Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Today I rise to inform the House of a wonderful new initiative in my electorate—the initiative being HALT. HALT was created and designed to raise awareness of mental health within the tradie community. HALT stands for Hope, Assistance, Local Tradies. HALT was cofounded by Castlemaine residents, Jeremy Forde and Catherine Pilgrim, in response to the increase in suicides in the region.

Suicide is a problem and it is far too frequent in our society, particularly in regional areas. According to the 2010 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare report, A snapshot of men's health in regional and remote Australia, male suicide increased with remoteness. Males living in inner-regional areas experienced death rates of eight per cent higher than those in major cities. In very remote areas, it was actually 78 per cent higher. Sadly, statistics like these I have just mentioned highlight the importance of an organisation like HALT—and the importance of these organisations in our tradie community, which is a predominantly male industry.

In the Bendigo area we have a large tradie community. That is why it is wonderful to see two residents stepping up and organising such a program. I am proud to say that HALT have developed an innovative approach to communicating with tradies about mental illness. They hold a Save Your Bacon Breakfast for tradies at local hardware stores—a venue which tradies feel familiar with and comfortable in. On Tuesday, 18 March, HALT held their second breakfast—and their first in Bendigo. Their first breakfast was held in Castlemaine. Approximately 250 local tradies attended this breakfast at the Hume Hardware Store, where there was a free breakfast, show bags with food and also information about mental health. At these breakfasts tradies are given information about mental health services. However, the strongest message given at these events is the encouragement for tradies to speak up—speak up if they are having trouble and speak up if they know their mate is having trouble.

Far too often tradies will hide the issue, not talk about it and just get on with their job. HALT is a preventative model that encourages tradies to look for the early signs of mental illness within themselves and their colleagues. Symptoms such as tiredness, stress and anger often present well before clinical depression. Identifying the early signs in a person who is not coping is very important. It is an important skill. It is important to encourage people to speak up. To get help early is vital to suicide prevention. Therefore, it is not surprising that HALT are so keen to start the conversation on mental health and keep the conversation going.

Another way in which HALT have been innovative is by looking for the stresses in tradies. The founders of HALT identified that finances and bookkeeping are often stresses for tradies and are working with small businesses that are experts in these areas and linking them together. HALT has arranged through NAB and the Bendigo Bank three financial health checks. These checks will allow tradies to get help with their books and that will help reduce one of the major stresses identified in this area. Co-founder Jeremy Forbes is keen to take the concept of HALT national over the next three to five years. Next year Jeremy plans to run HALT 'save your bacon' breakfasts across the state of Victoria and plans to expand from there. Organisations like HALT build community strength and community capacity. I encourage all members of the House to engage with HALT, to visit the website and find out what they can do in their community to encourage a HALT breakfast.

Finally, I would like to congratulate our local media—the Bendigo Advertiser and ABC Central Victoria, based in Bendigo—for getting right behind this program. They have helped raise the importance of HALT and talk about the issues. Jeremy Forbes, you are a local legend. Congratulations on a job well done, and I look forward to the next HALT breakfast.