Why Our Impact Matters
Adverse experiences during infancy, such as maternal depression, exposure to violence, or neglect, can have profound and lasting effects on children throughout their lifetime. These adverse childhood experiences increase the risk of children experiencing the following challenges throughout their lives.
These challenges can deny infants and young children the opportunity to thrive throughout their lives and impose substantial economic burdens on healthcare systems and social services.
Children in Australia aged zero to four years received a mental health service
Less than 1% 1
In 2019 alone, the two most common perinatal mental health conditions, depression and anxiety, are estimated to have cost
A$877 million 2
The cost of perinatal depression and anxiety in Australia (after a baby is born) rises to
A$1.2 billion 3
20% of WA children
Australia’s parent and infant health system currently has:
- A critical gap in the mental health system with a lack of innovative and evidence-based clinical programs for targeted parent and infant mental health support for the most vulnerable families
- Inconsistent spread of existing funding both across and within States and Territories and many rural and regional areas have no access to services at all
- Workforce shortages in mental health forecast to grow to 40% by 20306 with severe shortage of dedicated and specialised practitioners in Australia
Investing in parent and infant mental health early makes a collective impact through:
- Every A$1 of investment in mental health prevention yields up to A$4.927 in savings to the community
- Investing in programs such as Child Parent Psychotherapy has a 96% chance of producing benefits greater than the program cost8
- A baby's mental health is tied to the world around them, more than at any other time in their lives.
[1] Segal, L, Guy, S, Furber, G. (2018). What is the current level of mental health service delivery and expenditure on infants, children, adolescents, and young people in Australia? Australian & New Zealand
Journal of Psychiatry, Vol.52; [2] 163-172; 2 PwC Consulting Australia. The cost of perinatal depression and anxiety in Australia. November 2019; [3] P2P estimate for 2023 based on births (Department of Justice. The Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages, January 2024) and incidence provided by PANDA 2020/21 budget submission; [4] Australian Early Development Census; [5] Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) 2021; [6] Department of Health and Aged Care. National Mental Health Workforce Strategy 2022-2032; [7] Oppenheim et al 2022 referencing Washington State Institute for Public Policy, Benefit-cost results. Based on exchange rate of US$1:A$1.49 as of 22 July 2024; [8] Oppenheim et al 2022 referencing Washington State Institute for Public Policy. Child-Parent Psychotherapy. 2019
