Ballarat men's mental health clinic closes after funding bid fails
Ballarat Men's Mental Health, which supported 350 men directly since 2021, closes to new referrals after failing to secure government funding.
Ballarat Men's Mental Health announced this week it will close due to lack of government support. The service was founded five years ago to fill a gap in local mental health care.
The service has helped about 450 men and provided direct clinical support to 350. The 39 current clients will be the last to receive help.
The clinic is stopping new referrals from 26 October. Founder and director Andrew McPherson said the original barriers to care will return when the service shuts: cost, waiting times, hard-to-navigate systems, and men's reluctance to seek help.
The closure follows warnings that Ballarat is the only major regional city in Victoria without a dedicated adult mental health service. It also has the second-lowest number of mental health beds per person in the state.
- 39 men
- Current clients at closure
- Andrew McPherson, director
- Founder
Why it mattersMen in Ballarat will lose the only service designed to address their specific barriers to mental health care, raising the risk they will not seek help when struggling.
AustraliaBallarat's mental health safety net shrinks at a time when the city already has fewer mental health beds and fewer specialist services than most regional centres in Victoria.
✓ Claims checked against the source and corrected before publish. checked 2 h ago
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