Madonna Jarrett (Brisbane, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mental health has touched many people, most likely everybody in this House, whether it's a friend, a loved one or even yourself. There are many reasons someone might struggle with mental health. It could be biological—genetics, family history, brain chemistry or structure. It could be psychological—trauma, stress, substance abuse. Or it could be social and environmental—social isolation, life events, socioeconomic factors, discrimination, or someone else's environment.

Recently I spoke with Ariana, a 10-year-old student going to school in my electorate, and we chatted about mental health through the lens of school bullying. She may be only 10, but her observations were very wise and very mature. While we chatted she reiterated what she wrote in her winning Raise Our Voice submission, which I'll read out now. She said of the goal of stopping bullying school:

This goal is so important because bullying does not just hurt in the moment; it can stay with a person for life.

Many people in our community have experienced bullying, whether at school or online, and we must stop our young Australians from carrying that pain inside because it can lead to serious mental health issues, even suicide.

Ending bullying will help create a peaceful, loving, and safe Australia for everyone.

Those are wise words. While medications can help those who are struggling with their mental health, that's just part of the answer. We still need to lean in, as Ariana did, and question whether there is something more to do.

Our society has become less connected with one another. We have to question whether we're being driven more by social and environmental factors. It's actually human nature to want to feel connected and to feel part of something bigger than what we are. As humans we assign meaning to emotions and relationships that go well beyond an immediate experience. And we can feel a sense of belonging or connection through supportive relationships. But the rapid increase in technology and social media has meant that more and more people are seeking that kind of interpersonal connection through our screens and less with each other—or, to use a young person's language, IRL, which means 'in real life'.

I grew up in a household of eight siblings, including foster kids, Mum, Dad and grandparents next door. We didn't have much, but being a family meant we always had each other and we had our community. Now we have an entire generation who didn't grow up knowing what it was like to ride your bike around for hours, to go to the local park and kick a footy, to climb a tree or to drop in on a friend unannounced. Let's face it, that's what was available to us, and we made our own fun. But we do live in different times, and we know that mental health challenges affect many in our community. In fact, a recent Australian Institute of Health and Welfare study report showed that one in five Australians aged 16 to 85 experienced a mental disorder, 3.4 million experienced anxiety—that's 17 per cent—and one in seven children and adolescents experienced a mental illness.

As the government we have a responsibility to provide tools and support to give people help when they need it most. That's why I'm really proud to be part of a government that not only recognises this responsibility but is backing it up with necessary resources and funding. This government is putting mental health at the heart of Medicare and delivering more services in the centres of communities across Australia, boosted by our historic $1.1 billion in mental health care, an election commitment. Over the coming years we will see new expanded Medicare mental health centres, headspace services, Medicare mental health kids hubs, perinatal mental health centres and youth specialist centres—very broad ranging. We've already delivered 45 mental health centres, 172 headspace services, 11 Medicare mental health kids hubs and 10 perinatal mental health centres.

During the election campaign obviously I talked to a lot of the voters, and one of the biggest issues raised with me was lack of access to affordable mental health care. That's why I was so pleased to join the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention recently to open the new Medicare mental health centre in Lutwyche. This centre provides a safe and very welcoming place for anyone to access free, quality mental health care and over extended hours. It's staffed by a team of highly qualified mental health professionals and, importantly, people with lived experience of mental health challenges. They will listen and work with those in my community, providing them with the care and support they need. Again, support through this centre is free for everyone who walks in the door. You don't need an appointment or a GP referral. You can walk in and get access to free mental health support without the need for an appointment, without the need for a referral and without a mental health treatment plan. The centre, as I mentioned, is staffed by multidisciplinary teams, including mental health clinicians, for when they're needed, and peer support workers.

It's vitally important to provide places for people to feel safe, where they can get the support they need. As a government, though, we also do need to look at the negative impacts of social media and bullying that are leading to some of this increase in demand. The rise of social media addiction is at pandemic levels, and it impacts our society as a whole but particularly the younger generation. That's why it was so important that this government had the guts to take on the big tech companies and the social media giants to introduce the world's first ban on social media for those under 16.

The eSafety Commissioner's recent Keeping Kids Safe Online survey explored the benefits but also highlighted the risks of the online world to children in Australia. There were some telling statistics. Almost three in four children had seen or heard content associated with harm online. More than one in two had experienced cyberbullying. Three in five had seen or heard online hate, while over one in four had personally experienced it. One in four had experienced non-consensual tracking, monitoring and harassment. The prevalence of online harm varied by gender and age, with teens and trans and gender-diverse children generally more at risk.

We want kids to know who they are before the platforms assume who they are. The new laws that ban social media for those under 16 give an integral buffer that allows kids to do just that. They will save lives because, as the minister said, while we can't control the ocean, we can police the sharks. These laws, starting in approximately two weeks, on 10 December, will save the lives of Australian kids. We know there will be kids and others who'll try to get around them. It happened when we introduced the alcohol ban, but we persisted with that. It's about a cultural shift, too.

That's why I also thought it was important to organise a local social media forum in Brisbane to discuss the upcoming changes with parents and provide them with tools and resources to navigate them. We brought together some experts—Paul from the eSafety Commissioner, and Professor Alina Morawska, who's the director of the Parenting and Family Support Centre at the University of Queensland. Their insights on how these laws worked were very helpful. They provided practical tips for parents and carers, and I really do congratulate those who came along to hear what those experts had to say.

When we think about who we are, we have Maslow's hierarchy of needs, which is a psychological theory that outlines five levels of human needs. According to this theory, individuals must satisfy those lower levels—food, shelter, security and health—before we can even think about fulfilling ones like friendship, love et cetera. As a government we're playing our part to try and address some of the fundamentals: affordable housing, being able to see a GP for free, cheaper medicines and 20 per cent off student debt.

But, let's face it, there is a loneliness epidemic in our society, and we all have the power to change that. I want people out there to know you are not alone, and, no matter who and where you are, you deserve to be happy. Everywhere we look we see people glued to their phones, almost hypnotised, waiting for the next thumbs-up emoji or that red-heart emoji—an instant response. But the reality is that this is not providing our communities, and each of us, with genuine connections. It's harming our mental health.

I believe that we as a society need to take back control of what it means to feel connected and to be happy. Are we really going to wake up one day, when we're much older, and say, 'I wish I'd spent more time on my phone or online'? Or are we going to think, 'I took that chance'? Are you going to spend more time with your loved ones, join that community or sporting group that's been on the to-do list forever, go to that party, read a good book, have a good boogie to your favourite song or simply smile at that person you don't know? You might just change your life for the better and you might just change someone else's in the process.

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