New Report Shows Economic Cost of Perinatal Depression
New research reveals 1800 Australian parents are diagnosed every week with post and antenatal depression at a cost to the economy of $433 million.
View by date:
Previous MinistersPDF printable version of New Report Shows Economic Cost of Perinatal Depression (PDF 134 KB)
13 November 2012
New research launched today by Minister for Mental Health Mark Butler reveals 1800 Australian parents are diagnosed every week with post and antenatal depression at a cost to the economy of $433 million.
In the week before Postnatal Depression Awareness Week, Mr Butler congratulated the Post and Antenatal Depression Association (PANDA) on the new report, saying the entire community stood to benefit from efforts to raise awareness and provide early intervention to new parents.
“Being a new mum or dad can be the most rewarding experience of one’s life, but it can also be an enormously challenging time for many parents,” Mr Butler said.
“We’ve known for some time the emotional and human toll of post and antenatal depression but this is the first time anyone has tried to quantify that cost in terms of lost productivity from days absent from work and the cost to the health system.”
Mr Butler also noted that the new study observed both mums and dads were susceptible.
“This is a condition which we tend to associate with women but it actually affects one in twenty men as well so we need to raise awareness and break down the stigma so that all parents feel comfortable speaking up and seeking support.”
The Federal Labor Government, in partnership with the states and territories, introduced the first ever National Perinatal Depression Initiative in 2010 with $85 million to improve screening, support and treatment services.
“That initiative has seen us take big strides in terms of community awareness, introducing universal screening and providing better support services including by the expansion of the Access to Allied Psychological Services program,” Mr Butler said.
“With these investments the Government is seeking to improve prevention and early detection of antenatal and postnatal depression, as well as providing better support and treatment for parents and expectant parents experiencing depression.”
“The Government’s record $2.2 billion mental health reform plan also provides increased supports for people with mental health issues including those dealing with postnatal depression such as the $206 million boost to allied psychological services."
Parents needing someone to talk to can contact the Post and Antenatal Depression Association PANDA on its peer support line 1300 726 306 from Monday to Friday between 9.00 am and 7.00 pm.
For more information, contact the minister’s office on 02 6277 7280.
Help with accessing large documents
When accessing large documents (over 500 KB in size), it is recommended that the following procedure be used:
- Click the link with the RIGHT mouse button
- Choose "Save Target As.../Save Link As..." depending on your browser
- Select an appropriate folder on a local drive to place the downloaded file
Attempting to open large documents within the browser window (by left-clicking)
may inhibit your ability to continue browsing while the document is
opening and/or lead to system problems.
Help with accessing PDF documents
To view PDF (Portable Document Format) documents, you will need to have a PDF reader installed on your computer. A number of PDF readers are available through the Australian Government Information Management Office (AGIMO) Web Guide website.