Dear Sarah,
Last night GetUp members had a big win: $2.2 billion for mental health reform.
It's hard to grasp what $2.2 billion actually means -- so we recorded this video with Prof. Ian Hickie to explain the campaign, and the difference it will make for services on the ground:
www.getup.org.au/campaigns/mental-health/reportback/congratulations
Mental health was a huge winner in the Federal Budget -- one of the few new spending initiatives in a tough year. That's testament to the tireless work of mental health advocates and the huge impact GetUp members had over the past year.
Together we held local candlelight vigils across the country and put thousands of national TV ads on air. We created a 100,000 strong petition - and donated to run three full-page newspaper ads.
In our tens of thousands we called, visited, faxed and emailed politicians. And at the last election GetUp members handed out over 1.7 million scorecards showing where the parties stood on mental health. Working with experts and advocates, that all added up to a successful campaign.
A lot of numbers go into the Federal Budget, but here's a favourite: 104,641.
That's how many of us have been part of this mental health campaign over the last year. Congratulations, everyone.
In celebration,
The GetUp Team
P.S. Currently only 25% of young Australians access the mental health care they need. As a result of this budget 72,000 extra young people will benefit from headspace youth drop-in centres and over 8,000 from early psychosis intervention. Check out this video explaining the change you helped to create: www.getup.org.au/campaigns/mental-health/reportback/congratulations
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