Jason Wood (La Trobe, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes with concern that:

(a) over the past five years, the average number of suicide deaths per year in Australia is 2,415;

(b) in 2012, 1,901 males and 634 females died through suicide—an average of 6.9 deaths by suicide every day;

(c) suicide is the leading cause of death in Australia for men under 44 and women under 34; and

(d) Australian Bureau of Statistics data from 2009 shows us that more people die from suicide than from road deaths;

(2) recognises that the Government and the community must do everything they can to prevent death by suicide; and

(3) acknowledges all Australian lives lost to suicide and the suffering felt by their friends and families.

The motion is obviously about suicide, and some of the statistics that have been circulated are very concerning. Suicide is a leading cause of death in Australia for men under the age 44 and women under the age of 34. ABS data shows that in 2009 more people died from suicide deaths than road deaths. How tragic is that? Approximately, one million die by suicide each year worldwide. In Australia, more than one in every 10,000 people take their own lives each year. These are the cold hard facts of suicide. Sadly, in my own electorate of La Trobe we are not immune from these tragedies, like all parts of Australia. As a former police officer at Knox criminal investigations branch and Boronia criminal investigations branch, each week our office would attend at least one suspicious death which was a result of suicide.

I cannot recall how many suicide notes I have read, as that is the key to finding out some sort of reason when you undertake an investigation. When you speak to family and relatives the reason never makes sense. I do have a message for people out there. Quite often you will find in suicide notes that they believe the taking of their life would in some way release a burden from others. It does not do that at all. It just causes enormous stress and grief for family members and friends who have to live with this for so many years. I have had several conversations with Minister Dutton and organisations such as headspace in efforts to address some of these concerns. Headspace is a national youth mental health foundation. They help young people who are going through tough times. A headspace facility, and I am so pleased to say this, will be located at Fountain Gate shopping centre in Narre Warren, and I am working very hard to get a headspace unit facility in the Belgrave health hub. I will make this a major priority for the people of the Dandenong Ranges.

Before concluding, I would like to congratulate the member for Holt, because I know he has been a true supporter and has been out there on the front line trying to prevent youth suicide in Latrobe—we have had awful situations in Latrobe. I congratulate him for what he has done.

Recently, through the government's hot spots program, we organised to put up safety barriers along the train lines where some of these youth tragedies have occurred. Sadly, way too many have occurred. The government's hot spots program is an excellent example of practical measures to reduce suicide hot spots, through the implementation of capital works. I congratulate the principal of Kambrya College in Berwick, Mr Michael Muscat, who campaigned tirelessly for these protective barriers.

Another great government initiative is the Living Is For Everyone, LIFE, program. It is an evidence based strategic policy framework for suicide prevention in Australia. The reasons people take their own lives are so complex. The balance between risk factors and protective factors seems to be an indicator of the likelihood of someone taking their own life, the experts say. People who take their own lives usually have many risk factors and few protective factors. But this does not explain everything about suicide. Many people with multiple risk factors do not attempt to take their life, and some who do take their lives have few risk factors. The reasons people take their lives are complex; however, we do know that a significant risk factor can be depression and anxiety.

Also, when I speak to young people at schools I always tell them that when they have messages on Facebook—because cyberbullying is very prevalent now—that a friend does not abuse them and degrade them and bring them down. I always say that rather than looking at that message or conversation every day, just delete it and block that person, because they are not your friend.

There are many organisations here and around the world that try to prevent people from taking their own lives. Beyond Blue is an organisation set up by the previous Victorian premier, Jeff Kennett, in October 2002, and it is doing a fantastic job. In my last conversation with Jeff he was talking about the 'axis of evil'. What comes first is the drugs, or the alcohol, or the depression or the anxiety. The Beyond Blue mission is to focus depression away from a mental health service issue towards one that is understood, acknowledged and addressed by the wider community.

Most Australians have some experience with anxiety, depression or related conditions, whether they have experienced it themselves or had a family member, friend or work colleague go through it. Beyond Blue's work is aimed at achieving an Australian community that understand depression and anxiety, empowering all Australians at any stage of their life to seek help. This seems to be the key. We all need to get people who suffer with depression and anxiety to seek help. You see, depression and anxiety are treatable. But to have it treated you and the people around you need to recognise troublesome depression and anxiety when it presents itself.

With a problem with mental illness, and thinks like depression, there was a stigma attached, especially in the past. Can I say that these days are very much the old days, and people respect you if you inform your work colleagues and others, and obviously friends and family, that you do have depression and anxiety, because they can help you along your journey to recovery.

We are lucky that organisations like Beyond Blue are educating the community about the seriousness of this disease. There are many other fine organisations doing great work in this area: Lifeline, the Black Dog Institute, SANE Australia and headspace are just some of the organisations where people can seek help. That brings me again to my point that the Dandenong Ranges desperately needs a headspace unit, and that would be my priority. As I said before, you and the people around you need to identify the problem. A very good start is your local GP; they can understand and help you get the care and treatment that you need. I would imagine that community awareness is causing more and more people to seek help, and that is obviously a great thing.

Another aspect of suicide that causes unbearable grief is for the people who are left behind when someone takes their own life: mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and, for young people, their school colleagues. Again, I have been there and spoken to the relatives and friends afterwards. You are not doing anyone any favours; in actual fact you are causing huge grief. So, seek help and seek support.

There is the recent tragedy of Robin Williams taking his life—such a talented man, such a funny man and so successful. People who did not know Robin Williams grieved openly: why did he do it? How could he do it? And there are so many examples of high-profile people here and overseas who have taken their lives. So here in Canberra, in the big place, we need to understand the significance of suicide for our country. Indeed, we are not immune. People in this place have been touched by suicide, so what can we do as members of parliament?

Sure, providing funding for mental health initiatives is greatly important. Providing capital works funding through things like hotspot programs to help minimise self-harm. But as politicians we need to do more. We need to talk about mental health in our electorates. We need to recognise when someone has a problem in our community and ask them to get help, and to seek help for them. Again, I congratulate the member for Goldstein, Andrew Robb, for what he has done to promote mental health in this place—coming out as he did so publicly and declaring he had a problem with depression and then setting about fixing it is so commendable. He is an inspiration for all of us. And now he is a minister doing amazing work with free trade agreements and in investments for Australia.

Again, as a police officer I attended so many suicides, and I must say that all those involved in emergency services also live with this in some ways for many years.

In conclusion, we should recognise the impacts that depression, anxiety and suicide have on our community. We should all promote the need for people to seek help when there are signs of problems, and we should try to minimise the social stigma is on mental health whenever they occur.

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes with concern that:

  (a) over the past five years, the average number of suicide deaths per year in Australia is 2,415;

  (b) in 2012, 1,901 males and 634 females died through suicide—an average of 6.9 deaths by suicide every day;

  (c) suicide is the leading cause of death in Australia for men under 44 and women under 34; and

  (d) Australian Bureau of Statistics data from 2009 shows us that more people die from suicide than from road deaths;

(2) recognises that the Government and the community must do everything they can to prevent death by suicide; and

(3) acknowledges all Australian lives lost to suicide and the suffering felt by their friends and families.

See this speech in context