That's a very important question and obviously very timely in terms of some of the things that you've probably been reading in the media recently. You asked whether or not I felt that access to mental health services was adequate in remote communities. I would argue that access to good, high-quality mental health services is not adequate in very many regions in the country, if anywhere. If fact, mental health is one of our real gaps in health care. There is a tremendous need to improve that if for no other reason than.... Obviously we want it for our own happiness and well-being, but when people look at the world from an economic perspective I think it's argued that something like 10 billion dollars' worth of lost productivity in the workplace each year is due to mental illness. So for all kinds of reasons we need to do better.
In indigenous communities in particular this is most widely seen, and I think it's very interesting you commented about the fact that even something like how well people can eat has an impact on their mental health. There are all kinds of other things that you'll hear in some of the remote communities, like kids not having access to recreational facilities. Many of these towns, depending on the time of year if there's no arena, no swimming pool, or there's nothing else to do, it has a huge impact on mental health. The mental health of remote communities is probably one of our most pressing health needs in the country. Whether we wanted to or not, it is pressed upon us as an urgent matter that we have to address.
We will be doing that obviously in a whole-of-government way, but mental health as I alluded to earlier is going to also be a big part of our health accord. We have some really interesting ideas about how we can improve access to mental health care. We're going to be putting together an advisory panel on mental health. This is such an important issue and you guys around this room are all smart people and have great ideas. If you have great ideas about mental health in particular, or if that's something the committee's going to be looking at, please let me know, please reach out to me with your good ideas. There are few things that are as important to us as a country as getting this right.