The father of a 16-year-old boy who is believed to have died by suicide just days after being released from a psychiatric facility says his son's death "would have been swept under the carpet" had he not fought for answers.

Key points: Liam Mead received mental health treatment in Melbourne before returning home to Tasmania, where he took his own life

Liam Mead received mental health treatment in Melbourne before returning home to Tasmania, where he took his own life An inquest into Liam's death is examining the adequacy of Tasmania's youth mental health services

An inquest into Liam's death is examining the adequacy of Tasmania's youth mental health services A leading adolescent psychiatrist described services in the state as "piecemeal"

Tasmanian teen Liam Mead was being treated for anxiety and depression at Melbourne's Albert Road Clinic before being discharged in March 2017 — he was dead 48 hours later.

Liam's family said he had been receiving treatment in Melbourne due to a lack of access to services in Tasmania.

His mother, GP Juliet Lavers, also took her own life two years after her son died — tomorrow marks the first anniversary of her death.

Speaking outside the Hobart Magistrates Court, where a coronial inquest into Liam's death is being held, Mr Mead said he had to fight for the inquiry.

"We had to prove there was an ongoing risk to society and ongoing risk for children within the community, that if something wasn't done we would lose more children," he said.

"Liam was a beautiful child, a gifted child, and this should not have happened.

"He developed anxiety disorder when he was going through a huge hormonal spurt.

"He had no idea what was happening to him, he just didn't know how to deal with it and unfortunately we just didn't get the help to provide that assurance for him."

Liam Mead took his own life in Tasmania after receiving treatment in Melbourne. ( Supplied: Ted Mead )

Mr Mead said he believed his son may still be alive if coronial recommendations into youth suicide made years earlier had been implemented by the State Government.

In 2015, Coroner Olivia McTaggart made sweeping recommendations to improve Tasmania's youth mental health services after six youth suicides, including the development of a dedicated youth mental health facility in the state.

The recommendations came in the wake of the suicides of six teenagers.

The State Government could not confirm if any of the recommendations had been implemented.

"It's incredibly frustrating to know Tasmania has already spent a lot of money going through this process looking at adolescent suicide and then the Government [is] just turning its back on it," Mr Mead said.

"I'm of the strong belief that had Coroner McTaggart's recommendations been implemented, my son may still be alive.

"For me, this is an embarrassment to the Government because it really shows how disingenuous they are about adolescent mental health care in the state."

Government accused of attempting to halt psychiatrist's testimony

Part of the inquest is investigating the sufficiency of mental health services for adolescents in Tasmania and the psychiatric care Liam received before and after being discharged.

Mr Mead accused the State Government of attempting to "stymie due process" by trying to prevent a leading adolescent psychiatrist from giving evidence, resulting in an eight-month delay to the inquiry.

Ted Mead said he had to fight for an investigation into his son's death. ( ABC News: Scott Ross )

Lawyers for the Tasmanian Health Service objected to Patrick McGorry's evidence being heard, on the grounds it did "not fall within the proper confines of the inquest".

Professor McGorry's evidence was ultimately allowed and the inquest heard from him today.

Professor McGorry criticised Tasmania's mental heath care for young people, describing it as "piecemeal" and "seriously inadequate".

Giving evidence via videolink, Professor McGorry said mental health remained "a major public health problem that's still neglected" and could be addressed if governments had the political will to tackle them.

"In Tasmania, mental health clearly isn't built to scale. It's very limited in terms of its design and scale and it's nowhere near what's required," he said.

He told the inquiry the sector needed serious investment, workforce development and input from young people themselves.

"It's not done with band-aids and nice words … we're a long way away from reaching that sort of quality," he said.

Tasmania's chief psychiatrist, Dr Aaron Groves, told the inquest Tasmania's Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services were currently being reviewed, and reforms to improve services and service provision were underway.

"We're a long way from being ideal, but we've got the core elements to make things better."

In a statement, the State Government said: "It would not be appropriate to make any public comment while the inquest is ongoing."

Coroner Ken Stanton adjourned the inquest for final submissions.