http://www.thepunch.com.au/author-bios/patrick-mcgorry/ Professor Patrick McGorry AO is a former Australian of the Year. He is a leading international researcher, clinician and advocate for mental health reform. This piece was contributed as part of The Australian’s Shaping Our Future series (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/shapingourfuture) which this week is examining the challenges and opportunities facing healthcare in the future. en Copyright 2012 The Punch penberthyd@newsltd.com.au penberthyd@newsltd.com.au Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Sat, 26 May 2012 20:00:49 +0000 Politics, opinion, world news, sports news, latest news, views, Barack Obama, Kevin Rudd, Julia Gillard, Nathan Rees, Malcolm Turnbull, Peter Garrett, Barnaby Joyce, Australian, federal politics, opinion polls, election, The Punch, thepunch, punch ExpressionEngine 1.6.7 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 15 http://www.thepunch.com.au/images/punch-logo-rss.png http://www.thepunch.com.au/ 144 70 Politics, political opinion, world news, sports news and the latest news and views updated live, daily on The Punch - Australia's best conversation. Search The Punch keywords http://www.thepunch.com.au/search/ http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-governments-thrown-the-black-dog-a-bone/ The recent Federal budget has underlined the fact that mental ill-health is the major health issue facing Australians in the early part of the 21st century.  Responding to the reality that Australians now regard mental health among the top three national concerns, just behind the economy and climate change, all sides of politics now support substantial growth in investment in mental health care.  The Gillard Government allocated $2.2 billion as a decent down payment in a tight budget on mental health reform, crucially beginning to build strength in early intervention models for young people, who bear the main burden of onset for the major mental disorders of adult life. feedback@thepunch.com.au (Patrick McGorry) Article http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-governments-thrown-the-black-dog-a-bone/#comments http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/the-governments-thrown-the-black-dog-a-bone/#item5919 Tue, 24 May 2011 19:40:16 +0000 Patrick McGorry | Author bios | The Punch