Disaster responses and Commonwealth involvement in community mental health, 1973–1975

Abstract

Mental health was not part of the official government response to Cyclone Tracy in 1974–1975. However, the appearance of mental health in disaster responses was subsequently dated from this time. For much of the twentieth century, the Commonwealth had no involvement in mental health services. This did not change until 1973 when it intervened in community mental health services. This article introduces the historical context to the Commonwealth’s change in policy. It outlines the management of mental distress in the Northern Territory during the mid-twentieth century, when the federal government governed the Territory, and identifies concurrent changes in psychiatric practices. Analysis of federal legislation for community mental health services (1973) is made in conjunction with a consideration of the absence of mental health from the (federally-led) official response to Cyclone Tracy. It demonstrates that this absence exposed the structural division between hospital and community mental health care, and argues the separation had significant consequences.