It comes as Bendigo Community Health Services identifies an urgent need for improved systems to address dual diagnoses.

More than 85 per cent of clients the organisation's non-residential alcohol and other drugs team cared for in one week reported having a mental health condition.

But little more than a third were linked to mental health services.

"The results of this simple survey add to the increasing weight of evidence that the mental health and alcohol and other drugs sectors need an improved framework and additional resources to adopt a more integrated collaborative approach," BCHS told the Royal Commission into Mental Health.

Parents of a woman seeking treatment for both alcoholism and a mental health condition said they had struggled to find help nearby.

Marie* has struggled with alcoholism for most of her adult life.

She has also been living with a mental health condition, for which she has sought to have herself admitted to a psychiatric ward.

It didn't work when she last tried.

"She was questioned by triage and because she was coming off alcohol at the time she didn't fit the criteria to be admitted," Marie's mother, Michelle*, said.

"Our daughter seems to fall through the cracks of the medical fraternity time and time again."

Michelle and her husband, Bob*, have been with Marie many of the times she has presented to emergency departments.

They've seen her enter and complete rehabilitation numerous times, too, each time hoping the progress she has made will stick and she'll be able to turn her life around.

What Michelle and Bob said their daughter really needed was to be admitted to a facility that could treat her for both her mental health condition and for alcoholism.

And they're not the only ones to have identified such a need. Treatment for dual diagnoses was one of several priorities Bendigo Community Health Services raised with the Royal Commission into Mental Health.

In its submission, BCHS said the extent to which clients needed help for both mental health conditions and alcohol and other drugs issues was "often under-reported and rarely adequately responded to."

More than 85 per cent of clients the organisation's non-residential alcohol and other drugs team cared for in one week reported having a mental health condition.

Little more than a third were linked to mental health services.

BCHS said the results of its simple survey added to an increasing evidence that the mental health and alcohol and other drugs sectors needed an improved framework and additional resources to better work together.

"Current healthcare responses fail to understand, and respond to, the biopsychosocial needs of dual diagnosis clients whose support needs are exacerbated by difficult to navigate systems," the submission stated.

BCHS said it had already started working with Bendigo Health, which runs an eight-bed dual diagnosis facility, to address the issue locally.

"But more collective focus is required," it wrote.

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It also called for increasing access to mental health supports and services for young people to be a priority.

BCHS said a number of young people were falling through the gaps in services, as their conditions were not highly acute, but were too severe to be considered mild.

"The experience and impact of mental ill-health during this life stage can derail key developmental milestones and significantly increase the risk of poor health, social, education and employment outcomes," the organisation wrote.

It said general practitioners wanted more access to counselling services directly linked to the Doctors in Schools program.

Close to 70 per cent of the GP workload through the program relates to mental health care, according to BCHS.

The organisation called for more funding for work with young people around their developmental stages, safety, resilience, and wellbeing.

Karen refugees between the ages of 15 - 24 were among those in Bendigo experiencing high levels of distress and anxiety, BCHS said.

It recommended mental health supports for people of refugee backgrounds be urgently improved.

"The current refugee settlement programs do not have the capacity to effectively address the mental health needs of the refugee community or build the capacity of service providers to provide a refugee sensitive practice," BCHS said.

The submission said people of refugee background were at high risk of severe and enduring mental ill-health due to their experiences pre-settlement, but often went undiagnosed and had poor mental health and service literacy.

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Generalist supports were also strained, BCHS said.

"The experience of BCHS is that primary mental health services are getting tighter on who they see and who is eligible for acute service," it wrote in its submission.

The organisation said it was funded to help people experiencing mild to moderate mental health issues.

"However the reality of the situation is BCHS is having to see individuals with moderate to severe and enduring mental health issues, which is extending the wait time for clients with mild to moderate mental health issues," it wrote.

"In rural and regional communities there are less private practitioners, and the ones available have waitlists of up to 12 months."

It highlighted a need for suicide prevention funding, as BCHS received many clients that fit the criteria.

"It would therefore be advantageous of BCHS could provide a rapid response to this high-risk group," the organisation said.

It had a number of recommendations relating to the way resources were dispersed and services were delivered.

They included better funded outreach services, tertiary and primary health services working better together, and better pay and conditions for mental health clinicians.

"Families need more support - we have taken privacy too far, especially where risk is high and we are sending people back to their carers with minimal information," BCHS wrote.

"Service providers struggle to navigate the mental health system, it must be terrifying for families and carers who have no knowledge."

The BCHS submission is one of more than 2000 received by the Royal Commission, which is expected to deliver an interim report in November.

*Names have been changed.

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