A trove of leaked documents reveal how the state’s mental health watchdog was put on a path to ruin by the state government, with its powers, budget, staff and independence slashed to such an extent it could barely perform its safeguarding and oversight roles.
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it → leak → roles
As Victoria’s new mental health commissioner starts in her job, the records show she will be inheriting a watchdog demanded by the royal commission that has been progressively diluted over the past 18 months.
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that → start → months
Internal Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission documents, seen by The Age, detail how it was weakened to the extent it can no longer effectively monitor the sector or track the state government’s promised reforms – the two roles it was mandated to perform.
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it → see → reforms
The hundreds of pages reveal the watchdog’s roles and powers have been so extensively undermined, it cannot investigate systemic issues such as whether there are enough new mental health beds for young people, whether restraints are being illegally used, patients being discharged into homelessness, or whether poor pay is contributing to a mental health workforce crisis.
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pay → reveal → crisis
The commission was also blocked from accessing vital data by the Department of Health and did not act on concerns of excessive emergency department wait times for the mentally ill, or that health service administrators may be siphoning off mental health funds to prop up other areas of their struggling hospitals.
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administrators → block → hospitals
The MHWC’s former commissioners and senior executives drafted a scathing opinion piece, in June 2025, as part of a plan to go public about their diminishing independence and fears the government was turning its back on the royal commission recommendations, but did not follow through.
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government → draft → recommendations
Months later, in December 2025, an act of parliament was introduced to remove the four independent commissioners, sold as a cost-saving measure.
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act → introduce → measure
Health Minister Ingrid Stitt appointed a single commissioner in their place.
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Stitt → appoint → place
Former NSW mental health commissioner Jennifer Black took up the role from September 29 – but with only half the staff and budget that the watchdog had a year earlier, and with a greatly reduced mandate to hold the government to account.
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watchdog → take → account
When contacted by The Age about the reduction of its powers, budget and staff as detailed in its confidential documents, the commission stated it had upheld its independence and was focused on its role as it “navigated a period of significant organisational and governance change”.
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it → contact → change
The Department of Health said the MHWC remained independent and a critical part of Victoria’s mental health oversight framework.
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MHWC → say → framework
Death by $5 million cuts
When MHWC executives gathered for a commissioners’ governance meeting on February 20, 2025, there was no hint of the carnage that would soon befall the watchdog, the mental health system and, most importantly, the Victorians who need it.
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who → gather → it
Official notes from that meeting detail discussions that would be typical for the organisation.
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that → detail → organisation
A planning day for its lived experience team, a meeting with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, and Victoria Police raising concerns that it did not have funding to train recruits in how to cope with mental health callouts.
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it → live → callouts
There was also a short update to let everyone know the mental health commission had submitted its 2025-26 budget bid, and that it was seeking a copy of the government’s final budget to see what it would receive.
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it → be → what
The commission was told “the process was cabinet in confidence and was not given an indication of what was to come”.
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what → tell → indication
The executives were so confident about the budget that the meeting moved on to a discussion about salary modelling in light of a mid-year recruitment drive.
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meeting → move → drive
But when the commissioners met on June 12, 2025, everything had changed, and recruitment was now the last thing being discussed.
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recruitment → meet → June
“The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission has been advised by the Department of Health that it will receive drastically reduced funding in the next financial year and that plans are afoot to change the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act which will reduce and reshape the role of the commission,” the MHWC executives heard.
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executives → advise → commission
As part of this, the organisation’s four commissioners would be pared back to just one.
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commissioners → par → one
Although details were limited, the MHWC already believed their role as a watchdog was being limited just 18 months after they had been established.
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they → limit → watchdog
They aired views that, through its mottled changes, the government was shifting power back to the department, which represented “a significant change from the intent of the royal commission”.
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which → air → commission
“The government appears to have scrapped two elements of this central reform agenda – regional boards and the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission operating as outlined in the royal commission,” the June meeting heard.
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meeting → appear → commission
The MHWC had been so blindsided that it noted that the government “did not outline why it was making the changes” and planned to clarify to the public, via the media, that they were not engaged or included in any of these decisions.
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they → note → decisions
By the middle of July, the commission learned its operating budget had been cut in half – from $9.93 million in 2024-25 to $4,761,000.
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budget → learn → 4,761,000
To stem the bleeding, chief executive Simon McKenzie suggested to the Department of Health that senior leaders could work below full-time to provide savings.
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leaders → stem → savings
The department told McKenzie that, despite the cuts, they still expected the commission to hold the government to account on progress with the royal commission.
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commission → tell → commission
If the chief executive believed them in July, briefing documents show that by the end of 2025, the watchdog’s senior leadership was deeply worried that its key purpose was being wound back.
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purpose → believe → 2025
As of January 2, 2026, there were no staff in the System, Performance and Monitoring Team whose main role entailed tracking big-picture problems and assessing how Victoria was performing against its royal commission targets.
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Victoria → be → targets
By this time, the MHWC’s total staff had fallen from 43.9 full-time roles to 27.19.
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staff → fall → 27.19
Those who remained had been relocated to share an office with the Health Complaints Commission, prompting privacy concerns over the discussion of highly sensitive information.
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who → remain → information
The hurdle watchdog refused to jump
By law, the MHWC is required to monitor and report on the quality, safety and performance of Victoria’s mental health system.
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MHWC → refuse → system
But month after month, the watchdog’s concerns grew that the department was refusing to hand over the data it needed to see what was happening inside mental health services, or whether the promised reforms were being implemented.
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reforms → grow → services
It labelled the department’s obstruction as “hurdles”, though they had huge consequences.
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they → label → consequences
Information the watchdog struggled to access included basic details on the number of mental health patients admitted to beds or attending emergency departments, right up to safety data detailing how many patients were being subjected to bodily restraints, compulsory treatment orders or violent attacks.
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patients → struggle → restraints
While trying to prepare its annual report in June 2025, the MHWC’s governance committee raised the issue of the department withholding vital information.
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department → try → information
“We note that the Draft Information Sharing Agreement as provided by the Department omitted critical information that the commission requested within the data-sharing schedule, and which is required to fulfil our functions.
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which → note → functions
The commission is therefore seeking these data outside of the information-sharing agreement to facilitate timely extraction and provision of this information.”
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commission → seek → information
The June meeting resolved to remind the department of its obligation to hand over the data, including spelling out the relevant sections of the law demanding it “provide reasonable assistance to the Commission” and that “the Commission may collect data and information from the Department in order to perform its functions”.
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Commission → resolve → functions
It also reminded the department it was a signatory to the Victorian Public Sector Data Sharing Heads of Agreement, and requested information about mental health patients be provided within 14 days, and details of the royal commission recommendation implementation to be handed over within five days of the end of the financial year.
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details → remind → year
…and 51 more, not listed.
The Aporia
