A battle is brewing over mental health services in Hobart’s northern suburbs.

Minister Jaensch says that the move from a Tolosa Street institution to a new facility in Chigwell will provide better care in more amenable environment.

Union HACSU say the Tolosa facility is still required and that the change amounts to privatisation by stealth.

Shadow Minister Haddad claims that the change is mainly designed to prop up the budget by selling off a community asset.

We reproduce the statements below.

Media release – Roger Jaensch, Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, 30 April 2025

Best-practice approach to mental health, as Labor abandons community delivered services

Claims by Labor and the unions regarding job losses or gaps in service provision are false and designed to strike fear among workers.

The current proposal to move Statewide Mental Health Services delivered at Tolosa Street to a purpose-built facility in Chigwell is a part of the Tasmanian Government’s strategy for a best-practice approach to building a contemporary, integrated model of mental health care to ensure Tasmanians can get more holistic support, in the right place, at the right time.

The proposed approach to move mental health beds to Richmond Futures will move away from institutional care settings to a model that provides individualised care and enhancing the consumer’s experience.

I am advised that feedback from the individuals involved, and their families or carers, that a clinically focussed setting is often not the best place for people recovering from mental ill health and being supported in community environments with pathways to independent living can lead to much better outcomes.

The facility is already built and operational, with a number of Government funded services already operational at the site.

There are currently 26 beds available at the purpose-built facility, with 16 of these currently funded by the State Government. This proposed change will see the Government fund the remaining 10 beds.

The current Tolosa Street building has 12 beds, with an average occupancy rate in the last five years between 8 to 9 beds.

Richmond Futures is a not-for-profit community sector provider, with almost 40 years’ experience in providing residential rehabilitation across Tasmania with individuals with serious mental illness.

They have a proven track record and deliver residential mental health services funded by the Tasmanian Government in the North and North-West of the State.
Tasmanian community sector organisations deliver mental health services right around the State and have provided those services for decades. Labor has never criticised those services before.

Labor’s scare campaign does not achieve better outcomes for Tasmanians. To date Labor has not argued against our mental health reforms, which ensures people are cared for in the community wherever possible.

Our Government has remained committed and consistent to mental health reforms and ensuring Tasmanians get the care they need, where it helps them most, which is why we are investing record amounts into mental health as part of our long-term plan to deliver a world-class mental health system.

The Government will continue to consult on the proposed model until May 23.

Media release – Health and Community Services Union, 30 April 2025

Mental health workers walk off the job to protest Liberal government’s privatisation plans

Mental health workers at the Tolosa Street Adult Mental Health Service will walk off the job for one hour at 12:00pm today in a show of defiance against the state government’s move to reduce public mental health services and privatise the facility.

The Tolosa Street Adult Mental Health Service is one of six public mental health facilities in the state and specifically helps vulnerable Tasmanians build independent living skills and focus on long-term recovery.

“The Tolosa Street facility saves lives but Jeremy Rockliff wants to hand over this vital mental health service to private operators whose priority isn’t care, it’s profit,” HACSU State Secretary Robbie Moore said.

“The Liberal government has shown repeatedly that it doesn’t value public health infrastructure, and there are plenty of examples where the privatisation of essential public services consistently leads to reduced quality of care, higher costs, and diminished accountability.

Tasmanians simply cannot afford to stand by while public health services are cut or handed over to private interests,” he added.

Workers are calling for the immediate cancellation of the sell-off of the Tolosa Street Adult Mental Health Service and for the state government to commit to maintaining and expanding public investment in mental health care.

Media release – Ella Haddad MP, Shadow Minister for Health, 30 April 2025

Rockliff’s fire sale reaches mental health – Labor stands with workers

Jeremy Rockliff’s move to privatise the Tolosa Street Adult Mental Health Service is a reckless decision that will put vulnerable Tasmanians at risk.

This is a 12-bed publicly provided facility supporting people with serious mental health needs, with specialist workers dedicated to the service. It’s a frontline public service that people rely on and Roger Jaensch has refused to deny it’s being closed and transferred to the community sector.

Let’s be clear: this is not about improving care outcomes or conditions for workers. Jeremy Rockliff is just trying to mop up his budget mess created by 11 years of Liberal mismanagement.

We’ve already seen how this will play out, private operators walk in, cut corners to make a profit, then close their doors when it goes south, leaving patients and workers worse off. It’s exactly what happened with St Helen’s and Healthscope and the Liberals can’t let it happen again.

We know that Jeremy Rockliff can’t manage money and he’s desperately trying to fix his budget mess by selling off vital public services and assets, and now it appears mental health services are also subject to his privatisation fire sale.

While there is of course a role for community service organisations to provide mental health services, this should always be in addition to publicly provided services which must be preserved, especially in an area as critical as mental health.

Tasmania simply can’t afford to lose more mental health services out of the public system.

Labor will stand up against the Premier’s desperate privatisation plans at every turn so Tasmanians can continue to rely on essential public services.

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