Federal Member for Gilmore still maintains there is one organisation to blame for "a black hole in health funding" she exposed recently.
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She maintains it's the fault of the Federal Government that saw the Shoalhaven Women's Health Centre's mental health outreach service in Ulladulla lose its funding.
The centre has requested an additional $70,000 from the Federal Government to allow the local outreach to continue but so far, the government has refused to provide any further support for the service.
"After everything this community has been through this year, it is simply appalling that the Morrison Government is allowing this mental health service to close for the sake of $70,000,"Mrs Phillips said
"Shockingly, at the same time as allowing this outreach to close, the government is spending $10 million rebranding the Australian made logo. That just shows where their priorities are.
"We need more mental health services, not less.
"The government keeps saying it is committed to supporting people in bushfire impacted areas, so they need to put their money where their mouth is and keep this service open.
"There is simply no logic to this decision."
She said the Ulladulla region has experienced a harrowing year with drought, bushfires, floods and now coronavirus, meaning this is the worst time to be losing mental health support.
A spokesperson for Minister for Health, Greg Hunt said funding decisions are made by Primary Health Networks (PHNs) and are independent of the government.
"The Morrison Government is committed to ensuring all Australians, including those in the Shoalhaven, are able to access mental health support and services, and have the appropriate level of care tailored to their individual needs," the spokesperson said.
"Primary Health Networks (PHNs) are funded to undertake planning and commission services to address the prioritised health care needs of their communities.
"Commissioning decisions of PHNs are made locally and are independent of the government.
"The South Eastern NSW PHN has been engaging with local community, stakeholders and service providers in Shoalhaven to ensure services are designed to meet the specific needs of the local community.
"Further funding is within the power and authority of the PHN and we strongly encourage the PHN to consider this given the additional resources we have provided."
The Federal Government provides all Australians access to a range of health services nationally such as telehealth under the Medicare Benefits Scheme (MBS) and a variety of digital and phone mental health services.
A range of resources are available at Head to Health, the Government's digital mental health gateway, at: www.headtohealth.gov.au/covid-19-support.
A new 24/7 support service, the Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service is also available free of charge to all Australians at coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au.
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