The State Budget continues Victoria's national leadership in mental health service delivery and reform with a further $170 million boost over five years.

The Health Minister, Bronwyn Pike, said the extra funding meant Victoria would deliver at least $472 million under the National Action Plan on Mental Health by 2011.

'The Government is continuing to invest in key mental health services and infrastructure and in our greatest resource, people,' Ms Pike said.

'The Budget funding helps meet the challenges delivering mental health services to people when and where they need them, delivering new world-class facilities and extra funding across the whole mental health system.'

Ms Pike said the Budget included more funding for prevention and early intervention programs, as well as increases for both the community-based and hospital-based parts of the mental health system, housing services for the mentally-ill and community education.

'One in five Victorians will experience an episode of mental illness in their lives.

'This Budget recognises that the prevalence of mental illness in our community has a huge impact on the community and especially families.'

The funding is a key plank of the social spending in this year's Budget, grouped together under the A Fairer Victoria banner.

Ms Pike said the State Government would spend $21.4 million on new and expanded prevention and early intervention programs that will focus on helping children, women and parents, including:

•          $2.6 million to expand Post-Natal Depression Services and provide additional treatment and support for women with severe mental illness and their babies;

•          $2.4 million to support families where a parent has a mental illness;

•          $1.1 million to support the new Centre for Women's Mental Health at the Royal Women's Hospital to diagnose and treat patients, particularly those with depression and anxiety disorders, and establish a phone-based consultation service;

•          $12.7 million to establish three new early psychosis services for young people and two new conduct disorder programs for children with behaviour problems;

•          $2.6 million to expand counselling at community health centres for people with less severe mental health issues.

The Budget also delivers $36 million for community-based treatment and support:

•          $16.9 million to boost the number of people providing intensive community mental health treatment, including support for the Butterfly Foundation program at Southern Health, which provides specialist care to young people suffering from serious eating disorders;

•          $11.6 million to expand the Psychiatric Disability and Rehabilitation Support Services for Victorians with a psychiatric disability, as well as their families and carers;

•          $7.5 million to expand community care units.

Hospital-based mental health services will benefit from $46.3 million in new funding providing alternatives to inpatient care:

•          $9.4 million to provide additional Prevention and Recovery Care services (PARC) for people who need care between the community and the hospital-based care;

•          $9.2 million to put more specialist mental health teams in hospital emergency departments;

•          $21.1 million to expand the Thomas Embling Hospital by 18 beds and improve treatment for people needing secure mental health facilities;

•          $6.6 million for a new program to help people who have been long-term clients in the hospital-based system to permanently move into the community.

The Government will also deliver $45.7 million to provide greater support for people with a psychiatric disability living in the community, including:

•          $40.4 million to support the viability of Supported Residential Services, important sources of long-term accommodation for people suffering from a mental illness;

•          $5.3 million to extend the Mental Health Pathways program, which provides support to people who have been discharged from hospital and need to find accommodation.

Ms Pike said the Government would spend $20.5 million on new facilities and modernizing existing mental health buildings.

This includes $9 million to start work on planning a major new extended care facility at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital site and to build a new Kokoda gym and hydrotherapy facility as part of the veterans' rehabilitation centre.

The new facility will provide secure accommodation for people with mental illness who need longer-term care and will build on the commitment to increase bed capacity at Thomas Embling.

Ms Pike said other funding for new and improved facilities included:

•          $6.5 million to redevelop Shepparton's former Ambermere psychiatric hospital to provide 10 PARC beds and 10 community care beds;

•          $5 million for the Bouverie Centre for mentally-ill children and their families, moving the facility from Flemington to the new human services precinct in Brunswick.

The State Budget also allocates $8 million for mental health research at the Australian Centre for Neuroscience and Mental Health Research.

This year's Budget boost, together with last year's record $180 million and growth over the five years to 2011, will deliver at least $472 million under the National Action Plan on Mental Health.

The Council of Australian Governments will be meeting again in July to adopt the plan and discuss how services can be better coordinated to improve services to the mentally-ill.