Alan Griffin (Bruce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Brain Injury Australia estimates that well over 600,000 Australians live with a brain injury. ABI is distinct from intellectual disability. People with a brain injury may have difficulty controlling, coordinating and communicating their thoughts and actions, but generally retain their intellectual abilities. As earlier speakers have said, three out every four people with an ABI are aged under 65. As many as two out of every three people with an ABI acquired their brain injury before they turned 25. And three out of every four people with ABI are men. We may speculate that this is due to men being more likely to be involved in sporting injuries, car accidents and physical assaults.

ABI is a complex and individual condition. When the brain is injured people can experience a range of disabilities that will affect them physically, as well as affecting how they think, feel and behave. Long-term effects are difficult to predict and will be different for each person. The significant changes in personality and behaviour of a person with a brain injury can be difficult for families to cope with. ABI affects all family members, including the injured person, partners, parents, children, siblings, extended family members and community networks. Distress, concern and changes in relationships are common in families adjusting to the long-term effects of ABI. This has been described as the ripple or domino effect on the family after the injury where other family members experience their own adjustment difficulties. Therefore, someone who suffers an ABI will not only experience a loss of function but also often lose many aspects that define their life, such as their job, their marriage, their friends and their standing in society.

ABI is often called the 'hidden disability', because it can cause problems with a person's cognitive functions and these new thought processes, habits and unusual behaviours are not as easy to recognise as other physical disabilities such as vision impairment or quadriplegia. As a result, people with brain injury are often misunderstood and their disabilities not recognised. For example, it can be easy to lose patience with someone whose brain injury causes them to be extremely forgetful or incapable of initiating action, or who becomes very aggressive over small issues. ABI can often cause personality change, turning a once peaceful, easygoing individual into an aggressive and even violent one.

Coupled with this, ABI sufferers can also experience problems with impulse control. This can mean that they will say and do socially inappropriate things. Such behaviour often alienates their friends and endangers the sufferer when out in society. The combination of these two impacts can lead to ABI sufferers finding themselves in trouble with the law or even incarcerated. Other impacts of an ABI often include epilepsy, slowed reactions, poor balance, difficulty concentrating, sight and hearing impairments and memory problems. A brain injury can even affect one's sense of smell. That might sound benign enough, but, for example, it can become dangerous if there is a gas leak.

While the outcome of the injury depends largely on the nature and severity of the injury itself, appropriate treatment plays a vital role in the level of recovery. This is where occupational therapy and ongoing support to the ABI sufferer and their carers is vital to a patient's recovery. Unless people with an ABI have the ongoing support of a good network of family and friends, they find it difficult to obtain any form of assistance. As a consequence, their psychosocial functioning may be affected and many end up living in psychiatric hospitals, boarding houses or prisons, or they become homeless.

It is at this point I would like to recognise the exceptional work undertaken by service providers supporting people suffering a brain injury. I would particularly like    to mention the tremendous work of BrainLink and Monash Health. BrainLink services is a Victorian based service that is dedicated to improving the quality of life of people affected by acquired disorders of the brain. Located in Blackburn, BrainLink offers a wide range of support services to people with an ABI, their families and their carers. BrainLink's first priority is to respond to the immediate needs of the families and friends of those who are living with an acquired brain disorder. BrainLink offers a first point of call for families at onset of diagnosis; peer support programs; innovative and flexible respite opportunities; specialised case management; comprehensive information and resources; and a referral service to assist the community in navigating the disability service sector. In my own electorate of Bruce, I wish to recognise the important work done by the skilled staff at Monash Health in the rehabilitation of people who have experienced a brain injury.

At the Dandenong Hospital there is an acute rehabilitation ward where people who have experienced trauma take their first steps to recovery. For their ongoing journey, Monash Health Community Brain Injury Services helps people with an ABI to achieve their goals, take control of their lives and develop life skills to maintain their independence, and offers educational, recreational and employment services.

People suffering an ABI are often overlooked due the hidden nature of their disability. Today, I join with calls on the government to provide more services to accommodate people with a brain injury and work to develop a national scale partnership—similar to the partnership seen in Victoria, which helps people with a brain injury and their family members.

I would like to congratulate the Member for Shortland for bringing this matter to the attention of the House. The people who suffer from ABI are throughout all our electorates and throughout the entire country. They are deserving of recognition of their issues, and I will support from government and from community service to ensure they have the opportunity to live their lives.

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