Key messages
- Financial support is available for eligible consumers of mental health services and their carers.
- The Mental Health Carer Support Fund, administered by Tandem, assists people who care for a family member or friend who experiences mental ill-health and/or emotional issues.
- The Psychiatric Illness and Intellectual Disability Donations Trust Fund (PIIDDT) is a philanthropic trust fund which provides funding for people with a mental illness to promote treatment and welfare.
- Current consumers of the Victorian public clinical mental health services may apply, but carers and family members may not.
Financial support for carers
The Mental Health Carer Support Fund aims to meet the needs of carers of people using Victorian public clinical mental health services by providing funding to assist carers in their role, promoting and sustaining the caring relationship and improving the wellbeing of carers. The fund is administered by Tandem, the peak body for carers of people experiencing mental health issues.
All applications must be made through a person's local clinical area mental health service. The guidelines provide information on eligibility and processes.
Financial support for consumers
The Psychiatric Illness and Intellectual Disability Donations Trust Fund (PIIDDTF) is a philanthropic trust fund that is made up of donations and bequests. The guidelines outline the process for applying for funds for people with a mental illness or intellectual impairment.
The fund has two components:
- psychiatric illness
- intellectual disability.
These guidelines relate to current clients of the Victorian public clinical mental health services.
Each area mental health service has a nominated PIIDDTF contact who will work with clinicians to submit applications for funding.
Eligibility for PIIDDTF
Any person currently registered and receiving treatment and care in a Victorian public clinical mental health service is eligible for funding and may apply through their public clinical mental health service clinician.
The eligibility and funding criteria reflect the specified purposes of PIIDDTF to:
- promote treatment and welfare of people with mental illness
- support inpatients of registered Victorian public clinical mental health services to relocate to community-based services
- support a small number of recreational pursuits such as outings, individual holidays and other recreational activities.
Applications must be related directly to the person’s needs associated with their mental illness and not the needs of their family members (including children and unborn children), carers or friends.
The proposed funding must improve the person’s quality of life and social inclusion and recovery activities.
Carers, family members or friends of a person receiving treatment in a Victorian public clinical mental health service are not eligible to apply.
Fund restrictions
Funds available through PIIDDTF are limited and applications must meet the criteria of one of the PIIDDTF trusts.
Funding is limited to $1,500 per person per financial year. Applications for funding may be made more than once in a financial year, as long as they do not exceed the annual cap.
The fund will not cover the following items:
- reimbursements
- items not directly for the applicant
- items available through other sources of government funding
- if the house or unit belongs to someone other than the applicant.
How to apply for the fund
Each area mental health service has a nominated PIIDDTF contact who will oversee the application process.
Applications to the fund are made by public clinical mental health service clinicians in conjunction with the applicant and submitted to the nominated PIIDDTF contact.
The nominated PIIDDTF contact will assess whether the application complies with the guidelines and is complete before submitting it.
Due dates
Applications are processed quarterly by the Department of Health & Human Services.
The deadlines for each quarter are:
- Quarter one – 15 August
- Quarter two – 15 November
- Quarter three – 15 February
- Quarter four – 15 May.
Reviewed 29 May 2015