugs a major Australian study has found. The research, which fuels growing concern about alcohol-related harm, is the latest to consider the contentious question of whether alcohol is a "gateway" to hard drug use.

Abra Cadabra
No magic bullet? This is a chronic condition! Government's Legal Drug alcohol is costing Australia billions: study.

Wine glut alert!
Wine glut alerts bank to grape grower debt and we need to be aware there's no magic bullet here either, it is a chronic condition just like the other one?

You're one of my kind?
Over 80% of the population consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months, with 11% of males and 6% of females drinking daily. In terms of risk of harm in the long term, 10% of males and 9% of females drank alcohol in a pattern that was risky or high risk. In terms of short-term risk, 24% of males and 17% of females drank at least once a month in a manner that was risky or high risk for short-term harm.

Tobacco, alcohol top the drug abuse toll
Tobacco and alcohol accounted for 83 per cent of the cost of drug abuse in Australia, dwarfing the financial impact of illegal drugs, a Commonwealth Government report has found.

Alcohol pickles your brain
Pickle point; a leading professor Dr. Bud said after releasing his report on the problems associated with alcohol.

Submissions to the Inebriates Inquiry?
The Act allows detention of inebriates in proclaimed places, which no longer exist. The chief magistrate, Derek Price probably kicked it off with his submission to the Alcohol Summit. He also gave evidence, which was basically 'Repeal the act as it does not work, and get a new act based on the Mental Health Act'.

Australian drivers licence dangerous weapon
We have the photo, the random gun searches, the random drugs searches, the alcohol breath test, and now the drug test that doubles as a DNA swab.

Sentencing innovation breaks vicious circle of jail terms
"Three months' jail for one punch in a pub fight is too much," said the victim. The victim's comment counted because he and the offender, Robert Bolt, a Nowra Aborigine, were making history in the first case of circle sentencing, a new way of deciding punishment for indigenous offenders.

Redfern police need education not weapons
According to the description of one senior police officer, the ACLO called out on the afternoon before the Redfern violence escalated was "hopeless, intoxicated and had no driver's licence."

Poison Ivy: Drugs and Substances
Everything is a drug love, money, vegemite, and honey so why the hang up on coke? Things go better with Coke. at least that's what we're told each and every day by advertising. [?] So why the big hang up on alcohol, amphetamines, cigarettes, marijuana, speed, ecstasy and cocaine?

CWA wants pot legalised
PERCEIVED as the height of conservatism, the Country Women's Association has had a reputation for baking and handicrafts until now. The organisation yesterday confirmed it is seeking to have cannabis legalised for health reasons. A recommendation to be put forward to the annual meeting in May calls for the legalisation of the drug for the treatment of terminally ill patients.

Another lethal party drug article...This is another lethal party drug article by the Daily Telegraph's (DT)'s Super Crime Buster Division, but I'll try to straighten it out a bit so you can understand it.

Alcohol and other Drug Use in Australia
Over 80% of the population consumed alcohol in the previous 12 months, with 11% of males and 6% of females drinking daily. In terms of risk of harm in the long term, 10% of males and 9% of females drank alcohol in a pattern that was risky or high risk. In terms of short-term risk, 24% of males and 17% of females drank at least once a month in a manner that was risky or high risk for short-term harm.

Alcohol Poisoning