Luke Gosling (Solomon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Chisholm for her motion in helping to raise the profile of the National Stroke Foundation and the different ways to prevent stroke. According to a 2014 report from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, stroke is the second-leading cause of death and disability in this country; it affects thousands of Australians every year.

This is an issue that is close to my heart as my father, John Gosling, has worked for Guide Dogs in Australia for 46 years, and every day of those 46 years has been working in assisting people who have become sight- and mobility-impaired due to the effects of stroke. Vision assessment post-stroke determines someone's loss of vision, and then Guide Dogs work with those people around their loss of vision to help them gain mobility skills, increased independence and also to reduce the risk of falls and improve the quality of life through that increased mobility. Thirty per cent of people who have a stroke will have a change to their vision functioning, so it has a very definite and real effect on their lives.

There is an enormous cost to stroke in our community in the Northern Territory—in 2012, about $51 million and, nationally in that year, about $5 billion. There is a financial cost, apart from the very human cost, incurred by the estimated 375,000 Australians who have had a stroke at some time in their lives. A third of these people sustain a disability because of that stroke, and often loved ones or colleagues are unable to read the signs when that person is having a stroke. This can lead to increased damage or even death.

That is why it is important for the F.A.S.T. stroke check to continue to be promoted and learned by all Australians. If there is one useful thing that I can do this morning, it is to remind people about what the F.A.S.T. check is. F.A.S.T. is a way to check if someone is suffering from stroke. Firstly, look at their face and check their face—has their mouth drooped; arms—ask them if they can lift both arms; speech—is their speech slurred, and do they understand you; and the T is for time—time is critical. If you see any of these signs, call triple zero straightaway; the person that you are with may be having a stroke.

Stroke changes people's lives, often permanently, and impacts not only the person who has experienced the stroke but also the families.

If you look at the stats regarding stroke, you will understand how the people and services of my electorate of Solomon are disproportionately impacted. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have twice the rate of hospitalisation for stroke and are 1½ times more likely to die from stroke than non-Indigenous Australians. People living in remote and very remote areas have 1½ times the rate of stroke than people living in major cities, and people from the lower socioeconomic group have 1.3 times the rate of stroke than people from the highest socioeconomic group.

The Northern Territory leads the country in many ways—our rich culture; our fishing, cattle and horticultural industries; we are a fantastic tourism destination; we have excellent opportunities for development of the defence industry; we have an amazing heritage and big hearts. But, unfortunately, the Northern Territory also leads in the risk factors that contribute to strokes—smoking, obesity and alcohol consumption. We have many, many people in the Territory who are suffering from the effects of strokes, and I urge Territorians to have a look at their lifestyle in order to reduce the likelihood of stroke. For me, too, this is important; I am doing it more and more. We need to keep up the exercise and to try and cut down or quit smoking and excess drinking, as those factors will increase the likelihood of stroke.

There is enough in the Territory to finish you off—there are crocodiles and there are box jellyfish. We cannot do a lot about some of those things, and we certainly cannot do anything about a category 5 cyclone, but we can improve our health and we can help those around us. We can remember the FAST acronym as a way of helping those who may have had a stroke. We can do all that we can do help prevent stroke, because it is so damaging.

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