220,000 NSW Citizens Missing Out on Mental Health Services

Sydney — About 220,000 people across New South Wales (NSW) are missing out on psychosocial support as mental health services struggle to meet demand, a NSW Health analysis cited by NSW mental health peak bodies has revealed.

The analysis indicates that about 125,000 people in NSW who need long-term psychosocial support are not receiving it, along with approximately 95,000 carers, adding up  to an estimated total of 220,000 people who are missing out on support.

The figures have raised concerns among NSW mental health peak organisations, which fear the situation could worsen after negotiations over the new National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement were postponed until December 2026.

The organisations warn the delay could leave people already missing out on psychosocial support facing further gaps in mental health care, as they said almost no mental health service in the state was meeting the level of service estimated to be required under the national planning framework.

"In NSW, at least 67,500 people experiencing health challenges are unable to access emergency care each year due to underfunding and understaffing of services,

"No local health district in NSW reaches half the modelled need.

"The best-served, Far West NSW reaches 41.6 per cent while the worst, Northern Sydney, reaches just 13.0 per cent," said the organisations.

BEING–Mental Health Consumers Chief Executive, Giancarlo de Vera, said the postponement was particularly concerning given the number of people already unable to access support.

“In NSW, we have at least 220,000 people who are in desperate need of psychosocial support and cannot access it, with thousands more to come as people are kicked off their NDIS supports in the coming weeks,” de Vera said.

“This is a mental health crisis that requires the urgent attention of our nation’s Health Ministers, and yet, it’s been booted from their meeting agenda until December," he said.

The National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement is a five-year funding and reform agreement between the Commonwealth and state and territory governments.

The existing agreement expired in June 2026 but was extended for 12 months until June 2027 while governments negotiate a replacement.

Negotiations were however postponed after Commonwealth, state and territory governments failed to resolve a dispute over who should fund psychosocial support in NSW, resulting in the Agreement being subsequently removed from the agenda of the Health Ministers’ Meeting held on Friday, September 4.

With negotiations now pushed back until December and the current agreement due to expire in June 2027, mental health peak bodies are urging governments to resolve the funding dispute and prevent further gaps in psychosocial support.

The organisations are calling for full funding of psychosocial supports, an expansion of community-based services, a delay to NDIS support changes until suitable state services are available, greater transparency around mental health service gaps, and completion of negotiations on the national agreement before the March 2027 NSW election.