• examining the roles and responsibilities of the different levels of government (including local government) for health and related services;
• simplifying funding arrangements, and better defining roles and responsibilities, between the different levels of government, with a particular emphasis on hospitals;
• considering how and whether accountability to the Australian community for the quality and delivery of public hospitals and medical services can be improved;
• how best to ensure that a strong private health sector can be sustained into the future, based on positive relationships between private health funds, private and public hospitals, medical practitioners, other health professionals and agencies in various levels of government; and
• while accepting the continuation of the Commonwealth commitment to the 30 per cent and Senior’s Private Health Insurance Rebates, and Lifetime Health Cover, identify innovative ways to make private health insurance a still more attractive option to Australians who can afford to take some responsibility for their own health cover.

With such wide ranging terms of reference and State Premiers already indicating an interest in changing their roles in the health sector, including allowing the Commonwealth to take over responsibility for hospitals, the Inquiry is likely to recommend fundamental changes to the Australian health sector.

• the extent to which the National Mental Health Strategy, the resources committed to it and the division of responsibility for policy and funding between all levels of government have achieved its aims and objectives, and the barriers to progress;
• the adequacy of various modes of care for people with a mental illness, in particular, prevention, early intervention, acute care, community care, after hours crisis services and respite care;
• opportunities for improving coordination and delivery of funding and services at all levels of government to ensure appropriate and comprehensive care is provided throughout the episode of care;
• the appropriate role of the private and non-government sectors;
• the extent to which unmet need in supported accommodation, employment, family and social support services, is a barrier to better mental health outcomes;
• the special needs of groups such as children, adolescents, the aged, Indigenous Australians, the socially and geographically isolated and of people with complex and co-morbid conditions and drug and alcohol dependence;
• the role and adequacy of training and support for primary carers in the treatment, recovery and support of people with a mental illness;
• the role of primary health care in promotion, prevention, early detection and chronic care management;
• opportunities for reducing the effects of iatrogenesis and promoting recovery-focused care through consumer involvement, peer support and education of the mental health workforce, and for services to be consumer-operated;
• the overrepresentation of people with a mental illness in the criminal justice system and in custody, the extent to which these environments give rise to mental illness, the adequacy of legislation and processes in protecting their human rights and the use of diversion programs for such people;
• the practice of detention and seclusion within mental health facilities and the extent to which it is compatible with human rights instruments, humane treatment and care standards, and proven practice in promoting engagement and minimising treatment refusal and coercion;
• the adequacy of education in de-stigmatising mental illness and disorders and in providing support service information to people affected by mental illness and their families and carers;
• the proficiency and accountability of agencies, such as housing, employment, law enforcement and general health services, in dealing appropriately with people affected by mental illness;
• the current state of mental health research, the adequacy of its funding and the extent to which best practice is disseminated;
• the adequacy of data collection, outcome measures and quality control for monitoring and evaluating mental health services at all levels of government and opportunities to link funding with compliance with national standards; and
• the potential for new modes of delivery of mental health care, including e-technology.

Submissions from interested parties are to be received by April 28 before a series of public hearings will be held around the country.