Queensland mental health services face funding 'shortfall'

Queensland mental health community organisations fear inadequate funding from the state government may lead to services being cut and longer wait times.

Eating Disorders Queensland provides services to individuals and families impacted by eating disorders at no cost.

Chief executive Belinda Chelius said the Brisbane organisation had seen a 60 per cent increase in demand since 2022.

She said its treatment centre, fully funded through Queensland Health, had about 160 people on its waiting list for counselling support at any given time.

Ms Chelius said last month's Queensland budget had left a "huge shortfall" in funding, explaining community organisations also needed money to support families, parents and loved ones of someone experiencing mental health challenges.

"That could mean that we would have to cut some of our offerings … it might also mean that clients will wait longer for services,"

she said.

Community services organisations receive funding from government departments based on an indexation rate.

For the 2026-27 financial year, the non-government organisation (NGO) indexation rate was 3.31 per cent.

Ms Chelius said this would put Eating Disorders Queensland's budget into deficit, as the new rate did not match the 4.75 per cent increase to award minimum wages handed down by the Fair Work Commission in June.

"We're very supportive of our staff getting paid adequately and a living wage, and they do work very, very hard," she said.

"We feel that the government has got that responsibility to match that in wages so that we can keep, at a minimum, our services going as it currently [are]."

Mental health doesn't take 'weekend off'

Queensland Alliance for Mental Health's acting board chair Tanya O'Shea said community mental health providers could not continue to absorb the cost of providing services at reduced rates.

The alliance represents more than 140 community mental health organisations across the state.

Ms O'Shea said a Cairns provider had been considering extending its opening hours to weekends and public holidays but put those plans on hold due to the indexation rate.

"Mental health challenges, they don't take weekends off or public holidays off," she said.

Ms O'Shea said she believed if community providers reduced services, more people would be going to emergency departments at "crisis" point looking for mental health support.

"That's not what we want," she said.

"We want to continue to support our hospitals, to continue to support these important systems within our communities."

Ms O'Shea said the state government had a mechanism to increase funding and respond to changes in inflation and wage growth.

The alliance has written to Treasurer David Janetzki asking that the indexation rate be reviewed.

"We want … them to be covering the true cost of these community mental health organisations delivering services in their communities," Ms O'Shea said.

Methodology remains unchanged

A spokesperson for Mr Janetzki said the methodology for calculating the NGO indexation rate had remained unchanged for the last two decades.

A Queensland Treasury spokesperson said that for 2024-25 and 2025-26, a single approved rate applied in each year and did not change.

"The NGO indexation rates from 2022-23 to 2025-26 incorporated an additional loading to compensate for the legislated increases to the superannuation guarantee rate," they said in a statement.

"The increases, legislated by the Australian government, took effect from July 1, 2020 to July 1, 2025."

Access to care a 'human right'

Ms Chelius said 250,000 Queenslanders were estimated to be living with an eating disorder.

"We know recovery happens in the community, not in a hospital bed," she said.

Ms Chelius said many people in the community were in desperate need of eating disorder services.

"We just don't have the capacity," she said.

"We feel that it is a human right to have access to mental healthcare."