$5.8 million

Secured to deliver Better. Together. multidisciplinary mental health care across 21 LGAs

23,395

Occasions of service delivered through Medicare Mental Health Centres in Wagga Wagga and Young

367

People supported through Universal Aftercare across 10,618 occasions of service

Mental health and wellbeing

Mental health support works best when people can find the right care, at the right level, through pathways that make sense for their lives.

During 2025-2026, MPHN strengthened those pathways across the Murrumbidgee – expanding aftercare, improving access to Medicare Mental Health supports and securing major investment to take multidisciplinary mental health care closer to home. Support for young people also grew, while a new five-year regional plan brought mental health, suicide prevention and alcohol and other drugs into one shared approach shaped by providers, communities and people with lived and living experience.

This work is creating more pathways into care, improving coordination and meeting people where they are.

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Better. Together. takes mental health care closer to home

A major investment secured during 2025-26 will transform how people with severe and complex mental health needs can access care across the Murrumbidgee. Better. Together. builds on MPHN’s Mental Health Nurse-led model and subsequent Team Care pilot, using what was learned to create a larger multidisciplinary model embedded within general practice.

More ways to reach people when they need support most

In 2025-2026 MPHN expanded its Universal Aftercare service. While aftercare support has existed in the Murrumbidgee for several years, people typically needed to come into contact with Local Health District clinical mental health services to access it. Yet many people experiencing suicidal thoughts or following an attempt never present to hospital or specialist mental health services.

Growing support for young people, closer to home

For young people experiencing mental health challenges, access to the right support, close to home, can make a significant difference. headspace Wagga Wagga and headspace Griffith provide free, youth-friendly services for people aged 12 to 25, supporting their mental health and wellbeing alongside physical health, alcohol and other drug concerns, and work and study needs.

Connecting people with the right mental health support

During 2025-26, Medicare Mental Health supports continued to strengthen across the Murrumbidgee, providing more accessible pathways into care and helping people navigate an often-complex service system.

A shared plan for better mental health and wellbeing

A new five-year plan was launched in December 2025, sharing a roadmap for improving mental health and wellbeing across the Murrumbidgee with the 2025-2030 Murrumbidgee Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Alcohol and Other Drugs Regional Plan.

Mental health and wellbeing

Healthy ageing and palliative care

Women, maternal and child health