Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

This is an important motion to rise on, because young people in regions like mine are being left behind by mental health services and support. I'm pleased to see the reference to Headspace in this motion, because it has been a transformational initiative first brought to fruition by a coalition government. Headspace is, of course, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, and it provides early intervention mental health services for 12- to 25-year-olds. The organisation supports young people with mental health, physical health, alcohol and other drug services, and work and study support. In 2024-25 alone, they supported more than 101,000 young people with over 612,000 occasions of service in headspace centres, and provided more than 24,000 young people and families with over 100,000 digital occasions of service.

This is very much needed. National data shows that young people in Australia experience the highest prevalence of mental health disorders, with nearly 40 per cent of 16- to 24-year-olds having experienced one in the past 12 months, including high rates of anxiety disorders. Young people in regional areas do not have the same access to mental health support services. I'm passionate about using my time in this place to close this gap.

As Australia's best-known demographer, Bernard Salt, wrote recently: 'Over the last 10 years, Warragul's population has increased by 41 per cent. It outpaces places like Busselton and the Gold Coast.' According to Bernard Salt, Warragul and Drouin, in my electorate, are the fastest-growing towns in Australia, but many of our services haven't kept pace with that growth. One of those areas—for young people in particular—is mental health.

I recently met with a number of dedicated staff from Latrobe Community Health Service in West Gippsland about this challenge. Despite its population growth, the Baw Baw shire area does not have a headspace of its own. You need to travel to the Bass Coast or the Latrobe Valley for the nearest service. These are significant distances to travel, particularly for those from smaller and more remote areas of the Baw Baw shire like Erica, Rawson, Neerim South, Noojee and other towns.

I want to thank Tenille Thornburn and Mona Wei from my local community, who wrote to me about why this is important. I met with them recently, and the need is clear. In the 2024-25 financial year, headspace Morwell supported 726 young people with their mental health. Of those, 147—or around 20 per cent—were from the Baw Baw shire, many of whom would have travelled for an hour or more to get there.

A 2024 survey of 370 year 8 students in Baw Baw shire paints a clear picture. Thirty-six per cent showed moderate to severe symptoms of depression. That's equivalent to almost three full-time clinicians' caseloads, yet there were no headspace funded positions in the Baw Baw shire area. Twenty-six per cent had moderate to severe anxiety, and twenty-six per cent experienced problematic levels of loneliness. Forty-six per cent said they'd experienced discrimination. Young people in our community deserve safe, inclusive mental health care that actually meets them where they're at, and their need is urgent.

We know that young people's mental health needs are evolving. They are more complex. Adolescence and early adulthood have always been challenging times for young people. I want to pay tribute to some of the excellent organisations in my electorate of Monash for their outstanding work in this space. As a former board member of Lifeline Gippsland, I've seen how hard many of these dedicated volunteers work.

In particular, Barry Rogers and the team at Gippsland Youth Spaces continue to put in extraordinary efforts to support young people at risk with very limited resources. I was so pleased to have been able to secure a coalition commitment of $850,000 during the recent election to support their work. I will continue to support their efforts, which include mentorship, safe spaces for young people after school if home is not safe, pathways to vocational and trades training, and much more.

When last in government, the coalition doubled the number of Medicare subsidised mental health sessions Australians could access from 10 to 20. Labor has cut Medicare subsidised mental health support in half—back to 10 sessions. This leaves 372,000 Australians, many of them young people, without the support they need.

We urgently need to address this. Doubling these sessions is urgent. Securing a new headspace for West Gippsland is a major priority for our community and I make that commitment to our electorate.

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