At least 75 ratings improved before publication
A Victorian mental health report originally found only 54 of the government’s 270 promised reforms were complete, but at least 75 ratings improved before publication on 24 June 2026.
In December 2025, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission finished the original report. The Age revealed the changes on 10 August 2026 after comparing the draft with the published version.
Several findings vanished in the redraft. Those deleted sections covered budget cuts, a lack of evidence for government claims, and stakeholders’ refusal to work with the Department of Health.
Editors of the published version also changed the scoring system. They removed two of the original five rating categories and left only three possible ratings.
One deleted category was “limited evidence of progress available publicly”. The draft used that label for 32 sub-recommendations.
Another removed category was “to be assessed later”. It applied to 26 sub-recommendations in the original report.
Annabel Brebner methodology warning
Commissioner Annabel Brebner wrote the original report. She said the methodology change “raises questions about the overall reliability and validity of the assessments made”.
Meanwhile, the commission’s structure changed during the same period. On 4 December 2025, the government introduced legislation to abolish its four independent commissioners.
Under that law, Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt gained the power to appoint a single commissioner. The change took effect on 28 April 2026.
Then-Deputy Premier Ben Carroll remained in Cabinet throughout that period. He became Premier on 28 July 2026.
Transparency International Australia also criticised the rewrite. Clancy Moore called it “a blow for transparency and accountability” and accused the government of “the politicisation of the public service”.
The revelations followed Family First’s 6 August 2026 release on the Operation Richmond IBAC findings.
July 2026 brought another dispute over document editing. A 33-page CFA report on firefighting capability was cut to 18 pages after talks with government.
Family First spokeswoman Jane Foreman linked the mental health report to those earlier disputes in a statement issued on 12 August 2026.
Following The Age report, Family First called for the commission’s independent four-commissioner model to be restored.
The party also wants a full public audit of the report’s redrafting. It is also seeking laws to stop ministers editing independent watchdog findings before publication.
