A Victorian mother has told a royal commission she was repeatedly turned away for help with her young daughter by a mental health system she has called "shockingly inadequate".

Key points: The royal commission heard hospitals refused to admit Natasha, even when she was violent

The royal commission heard hospitals refused to admit Natasha, even when she was violent When she was accepted, she was often let out hours later

When she was accepted, she was often let out hours later The CEO of Beyond Blue has said Australia is failing to monitor whether support services actually work

Natasha* was just eight years old when she started experiencing terrifying panic attacks, where she would seem to lose touch with reality and beg to be taken to hospital so that her brain could be "taken out and washed".

For mother Melanie*, this was the start of an ongoing battle to get help for her daughter.

The Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System heard Natasha experienced "years of systemic failure" while trying to access help.

The inquiry, called in response to the spiralling suicide rate in 2017, is examining shortcomings in the state's mental health system.

It focused on early prevention and intervention — something Melanie said her daughter did not receive.

Natasha, now 16, was eventually diagnosed with multiple mental illnesses, including generalised and separation anxiety, borderline personality disorder, antisocial personality disorder and autism-spectrum disorder.

In those early days Melanie sent Natasha to a psychologist, but that did not appear to help.

After a particularly bad attack, she took her daughter to the emergency department.

"I had no idea where to take her. She was incredibly terrified about what was happening to her and her mind," Melanie said.

After a brief assessment, Natasha was sent home, with no follow up, and her condition worsened.

At 12 years of age, Natasha went missing and was later found dishevelled and disoriented, talking about plans to kill her brother and trying to cut her wrists with shards of glass.

In the car on the way to hospital she attacked her grandfather.

Again, the hospital failed to admit her, but also she could not return home due to the risk to her brother.

Homeless and self-harming

"The only way we could have her come home was treatment for these thoughts," Melanie said.

"The only option was to go to residential care or to live with her father."

Melanie struggled to find services that would take her daughter on, but she ended up finding a private psychiatrist charging $300 per hour.

One hospital failed to admit Natasha, even when she was self-harming and talking about killing her brother, the royal commission has heard. ( Louise Merrillees )

Natasha first lived with her father then her aunt, but eventually ended up on the streets after experiencing ongoing trauma in residential care.

"She was using drugs, I was struggling to contact her. I didn't know where she was most of the time," Melanie said.

Natasha was suicidal and started seriously self-harming, sometimes so badly that she needed stitches.

"Her wounds were cleaned and she was sent home with a sleeping tablet," Melanie said, recalling one occasion.

"I was trying to ring every service again, locally and all over Victoria [to get help]."

Natasha ended up in hospital countless times, but she was often just sedated and let out hours after.

She has not attended school since she was in Year 8.

Beyond Blue chief executive Georgie Harman told the commission Australia is failing to measure suicide prevention success.

"We're measuring the wrong things," she said.

"It's the outcomes for those people who've been through that system and indeed whether or not someone is alive or dead 12 months later, to put it really frankly."

'Hide the knives,' mother told

Melanie recalled one incident when she and her daughter were escorted from the hospital by two security guards.

"We'd been told to hide the knives and things like that, but she was sent home. She could barely walk, she was shaking and muttering," Melanie said.

"When we got out to the front of the hospital, she said, 'Mum, I want to throw myself in front of the traffic'."

These experiences repeated over years, but somehow both Natasha and Melanie have survived — for now.

Both are now supported by a trauma-informed mental health service, but that service is something Melanie had to find herself.

She told the commission early intervention and support for parents to help them deal with children with mental health issues would have made a big difference both for her daughter's life and for hers.

"We've put our hand up for help so many times and we haven't received it," she said.

The royal commission will continue to hear evidence on early intervention and prevention on Friday.

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.