In a stunning revelation by The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare it said that the country is spending an increasing amount to help people with mental health concerns.

A report submitted by the institute shows that the national recurrent spending on mental health services between 2007 and 2008 was $5.3 billion.

It was seen that the maximum funding; about 60 percent came from the state territory governments, 36 percent from the Commonwealth, and the remaining was from the private health funds.

Institute director Penny Allbon says that 2006 Medicare changes have also prompted more use of services.

She said, “This report demonstrates that the growth in expenditure on services is around 6 per cent overall. So with population growth being an annual average of about 1.8 per cent per annum it does indicate that mental health services are keeping up well with population growth, and in fact exceeding population growth.”

Women were more likely to visit their doctor than men whereas indigenous Australians accounted for just one per cent of the GP visits, which clearly shows a barrier to access.