Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak in support of the motion by the member for La Trobe, and I thank the member for bringing this important matter to the attention of the House. It has also been a privilege to listen to earlier contributions—in particular, that of the member for Hume, both at a personal level and in terms of his reflections on this issue as it affects his community.

The tragically high number of suicides that the member for La Trobe has drawn the House's attention to gives us all pause for thought. I am sure we have all been touched by suicide and we have all struggled with questions of understanding and questions of responsibility at a personal level. The death of a friend or a family member leaves an empty space in lives, and a death which is sudden and perhaps avoidable leaves behind trauma and a sense of loss that stays with loved ones. All of us should strive to reach out to those in need, and this need can take many forms. However, we are here because we are recognising today that there is only so much individuals can do by themselves—there needs to be institutional support and indeed institutional understanding that supplements community and individual efforts. As the member for Holt said earlier—we have not done enough in this regard, and this has been a bipartisan failing.

I am hopeful that there is now a bipartisan response, and I acknowledge the Howard government's watershed mental health spending in its 2006 budget, the largest allocation of spending on mental health for its time—not before time. Part of this commitment was the establishment of Headspace facilities across Australia, and other members have acknowledged the role that these facilities are playing in their communities. Each Headspace centre employs a team of youth workers and mental health professionals. Headspace has already provided services to around 80,000 young people across centres in metropolitan, regional and remote areas. I am proud to say that Headspace has strong support from Labor. The former Labor government, in its 2011-12 budget, announced that the number of Headspace centres would be expanded by 30, and in the lead-up to the last election Labor committed $34 million to open another 10 Headspace centres, so that there would be 100 across the country.

According to Headspace, each year around one in seven teenagers and more than a quarter of 18 to 25 year olds will experience mental health problems and/or problems with alcohol and other drugs. We also know—and the motion, importantly, recognises—that suicide is the leading cause of death amongst this group. Seventy-five per cent of mental health problems emerge before the age of 25, so early intervention in this area, as in so many areas of social policy, is critical. In outer suburban communities, including areas within the Scullin electorate, these issues are often exacerbated by limited access to mental health services, stigma, prohibitive costs and limited availability of transport as well as limited access to meaningful employment and, in many cases, education.

According to the City of Whittlesea, 22,000 young people aged 15 to 24 live in this local government area, and potentially 5,600 of these people are experiencing mental health problems. So I was very pleased with last week's announcement of a new Headspace facility in Greensborough which will cater for young people in Melbourne's north-east. This has come after lobbying since the first inception of Headspace by local governments, groups and agencies as well as my predecessor, Harry Jenkins. The City of Whittlesea and the Shire of Nillumbik deserve special mention for their combined and innovative efforts on behalf of their constituencies as part of the North East Headspace Partnership group. The full aspect of their advocacy included an adjoining facility in South Morang, which was, unfortunately, omitted from the plans for the new Greensborough facility. This is a missed opportunity for an area that would benefit greatly from such a facility, an area of real need. I will continue to work with the community to lobby Headspace and the Australian government for a Headspace satellite facility to be located in South Morang, servicing those areas of the City of Whittlesea most in need. In the meantime, I look forward to working with my parliamentary colleagues, including the Minister for Health, in the spirit of bipartisanship, to make this a reality and, for all of us, doing more to end the tragic waste of young lives that this motion squarely addresses. It is all of our responsibility.

Debate adjourned.

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