Victorian Mental Health Service System
Within Victoria there is a large network of services that support people with their mental health. These include community agencies (general practitioners, community health centres, youth workers, drug and alcohol workers, accommodation services and education services), private practitioners (psychiatrists, psychologists, counsellors), and the publicly funded mental health system.
The publicly funded mental health system offers services such as assessment, case management and crisis intervention to people with mental health problems. The capacity of these services to assess and treat all those with mental health problems however is limited, and as a consequence public mental health services primarily provide services to people with a serious mental illness. The services are made up of the following programs:
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
(CAMHS) ~ 0 – 18 years
The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service provides assessment, treatment and case management to children and their families, where the child is experiencing mental health problems that are affecting his or her growth and development.
Adult Mental Health Services
(AMHS) ~16 – 64 years
The Adult Mental Health Services provides assessment, treatment, consultancy and case management to people needing treatment and care in the community or in hospital.
Primary Mental Health Teams
(PMHT)
These services provide consultation, liaison, education and training to primary health services, such as general practitioners and community health centres. They may also provide short-term treatment and assessment.
Crisis Assessment Treatment Team
(CATT) ~ 16 years and over
These services provide urgent assessment and short-term intensive treatment throughout the community to people in crisis due to a mental illness. This includes assessing the most effective and least restrictive client service options and screening all inpatient bed admissions. CATT provides treatment and support for people whose acute mental illness can be managed in the community with intensive outreach support as an alternative to hospitalisation. CATT operates 24 hours, seven days a week.
Inpatient Units
Throughout Victoria there are several public psychiatric inpatient units that are available to people who need more intensive treatment and support. CAMHS, AMHS and CATT coordinate any admissions that may be required.
Contact details for other Victorian mental health services can be found on the Department of Human Services website.
OTHER SUPPORTS
Other important sources of support are general practitioners, community health centres, private practitioners and counselling services.