Funding will be delivered over the next five years and spent on improving the services and supporting rural and regional residents when it comes to their mental health."We will be looking at how we work with Government health services and the primary health networks ... in order to create a much more relevant mental health service for people in remote regions" says the Center's Trevor Hazell.
In these remote regions, the local GP acts as the mental health practitioner as opposed to urban areas like Newcastle and the Hunter, where specialised care is available.
"You may not be able to access a clinical psychologist, and thier are barries ... because of fear that everyone in the town would know" says Mr Hazell
"In a metropolitan area, you can access them anonymously."
Mr Hazell adds that weather plays a significant role in the mental health of farmers, with the fear of whether or not their will be rain before harvest.
"Their continuously looking towards a possible good future, but also a possible uncertain future. And this effects not just those of produce the agriculture, it affects the workers."
Image courtesy of Matthias Ripp, via Flickr (LINK).
