Almost four years after the federal government vowed to overhaul Australia's mental health system, Health Minister Greg Hunt admits there is a lot more work to do.
"I would say a short national analysis is: progress, but significantly more to be done," Mr Hunt told AAP.
In November 2015, former health minister Sussan Ley announced a suite of reforms in response to a major review of Australia's mental health programs and services, to be rolled out between 2016 and 2019.
The review found that despite significant spending on mental health, too many Australians were falling through the cracks or not getting the support they needed.
The government vowed to move towards a "stepped care" model, where people can access treatment catered to their level of need, in an effort to move away from a "one-size-fits-all" approach.
Regionally-based health authorities called Primary Health Networks were given responsibility for commissioning local mental health services, in an effort to prevent a fragmented approach by Canberra.
As it stands now, Mr Hunt believes Australia has one of the best youth mental health systems in the world, that includes more than 100 Headspace support centres across the country.
But there is a "significant gap" in the number of people accessing it.
"For reasons of either stigma or awareness, so many people are not accessing it," he said.
"So we need to improve the system for those who are older, between 25 and 65, but we particularly need to improve the destigmatisation and awareness for those who are under 25.
"Headspace is an absolute global leader in that, but improving access and improving awareness will make a huge difference."
To make it easier for adults to access support, the government set aside funding in the latest budget for eight walk-in community health centres.
"There's never been a comprehensive, national one-stop shop for adults. So the adult mental health centres are the first part of that."
Digital support is also pivotal, the minister said.
"People need to be able to pick up the phone at 3am in the dark of the night, or to do it online."
The minister says Australia is part of a global mission to better understand the causes of mental health issues and the most effective interventions.
The physical, mental and sexual abuse of children is a known contributor to mental health issues and the risk of suicide.
"So we're just going to have to double down in the country for every possible reason on that prevention of and early response to abuse."
The government also hopes to reduce the number of suicides by improving support for people with mental health conditions once they leave hospital.
"When you focus on those people who have been discharged from hospital, you really support and monitor - where they voluntarily agree to be part of a program - then there's the potential to have a dramatic reduction to loss of life to suicide."
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