A full-scale Headspace youth mental health facility would attract other medical professionals to the Eurobodalla, Labor says.
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The federal Labor Party on Tuesday, April 23 announced it would invest $3.5 million in a Headspace youth mental health facility in Batemans Bay if elected on May 18.
On April 9, Coalition Gilmore MP Ann Sudmalis pledged $1.53 million to a Headspace facility in Batemans Bay.
The Eurobodalla Shire lacks a resident psychiatrist and has no mental health beds or drug and alcohol residential rehabilitation.
Health Minister Greg Hunt, in March, pledged $9 million to help Mission Australia "support a Triple Care Farm, 12-week holistic rehabilitation program and the development of a new 10 bed patient residential center in the Batemans Bay area".
That followed Opposition Leader Bill Shorten's $25 million pledge to fund mental health services at the planned Eurobodalla regional hospital.
Speaking in Batemans Bay, NSW Senator and Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health Deb O'Neill said a complete Headspace facility offered a number of services a satellite service could not provide.
"(A Shorten Labor government) will deliver a $3.5 million investment in youth mental health in this area for a real Headspace, a genuine full-scale Headspace with the full services that wrap around the community," she said.
Gilmore Labor candidate Fiona Phillips said it was important to have a Batemans Bay facility so young people would not need to travel.
"People are crying out for help and we want to help prevent issues before they occur, and this will deliver that," she said.
"We have a distinct lack of transport, especially young people.
"(They say,) 'how do you get to Nowra, how do you get to Canberra?'"
She said Mr Shorten's $25 million pledge in February included residential care.
"We made that commitment because we want to make sure we have mental health inpatient beds at that new Eurobodalla hospital," she said.
In response to whether Labor would match the $9 million in drug and alcohol services the federal government said it would provide in Batemans Bay, Senator O'Neill said Headspace would address alcohol and drug issues through the number of services it offers.
"Drug and alcohol services within Headspace are a standard offering," she said.
"One of them is mental health, the other one is drug and alcohol, then there's general physical and sexual health, but also there are jobs - helping young people find connections."
When asked how Labor could help bring a resident psychiatrist to the area, the Senator said a Headspace was a great start.
"One of the things you do when you get the Headspace model into a community is you provide stable and reliable services into the community," she said.
"One of the problems that GPs and specialists are facing is uncertainty in the face of government cuts to the business model they need to operate."
She said when schools, hospitals and infrastructure were properly funded, professionals would want to move to the South Coast.
"Headspace will be a critical part of that, and the investment in the Eurobodalla Hospital will also be another very significant element that will tie the quality of healthcare into this community that it deserves."
