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

Half a million Australians will be affected by epilepsy in their lifetime. Purple Day will be held on 26 March 2011. It is a global grassroots effort dedicated to raising awareness of epilepsy worldwide. The federal government is helping to further the understanding of epilepsy by funding research. It has funded research through the SEISMIC study—that is through the George Institute for Global Health and through Epilepsy Action—and it is also funding research through Epilepsy Australia. Both groups are dedicated to coming up with treatments for and strategies for management of epilepsy.

In this parliament I have risen on many occasions to speak about epilepsy. It is on the record that my sister-in-law has suffered from epilepsy since she was 10 years old. Last week in my electorate office, two people came to see me, one person who is awaiting the outcome of her diagnosis in relation to epilepsy, with the uncertainty that surrounds it, and another woman whose husband is her carer who needs to have ongoing caring and monitoring because her epilepsy causes her ongoing problems. That is not unusual, as with my sister-in-law, whose epilepsy has never been able to be totally controlled.

Further to that I would like to talk about Annabelle from Lake Munmorah in my electorate. When she was 5½ months old she had meningococcal and, following that, she had some toxic seizures. Afterwards her mother, Tanya, noticed a change and a dramatic decline in her memory and her abilities in a number of other activities. That is quite often what it is with epilepsy. You cannot quite put your finger on it. She had a two-year rollercoaster of looking at medications and appointments with neurologists and paediatricians and finally she had the diagnosis of epilepsy. I think that is probably pretty common with most people. There is an uncertainty around the diagnosis, then there is trialling the medication, then there is stabilising and being able to get on with your life.

Tanya is undertaking some fundraising in my electorate, trying to raise awareness of and funds for epilepsy. In the last parliament we had the Friends of Epilepsy, and that group will be reactivating in the very near future. Purple Day is an opportunity for all Australians to consider the impact of epilepsy and the effects it has on those who have epilepsy and their families. I hope that all members get behind Purple Day. (Time expired)