FOI 20-01 – Policy Briefs

Written by Claude Haiku 4.5 from the extracted text on 27 Feb 2026. It can miss or misread redacted and scanned pages. Check the source before relying on it.

This research brief from the National Mental Health Commission documents the mental health impacts of 2020's bushfires, natural disasters, and COVID-19 pandemic on Australian communities. Pre-2020 baseline data showed one in five Australians experienced mental illness annually and one in eight aged 18+ reported high psychological distress. The brief presents evidence that 2020 significantly increased community mental health prevalence, evidenced by 374% higher usage of the Head to Health website (4,377 daily users by early December 2020), 12% increased Reachout website usage, 16% higher MBS-subsidised mental health services (1,164,280 services in four weeks), and 25% increased helpline contacts (114,336 calls). Data indicated higher mental distress in Victoria correlating with prolonged lockdown restrictions. The brief recommends individual, tailored approaches to mental health self-care during crises, informed