西澳州一个家庭因无法获得足够的心理健康支持，被迫离开本州迁往维多利亚州。母亲西蒙·梅耶尔的16岁女儿患有自闭症、强迫症和抑郁症，需要复杂护理，但珀斯和南部地区的本地服务无法满足需求[1]。梅耶尔一家在2025年11月曾在两家珀斯医院的急诊科度过了60小时[1]。最终，这个家庭从玛格丽特河迁往阿尔伯里-沃东加，距离超过270公里[1]。
面对服务缺陷的批评，西澳政府随后宣布了改进措施[1]。班伯里地区医院将增加6张72小时心理健康床位，并建立新的青少年危机应对团队，该团队每周五天在办公时间提供服务[1]。值得注意的是，班伯里地区医院在2025年8月曾从23张心理健康床位减少到11张[1]。卫生部长梅瑞迪思·哈马特表示，这些措施将使"人们不用在急诊科等待就能得到专业多学科团队的治疗"[1]。
然而，政府的改革步伐仍遭批评。影子卫生部长利比·梅塔姆指责改进心理健康服务的进展"不可接受地缓慢"，尽管政府在2021年曾做出改革承诺[1]。
A Western Australian family has relocated to Victoria after struggling to access adequate mental health support for their teenage daughter.[1] Simon Mayer's 16-year-old child, who requires complex care due to autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and depression, could not be adequately served by local services in Perth and the South West region, prompting the family to move from Margaret River to Albury-Wodonga, approximately 270 kilometers away.[1]
The family spent 60 hours across emergency departments at two Perth hospitals in November 2025 seeking appropriate care.[1] In response to cases like this, the Western Australian government announced service improvements including the addition of six 72-hour mental health beds at Bunbury Regional Hospital and the establishment of a new youth crisis response team operating five days a week during business hours.[1] Health Minister Meredith Hammat stated the initiatives would allow people "to get treatment from a specialist multidisciplinary team without having to wait in an emergency department."[1]
However, the expansion comes after Bunbury Regional Hospital reduced its mental health bed capacity from 23 to 11 beds in August 2025.[1] Opposition health spokesperson Libby Mettam criticized the government's progress in improving mental health services as "unacceptably slow," despite commitments made through 2021 reforms.[1]