876. Hon ALISON XAMON to the parliamentary secretary representing the Minister for Health:
I refer to the “Integrated Atlas of Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs”, the development of which was initiated in 2016 through a partnership between the WA Primary Health Alliance and the Mental Health Commission.
(1) When will the integrated atlas be launched?
(2) Given that a considerable amount of time has passed since the initial information needed to populate the atlas was collected, how can the minister be assured that the information contained in the integrated atlas remains current?
Hon ALANNA CLOHESY replied:
I thank the honourable member for some notice of the question.
(1) The Mental Health Commission has completed a comprehensive review of the integrated atlas and has subsequently approved its publication, recommending it is utilised by the WA Primary Health Alliance and the Mental Health Commission for planning and policy purposes. The MHC and WAPHA are now in discussion regarding a publication date with an expectation that this will occur in October 2018.
(2) The completed integrated atlas includes only services that are considered stable—that is, those that have been funded for more than three years or have funding secured for three years—with 20 per cent or more clients with a mental health diagnosis. The underlying data within the atlas is therefore unlikely to have varied significantly. The Mental Health Commission is continuing to liaise with WAPHA to determine options for updating the atlas in future.