What is Better Care Together
Better Care Together – a plan for Queensland’s state-funded mental health, alcohol and other drug services to 2027 is Queensland Health’s five-year plan. It was developed based on consultation with more than 500 stakeholders across our health services, peak bodies, non-government organisations, people with lived experience, families and carers.
Better Care Together is supporting the implementation of many of the key recommendations from the Queensland Government’s extensive inquiry into mental health, alcohol and drug services (PDF)—which resulted in 57 recommendations for improving the system of care and outcomes for Queenslanders.
Read the Select Committee's report or learn more about the terms of reference on the Queensland Parliament website.
Better Care Together aims to advance healthcare and outcomes for people experiencing:
- mental health crisis including suicidality
- mental ill health
- problematic alcohol and other drug use.
The ways that treatment and care are delivered in Queensland is changing.
Queenslanders in need will benefit from an increased mental health, alcohol and other drugs workforce who are supported to deliver new and innovative services closer to their community.
These are impactful changes, each informed by the perspectives of people with lived experience, their families and carers.
The benefits of Better Care Together can only be achieved by working together with our partners — people with lived experience, their families, carers, and significant others; service providers and other stakeholders across sectors; and communities across Queensland.
We’re making sure that there are more options, more readily available when Queenslanders most need our support.
We’ve developed the plan in consultation with over 500 stakeholders across Queensland including:
- people with lived experience of mental health crisis, mental illness or problematic alcohol and other drug use including families and carers
- specialist community organisations, peak bodies and non-government organisations who work in mental health, alcohol and other drugs health care
- Queensland’s Hospital and Health Services.
| Plan | ||
| Highlights |
Strengthening service capacity and the built environment
Responding to mental health crisis and suicidality
Delivering improved services with First Nations peoples
Strengthening quality to reduce harm and improve outcomes
Improving workforce capability and sustainability
Delivering digital capability and digitally enabled treatment, care and support
It also includes investment for initiatives that:
Promote mental health and wellbeing
Deliver social initiatives to improve mental health and wellbeing
Deliver alcohol and other drug responses beyond the health system
Why it's important
Many Queenslanders experience mental ill health, problematic alcohol and other drug use and mental health crisis in their life. Which is why it’s important that every Queenslander can access high quality care in their community.
There has also been a significant increase in demand for mental health crisis care, including suicide crisis care over the last 10 years. While mental health crises can be very challenging, with the right support at the right time, people can recover quickly. That’s why it’s essential that people can access recovery-orientated and preventative support close to home.
Annual updates
Our Annual progress updates provide an overview of what has been achieved under Better Care Together.
2023-2024 annual progress update (PDF 8659 kB)
Previous updates
Digital Information Strategy
To support the implementation of Better Care Together, we’ve also developed a Digital Information Strategy that sets out how we're improving care through:
- digital health innovations and solutions
- integrated information.
Last updated: 27 September 2024