FORMER Victorian Premier Jeff Kennett has blamed policy failure by both sides of politics for contributing to rural depression and suicide.

The chair of the national depression initiative, beyondblue, this week said a lack of effective policies to stimulate agricultural development was contributing to mental illness in rural Australia.

"The great missing ingredient in Australia in terms of agriculture - an ingredient not recognised by either side of politics - is an effective national water plan and a national plan for agriculture," Mr Kennett said.

He said a national water and food policy would increase activity in rural Australia, provide more employment opportunities and enable people to live more rewarding lives.

"As a result, you would see the rate of depression and suicide in rural men substantially drop."

Mr Kennett was speaking ahead of Monday's launch of a new set of draft guidelines for treating depression in young people, pregnant women and new mothers.

"If we are going to keep people in farming, we are going to have to give them reasons to stay there," he said.

"Australia has the potential to be a much bigger supplier of food products into China and India, yet we still do not see food production as a major industry that should be guided by a soft hand on the tiller of federal politics.

"That means New Zealand and Israel have much better reputations for supplying food into Asia."

Victorian Farmers Federation president Andrew Broad said Mr Kennett was "110 per cent correct" and had "hit the nail on the head".

"If people can see long term commitment to investing in rural and regional Australia, they will tough it out during drought," Mr Broad said.

"There's no doubt that a lack of policy commitment creates huge uncertainty and uncertainty is what plays on people's mental health."

Mr Broad said the Federal Government's water policy was a prime example.

"We have the Federal Government spending $3.3 billion on buying water with no strategy on what they want irrigated agriculture to look like," he said.

Federal Agriculture Minister Tony Burke rejected Mr Kennett's attack on government policy.

"I wish it was as simple as Jeff Kennett says," Mr Burke said.

"We need to maximise the efficiencies of inputs, streamline value chains and help build the number of customers for our produce around the world.

"None of it is a quick fix ... and any support from government only works to the extent that it underpins the ingenuity and profitability of our farmers," he said.