“We need to turn the tap off instead of building a bigger pond.” Our Chair Paul Creedon can be quite the wordsmith and this for us sums up perfectly the crisis behind mental health in South Australia.

Last July we called on the State Government to release its Unmet Needs Report, which showed 19,000 South Australians living with complex mental illness were without the community based mental health support they need.

This support is what we call psychosocial supports and refers to services that assist people with a range of things that allow them to manage day to day living. This can include employment, housing, daily tasks and even relationships. We needed then – and still do now – urgent action to fund this support.

Yet whenever a mental health crisis hits the headlines, the Minister tells us about all the mental health beds they are investing in. We do need beds, but not as much as investment in supporting people to keep well.

The Unmet Needs Report told us how much that would be – $125m per year. This investment would come from both the State and Commonwealth Governments. So when the report was released, Health Minister Chris Picton sent it on to Canberra to deal with.

While we waited for the federal budget for action, we were optimistic we may see something in the State’s mid-budget review. We did – an investment that will grow to $2m per annum. Still $123m short. We thought this year’s federal budget would give us more; sadly, it didn’t give us anything towards investing in psychosocial supports.

The decision to pass the report on to Canberra has only led to further delays in addressing the critical mental health needs of South Australians, as the federal response has been to commission the same report across the country. We know Minister Picton understands the urgency of this situation and the impact of inaction on thousands of individuals. Latest figures from the ABS data shows people living with a mental illness in his electoral seat of Kaurna are a third higher than the State average.

Back in Canberra and the national report is now complete, and yet we still have not heard from the federal government as to what they will do. Right now we are watching the buck being passed between the states and federal government, and no change here on the ground.

Meanwhile, when people want to know what is at the heart of our ramping crisis, we often hear people living with mental distress as the cause. We also have to endure calls for separate emergency departments for mental health patients when we already have an Urgent Mental Health Care Centre.

The recent decision to allow referrals from the UMHCC to psychosocial services is creating a robust pathway for people to manage their distress without going to the Emergency Department. But honestly, we will dramatically reduce pressure on crisis services and beds if we invest in more urgent care centres and psychosocial supports.

By investing what is a relatively small amount of your mental health budget – $125m – in prevention and supports that keep people well and out of crisis, you – the taxpayer – are not only making savings, you are making your investment back.

Today, Mental Health Ministers from all over the country are meeting. We cannot recall the last time this happened. So to mark this occasion we have joined 80 signatories from all over the country, calling on the federal government to release the national Unmet Needs Report and to fix our mental health crisis now.

Mental Health Australia has estimated nationally 154,000 people are missing out on the psychosocial supports they need. With mental health now the most common issue managed by GPs and people presenting to Emergency Departments, we cannot wait any longer.

We must recognise that this is a human rights issue, not a political one, and realise that the protracted inaction at the federal and state level has only exacerbated the impacts of those in need and contributed to the strain on the healthcare system. As Minister Picton participates in this meeting with his federal and state colleagues, we are looking for leadership to address the needs of those he serves and take decisive action today.