First responders who have saved Australians from bushfires, floods and other natural disasters will lose access to vital mental health services in a matter of months when a $4 million government program ends.

The federal government allocated $4 million for the Traumatic Stress Clinic, which is run by the world-renowned Black Dog Institute, to provide free a psychological program for first responders, emergency services workers, volunteers and their families in the wake of the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires.

A bushfire in southern NSW during Black Summer.Credit:NSW Coroners Court

But funding for the program will run out on June 30, clinic director Richard Bryantsaid, and the clinic had been told it won’t be renewed.

Professor Bryant said the clinic was stumped about what to do. “What do we say to people? They still need help.”

He said while the National Recovery and Resilience Agency had been good to deal with, it had been frustrating “getting traction” with the office of Emergency Management Minister Bridget McKenzie.

The $4 million in funding for mental health services, which flows through the National Recovery and Resilience Agency, is a microscopic fraction of the $98.3 billion spent on health in the 2021-22 budget. The federal government recently promised $31.2 million for mental health services for victims of the NSW floods as part of the broader response to the disaster.

“Since the program started we have treated 90 first responders,” Professor Bryant said. “It’s a program that goes for 11 weeks and we have a success rate of 80 per cent.

“Come July 1, there will be a lot of responders doing the hard stuff on the front line who can’t access this service anymore.”

Professor Bryant said the Black Dog Institute had expected a sudden influx of people to the trauma service after the bushfires and then for it to taper off “but it has been consistently strong”.

“We see firefighters, for example, and it’s not just about ’19-20 bushfire season, it’s an accumulation of previous seasons too,” he said.

“Firefighters do a lot of different types of trauma work. And now we are seeing people deployed to flood regions and that’s compounding the stress even further.

“If we are going to maintain functional first responders to deal with future disasters, we have to maintain the mental health of those workers or they won’t serve.”

Labor spokesman for disaster and emergency management Murray Watt said the Black Dog Institute had played a vital role after the Black Summer bushfires helping people cope with trauma.

“We know the long-term toll these disasters take on our first responders and they need long-term support. So why is [Prime Minister] Scott Morrison ripping away support in the midst of this flood crisis?

“How can we believe the commitments Scott Morrison is now making for the floods, when he rips out existing support when nobody is watching?”

Senator McKenzie did not respond to questions about whether funding for the Black Dog program would be continued and why it had been cut. The National Recovery and Resilience Agency also did not answer these questions.

First responders who are experiencing trauma or who feel they may have post-traumatic stress disorder can access www.traumaticstressclinic.com or call 02 8627 3314.

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