The report assesses whether Queensland’s mental health levy, introduced in 2023, is effectively managed to achieve its intended purposes. Its intended purposes are to:

• increase funding and expenditure on mental health, alcohol and other drugs (MHAOD) services
• respond to emerging needs by enhancing existing services and introducing new services
• reform Queensland’s MHAOD system. 

The report looked at:

• how the levy is managed as a whole across the mental health, alcohol and other drugs system
• how Queensland Treasury and the Department of Health manage their respective responsibilities for the levy.

The report makes recommendations to the Queensland Treasury and the Department of Health.

Key findings

• There is no shared understanding between key entities about what services and infrastructure can be funded, or a whole-of-levy approach to planning, monitoring, or reporting on how funds are used.
• The mental health levy is not effectively managed as a whole to achieve its intended purposes. This is because effective governance arrangements for the levy were not established when it was introduced.