National Housing Strategy for People with a Disability 2011 - 2016

Chapter 9Mental Health Disability9.1 The provision of good quality, secure and appropriate housing is recognised as a keyfactor, in conjunction with education and employment/occupation, in facilitating recoveryfrom, or managing, a mental health disability. The Australian Human Rights and EqualOpportunities Commission found that: “One of the biggest obstacles in the lives of peoplewith mental illness is the absence of adequate affordable and secure accommodation.Living with a mental illness, or recovering from it, is difficult even in the best circumstances.Without a decent place to live it is virtually impossible” 66 .9.2 It is essential, therefore, that in developing a national housing strategy for peoplewith disabilities, the specific and complex housing needs of people with a mental healthdisability be identified and addressed effectively in order to assist in the promotion andsustainment of recovery. A mental health disability is often an unseen disability with theresult that it may not be acknowledged how seriously disabling it can be, which can lead toa lack of recognition and understanding by society.9.3 For the purposes of this strategy, it is recognised that specific housing needs mayarise as a result of a mental health disability, for which intervention and treatment may beongoing, but they may also arise from a single or isolated episodic event, which, althoughnot requiring constant intervention, has a severe impact on a person’s ability to access andmaintain housing that is appropriate and conducive to recovery.9.4 A Mental Health Subgroup 67 was established to examine the specific housing issuesarising as a result of a mental health disability 68 . To inform the work of the subgroup,research was undertaken by the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency in relation tothe housing and support needs of people with a mental health disability in Ireland.Data9.5 It is recognised that there are limitations in existing data in relation to the livingarrangements of people with a mental health disability. Census figures from 2006 indicatethat 16% of those who reported a disability reported a “psychological or emotionalcondition” 69 – that is approximately 65,000 people.9.6 Chart 9.a below illustrates the illnesses causing emotional, psychological & mentalhealth disability reported by respondents to the National Disability Survey (NDS) (the66Human Rights and Mental Illness, Report of the National Inquiry into the Human Rights of people with MentalIllness. Human rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, Australian Government Publishing Service Canberra1993.67The membership of the Mental Health Subgroup is set out at Appendix 2.68The aims and objectives of the mental Health Subgroup are set out at Appendix 3.69For the purpose of this strategy, it is understood that the “psychological or emotional condition” category, asrecorded in Census 2006, includes people with a mental health disability. All census figures are self reported.99