An improved mental health funding as one of the major crusades in the months leading to the federal election, is the main aim of the activist group GetUp! It mentions an unsatisfactory lack of action from the Rudd government on this matter.

Also, GetUp! has enrolled the help of Australian of the Year Patrick McGorry to lead its crusade, and gathered its 340,000 members together to finance a television commercial stressing the fragmenting condition of mental health services.

It is said that membership ballot which reveals Kevin Rudd's "favourable" rating has gone from 98% in 2007 to just 43% in April this year, was released by GetUp!.

The group has asked both sides of politics to promise $800 million cash as addition for the mental health sector.

Communications Director, Sam Mclean said that about $85,000 had been collected in order to put the TV commercial to air.

Mr. Mclean stated, "It's very disappointing to see there hasn't been as much attention to mental health as there has to ill health generally. It's clear that a health problem that accounts for 14 per cent of Australia's health demand, and only 6 per cent of its funding, while being the leading cause of death among Australians under 45%, needs an overhaul”.

It was said that it required expenditure of a comparable amount on one more program, a network of Early Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centres, providing the total needed outlay of $800m over four years.