Former AFL footballer Wayne Schwass has described the "overwhelming shame and guilt" and an internalised narrative of masculinity that kept him from seeking help with his mental illness, in evidence given on the first day of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System.

Key points: Schwass said it took him years to seek treatment for depression

Schwass said it took him years to seek treatment for depression The royal commission has already spoken to more than 1,600 people and began public hearings on Tuesday

The royal commission has already spoken to more than 1,600 people and began public hearings on Tuesday Its chair wants the commission to seize the "once-in-a-lifetime" chance to completely reform the system

Diagnosed with depression in 1993, Mr Schwass did not seek treatment until 1999 and did not tell his family of his struggles until 2006.

"I grew up with this mentality that men are not meant to cry and show emotion," Schwass said.

"That narrative was magnified once I started to play football."

Schwass played 282 AFL games for North Melbourne and the Sydney Swans, winning best and fairest awards at both clubs and playing in North Melbourne's premiership-winning side in 1996.

'I wanted to kill myself'

He gave evidence about sitting in his car for hours one day after training, too ashamed to go inside, in case his fiancee saw him crying.

"I lived in fear, paralysing fear for 12-and-a-half years of what people would say. That fear kept me paralysed.

"I had invested every single waking day … lying, hiding and pretending I was happy and healthy, when in actual fact I wasn't. I was really sick."

Schwass remembered the darkness he was facing even at the height of his career, when he was part of the Kangaroos team that won the 1996 AFL premiership.

"I wanted to kill myself, even though I was a premiership player," he said.

Today's hearing also included evidence from former federal trade minister Andrew Robb, who took a break from shadow cabinet in 2009 for diagnosis and treatment.

Former trade minister Andrew Robb described waiting 40 years for the cloud of depression to lift. ( AAP: Alan Porritt )

He told the commission he lived with depression unknowingly for 40 years "waiting for this cloud to lift" and pointed to a lack of research as key issues facing the mental health system.

"Little has been spent on the science of the brain, because I think of the stigma over the decades," Mr Robb said.

Two community witnesses gave evidence.

Nicole Juniper, 22, called for a more accessible system, saying she has been forced to "ration" the 10 treatment sessions she receives under the public system every year.

Meanwhile, Daniel Bolger, 27, told of the challenges he had faced battling a drug problem and depression.

Mr Bolger called for more support services, specifically designed for young men.

Earlier, the chair of the royal commission, Penny Armytage, said in her opening address that the task of the commissioners was not "to provide a patchwork of possible solutions to a broken system", but to "envisage and design a system for the future".

Space to play or pause, M to mute, left and right arrows to seek, up and down arrows for volume. Watch Duration: 1 minute 10 seconds 1 m 10 s Royal commission chair Penny Armytage speaks to the ABC's Mary Gearin

"We don't want to fill in the potholes, we want a new road," she said, quoting a participant in the royal commission's community consultations.

Premier Daniel Andrews announced the commission last October, promising it would change and save lives by bringing mental health out of the darkness and into the "blinding light".

Ms Armytage said the royal commissioners had been troubled by evidence of increasing rates of youth suicide attempts and young children in distress.

"Young people are more likely to die by suicide than in a road accident," she said.

"We find this evidence confronting — that our young people, our very young people, are not enjoying good mental health, and are increasingly experiencing high levels of distress.

Penny Armytage said the royal commission was a "once-in-a-lifetime" opportunity to reform the system. ( ABC News )

She said more than about 20 per cent of Victorians — more than 1.2 million people — experienced a mental health condition in any given year.

Nearly half of all Victorians — more than 3 million people — would experience a mental health condition in their lifetime, she said.

"It is estimated that mental health conditions are more prevalent in our community than all cancers combined."

'More of the same will not be enough'

Ms Armytage said the royal commission had already spoken to more than 1,600 people and received more than 1,000 comments and written submissions, in addition to more than 8,000 contributions over summer, when its terms of reference were being developed.

"The willingness of people to share their personal, and often painful, stories has had a deep impact on me and the commissioners.

"We have heard about people wanting to get help, to be told they were not sick enough or not suicidal enough to receive care.

"One parent told us about the stark difference in support they received for one child with cancer and one with a mental health condition.

"In these stories there is often an acknowledgement that while sometimes our health is a lottery, our mental health system should not be.

"A clear message emerges: Doing more of the same will not be enough."

The royal commission's final report is due by October next year. ( ABC News: Patrick Rocca )

Several advocates have raised questions about the royal commission's approach, which is focused on identifying system-wide issues, and not on examining individual cases of treatment.

Victoria's Mental Health Legal Centre general manager Charlotte Jones said she was concerned with the commission's structure and the limited ways consumers could contribute to its work, particularly with the focus on online submissions.

"We have a real concern that the consumers are struggling to be heard and also are just struggling to make contact with the commission in a meaningful way," Ms Jones said.

"Many of our clients face problems with homelessness, imprisonment, detention within hospital facilities and in those environments it's really hard to access your mobile phone.

"It has to talk to people who have the lived experience of being engaged in the mental health system."

The royal commission is accepting submissions until July 5.

It is due to deliver an interim report by November, with a final report due in October 2020.