Specialised mental health care facilities

MHSOs report on their consumer committee representation arrangements. These arrangements support the inclusion of mental health consumers in the planning, delivery and evaluation of services.

There are 4 levels of representation, from:

• Level 1 - the most formal consumer committee representation arrangements; to
• Level 4 - no formal consumer advisory arrangements.

Descriptions of each level are available in the data source section and Figure FAC.1.

Between 2014–15 and 2023–24, the highest proportion of consumer committee representation has consistently been Level 1 agreements, while Level 2 agreements have consistently been the lowest (Table FAC.8).

Figure FAC.1 provides more detail.

Figure FAC.1: Specialised mental health organisations, by level of consumer committee representation, 2014–15 to 2023–24

In 2023–24, the rate of public sector specialised mental health hospital beds per 100,000 population were distributed nationally across target population categories as follows: 

• 32 in General category 
• 20 in Older person category 
• 5 in Child and adolescent category
• 3 in Youth category
• 3 in Forensic category.

This distribution pattern has remained relatively stable over the past 5 years.

Population rates for each target population category varied across states and territories, reflecting different service profiles. However, most beds in each jurisdiction were in General target population category (see Figure FAC.3, Tables FAC.14 and FAC.16). 

Figure FAC.3: Public sector specialised mental health hospital beds, by target population, states and territories, 2023–24

Staff in specialised mental health care facilities are also reported by the service setting of where they work. In 2023–24 (Table FAC.38):

• 43% (17,426 FTE) worked in hospital services 
• 40% (16,269 FTE) worked in community services
• 11% (4,302 FTE) worked in organisational overhead settings
• 7% (2,924 FTE) worked in residential services. 

Between 2014–15 and 2023–24, the rate of FTE staff per 100,000 population increased (Table FAC.40):

• in public hospital services from 60 to 66
• in community services from 51 to 61
• in organisational overhead settings from 13 to 16 
• in residential services from 9 to 11. 

Health care providers include Salaried medical officers, Nurses, Diagnostic and allied health professionals, Consumer and carer workers and Other personal care staff. These categories can be reported at the organisational level, by service setting and by target population. 

In 2023–24, the number of FTE health care providers per 100,000 population by service setting and target population (Table FAC.41) was:

• 61 in public hospital services
• 55 in community services
• 10 in residential services.

Specialised mental health organisations employ mental health consumer workers and mental health carer workers for their lived experience of mental illness and caring for people with mental illness. In 2023–24, 53% of organisations employed Consumer workers and 35% employed Carer workers (Table FAC.5).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (First Nations) people access a range of mental health services provided and/or funded by Australian, state and territory governments. The Australian Government funds health organisations to deliver social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) services for First Nations people (AIHW 2024). These services provide support such as counselling, casework, family tracing and reunion support and other wellbeing activities for individuals, families, and communities.

For more information on SEWB service profiles, staffing and types of services, see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specific primary health care: results from the OSR and nKPI collections (AIHW 2025).

In 2023–24, public hospital services provided about 2.3 million patient days (Tables FAC.26 and FAC.29). Of these, 78% were in acute programs in public psychiatric hospitals or specialised psychiatric units or wards in public acute hospitals. 

Across all public sector hospital services, the national rate was 85 patient days per 1,000 population (Table FAC.27).

In 2023–24, residential mental health services provided over 721,100 patient days with 85% of residents in 24-hour staffed services (Table FAC.32). 

The national rate among the General population was 32 patient days per 1,000 population (Table FAC.33).

In 2023–24, private hospital mental health services provided about 1.2 million patients days, equating to 44 patient days per 1,000 population (Table FAC.24).

National Mental Health Establishments Database

Data collection for the Mental Health Establishments (MHE) NMDS began on 1 July 2005. The MHE NMDS was developed to expand on the former Community Mental Health Establishments NMDS and to replicate data previously collected through the former National Survey of Mental Health Services. The National Mental Health Establishments Database is compiled as specified by the MHE NMDS. 

The scope of the MHE NMDS includes all specialised mental health services managed or funded, partially or fully, by state or territory health authorities. These services have the primary function of providing treatment, rehabilitation or community health support for people with a mental disorder or psychiatric disability. Services are delivered from facilities that are clearly identified as specialised and dedicated to mental health care.

MHE NMDS data are reported at several levels: 

• State, regional and organisational levels - include data on revenue, grants to non-government organisations and indirect expenditure.
• Organisational level - includes salary and non-salary expenditure, numbers of full-time equivalent staff and consumer and carer participation arrangements.
• Service unit level - includes data on target population, program type, number of beds, patient days, separations, service contacts and episodes of residential care. It also includes salary and non-salary expenditure and depreciation.

Data Quality Statements for National Minimum Data Sets (NMDSs) are published annually on the Metadata Online Registry (METEOR). Statements provide information on the institutional environment, timelines, accessibility, interpretability, relevance, accuracy, and coherence.

Data validation

Data presented in this publication are the most current available for all years presented. A validation process assesses the data for consistency within the current collection and across historical data. 

This process applies a range of rules to identify potential issues. Jurisdictional representatives review and respond to each issue before the data are accepted as reliable. Sometimes, this process highlights issues with historical data. In these cases, historical data may be adjusted to improve consistency. 

Because of these adjustments, comparisons with previous versions of the Mental health online report (previously referred to as Mental health services in Australia) should be made with caution.

Mental health consumer and carer workforce data

The number of FTE consumer and carer workers is relatively small. As a result, even minor changes in FTE may lead to large percentage changes over time. In 2010–11, the definition of this workforce component was updated to better reflect a range of contemporary roles. Because of this change, caution is needed when interpreting time series data for consumer and carer workers. 

Consumer committee representation arrangements

Specialised mental health organisations report consumer participation arrangements that promote the inclusion of mental health consumers in the planning, delivery, and evaluation of the service. These arrangements are reported at four levels:

National standards for mental health services review status

Eight levels describe the extent to which a service unit has implemented the National Standards for Mental Health Services:

Source: National Standards for Mental Health Services status (see METEOR ID: 573549).

Reporting levels for national standards

To align with the National Key Performance Indicator set for Mental Health Services, data are reported at 4 levels. 

• Level 1 Code 1 
• Level 2 Code 2 
• Level 3 Codes 3 and 4 
• Level 4 Codes 5–7 
• Code 8 is excluded as the standards do not apply to these units.

To show the proportion of mental health services meeting each National Standard level, expenditure for each service unit is used in the calculation. This approach accounts for the relative size of each unit. Accreditation is cyclical, so results for states and territories may vary from year to year.

New South Wales CADE and T-BASIS services

From 1 July 2007, all New South Wales Confused and Disturbed Elderly (CADE) 24-hour staffed residential mental health care services were reclassified as specialised mental health non-acute admitted patient hospital services, called Transitional Behavioural Assessment and Intervention Service (T-BASIS). Data on services, beds, staffing and expenditure have been re-classified from 2007–08 onwards. Use caution when comparing data over time.

New South Wales Mental Health Community Living Programs

New South Wales established the NSW Housing Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI), established in 2002, provides housing linked to clinical and psychosocial rehabilitation through a partnership between NSW Health, Housing NSW and NGOs. Community Living Supports (CLS) began in 2016 to extend similar support to more people with severe mental illness.

From 2017–18, supported housing places changed following the end of the Commonwealth National Partnership Agreement (NPA) on Mental Health Services. NSW funded up to 200 places until December 2017 to allow transition to alternative arrangements, including the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

HASI and CLS are reported as Specialised mental health service–supported mental health housing places (METEOR identifier 390929) and are out of scope as Residential mental health care services (METEOR identifier 373049). 

Public sector specialised mental health beds

In 2017–18, Queensland began reporting specialised residential mental health service beds to the Mental Health Establishments collection. This change followed the reclassification of some public sector mental health hospital beds.

Organisational overhead setting

The organisational overhead setting was introduced in 2013–14 to improve national consistency in reporting and clarify which staff deliver direct patient care. This setting includes parts of specialised mental health service organisations that do not provide patient care or operate admitted patient, residential or community mental health care service settings. It does not mean these roles have no impact on service delivery. For example, a chief operating officer who does not provide patient care or manage a specific service setting would be reported under organisational overhead. States and territories are still implementing this reporting methodology (see Table FAC.39 for detailed time series data).

Rate calculations

Calculations of rates for target populations are based on age-specific populations as defined by the MHE NMDS metadata and outlined below:

• General services: persons aged 18–64
• Child and adolescent services: persons aged 0–17
• Youth services: persons aged 16–24
• Older persons: persons aged 65 and over
• Forensic services: persons aged 18 and over

Crude rates were calculated using the Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated resident population (ERP) at the midpoint of the data range. Historical rates have been recalculated using revised ERPs based on the 2011, 2016 and 2021 Census of Population and Housing, as detailed in the online technical information.

Private health reporting

Private hospital specialised mental health services staffing

Data for staffing provided in private hospital specialised mental health services are no longer available. These data were previously provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics through its Private Hospitals Establishment Collection (PHEC), but this survey was discontinued in 2016–17.

Private Health Establishments Collection

The ABS conducted the Private Health Establishments Collection (PHEC) from 1992–93 to 2016–17 (excluding 2007–08), covering all licensed private hospitals and approved day hospital facilities. The census collected data on staffing, finances and activity (ABS, 2018). Definitions were based on the National health data dictionary (NHDD) and published on the AIHW’s Metadata Online Registry (METEOR) website (AIHW 2015). 

Private psychiatric hospitals were defined as those providing 50% or more patient days for psychiatric care, including specialised units or wards in private hospitals. 

Private Psychiatric Hospitals Data Reporting and Analysis Service

The Australian Private Hospitals Association Private Psychiatric Hospitals Data Reporting and Analysis Service (PPHDRAS), launched in 2001, supports private hospitals with psychiatric beds to collect and report nationally agreed clinical measures or monitoring and improving care. It works with private hospitals, health insurers and funders (for example, Department of Veterans’ Affairs) to provide quarterly reports on service provision and patient outcomes.

PPHDRAS helps private hospitals implement the National Model for the Collection and Analysis of a Minimum Data Set with Outcome Measures and provides standard reports for quality monitoring. It also maintains training resources and a database for submitting de-identified data. Since 2017–18, all private hospital data have been sourced from the PPHDRAS, excluding expenditure and staffing (FTE) data (APHA 2025).

Residential mental health service beds

In the Australian Capital Territory, non-24-hour staffed residential beds fell from 45 to 5 between 2015–16 and 2016–17. These beds remain operational but are funded under the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) and are now out of scope for Mental Health Establishments (MHE) NMDS reporting. Since the NDIS began, reported non-24-hour staffed residential specialised beds have decreased.

ABS (Australian Bureau of Statistics) 2018. Private Hospitals, Australia, accessed 25 November 2025.

AIHW (Australian Institute of Health and Welfare) 2025. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander specific primary health care: results from the OSR and nKPI collections, OSR – staff (FTE), Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, accessed 25 November 2025.

AIHW 2024. Health and wellbeing of First Nations people, accessed 25 November 2025.

AIHW 2015. National Health Data Dictionary: version 16.2, accessed 25 November 2025.

APHA (Australian Private Hospitals Association) 2025. APHA: Private Psychiatric Hospitals Data Report and Analysis Service - public reports and Analysis Service - public reports, accessed 24 November 2025.

Department of Health and Aged Care 2010. National Standards for Mental Health Services accessed 24 November 2025.