Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I would like to congratulate the member for Latrobe on bringing this really important motion to the parliament. It is a motion that is important not only in his electorate but in each and every electorate in this parliament.

Each and every member of this House would have spoken to the families of somebody whose young son or daughter has taken their lives, or spoken to friends of people who have lost somebody through suicide. I do not think it is recognised how widely suicide impacts on our community, nor the various causes of suicide.

It is very interesting when you look at some of the statistics associated with suicide. In 2012 there was an average of 6.9 deaths by suicide each and every day. That is incredible! In 2012, 1,901 males and 434 females died through suicide. Suicide is the leading cause of death of men under 44 and of women under 34.

Here we have an epidemic that is attacking young people in our society. If it were another disease we would be lobbied each and every day to invest more money, more resources and more research into the cause of suicide and demanding that governments address this important issue. But instead of that, it is swept under the carpet; it is something that people do not like to talk about. By bringing this motion to the House the member for La Trobe has said that it is not good enough, that we need to talk about this issue, that we need to be very aware of the fact that suicide is attacking the most vital resource of this country: our people.

In my electorate there have been many occasions when young people have taken their lives. There was a young man who attended one of the high schools. He was an outstanding scholar, an outstanding athlete and the most popular person in his year, and he took his own life. The school community was devastated. His parents' lives will never be the same. This happened quite a few years ago now—about five years ago. It is in one instant that a person makes that decision to take their life—they feel overwhelmed, they feel hopeless, they feel as though they are in a situation that they cannot plough their way out of—and they make that decision, particularly young people, without understanding that that decision is irreversible: once you take your life it is gone, and the impact of that decision goes on for years and years and years.

ABS stats from 2009 show that there are more deaths from suicide than deaths on the road. Each and every day we are confronted with campaigns to address road deaths. There are campaigns to reduce speeding. There are campaigns designed around not drinking and driving, not taking drugs and driving and not engaging in behaviours that are going to lead to road accidents. Occasionally there is a campaign directed towards addressing the issue of suicide. It was highlighted during Mental Health Week—and, once again, I congratulate the member for La Trobe for putting this motion before the House at a time following on from Mental Health Week—that one of the most prominent mental health issues is depression, and depression leads to suicide.

During Mental Health Week one of the programs that was highlighted was MATES in Construction. I think that is a fantastic program, one that really deserves a mention. Construction workers are more than twice as likely to suicide than other people in Australia. Construction workers are six times as likely to die by suicide than through a workplace accident. And when I say that, construction work is the most unsafe occupation in this country. So, the area that has the most occupational deaths through workplace accidents has a higher rate of suicide than of workplace accidents. That is phenomenal. That is unacceptable. Apprentices in construction are 2½ times as likely to suicide as other young men their age. Mental illness on construction sites is now accepted as an industrial safety concern. There are nearly 1,930,000 construction workers in Australia. For workers in the construction industry, suicide seems to be a part of the reality of working in that industry. And it is a highly transient industry. It is an industry in which the workers tend to have a lower level of education and a higher level of literacy problems and probably a higher level of employees undertaking risky behaviours—alcohol, drugs and a higher level of activities that can lead to suicide.

The highly transient nature of the job means that people do not form the bonds and the support you get within a workplace and employment—working on a project-by-project basis for weeks and years, constantly moving from one job to another. According to the building employee's redundancy fund, redundancy payouts for the workers in the industry are less than one year's contribution. There were 399 death payments made between 1999 and 2007. In Queensland, particularly in the commercial construction industry, suicide is prominent.

This program is particularly important because it talks about raising awareness, building capacity, engaging the industry in sustainable programs such as Life Skills Toolbox, which is really good, the MATES in Construction program, Safe TALK, ASIST and Connectors, aimed at building self-reliance, providing help with case management and connecting workers using existing services. It undertakes research, gathers data and partners with research institutions. The MATES in Construction organisation is proactive and responsive, supportive, nonjudgmental, committed and dependable, honest and respectful.

This industry has the highest rate of suicide and this organisation has decided to get in there to address the issue. This needs to happen not only in the construction industry but across the board in Australia. We need to recognise just how predominant suicide is in our community, what a loss it is to our society, how each and every day we are losing young lives and not-so-young lives because suicide is also prominent in older age groups where people feel hopeless and helpless and they do not know how to change their situation.

I conclude by paying tribute to all those organisations which get in there and work with people—beyondblue, the Black Dog Institute and particularly headspace. Like the member for La Trobe, I would love to see a headspace in Lake Macquarie.

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