Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are few things more painful than watching someone you love struggle with their mental health and not knowing how to ease their pain. Too many families in our community know the helplessness of knowing that someone they love is not coping. Too many know the heartbreak of watching a friend, a partner, a child or a colleague withdraw, carry too much or lose hope. Too many of us live in fear of that phone call. We know that sometimes suicide comes with no perceivable warning. It leaves families, friends and communities reeling with shock, devastation and confusion, asking how this could have happened and whether anything might have changed the outcome. That is part of what makes suicide so deeply heartbreaking for individuals, for families and for our communities. It is not always visible and its impact reaches far.

This work is deeply personal to me and it's one of the reasons I came to this place. In Australia, we know that men are disproportionately impacted by suicide, accounting for over 75 per cent of all suicide deaths. And I have known far too many good men who are no longer with us due to suicide.

Before entering parliament, I was the CEO of Kookaburra Kids, a national youth mental health charity delivering evidence based prevention and early intervention support through peer based programs and activities. I came to that role because I understood firsthand the impact that family mental illness can have on young lives, and I believe deeply in increasing children's mental health knowledge and encouraging help-seeking behaviour. Over those years, through camps and activity days, I saw firsthand the impact those programs had on young people. I saw friendships form, I saw little eyes light up, and I saw the moment the penny drops when a child realises that their mum or dad's experiences and what they're going through aren't their fault. You could see years, sometimes, of stress, guilt or shame begin to lift, and that experience stays with you. It reminds you that suicide prevention is not only about responding in crisis; it's also about early intervention. It's about connection, mental health literacy, reducing stigma and encouraging help-seeking behaviour before distress deepens into despair. I want to give a shout-out to Kookaburra Kids and the 42 Challenge, which begins on 1 April, with fundraisers completing 42 minutes of movement each day, inspired by the 42 per cent of Australian families impacted by mental ill health.

In that sector, as in so many others, important decisions are made here in this place. They shape everyday lives, and they can save them. One of the reasons I entered politics was because I wanted to help shape those decisions here, where national policy can either strengthen the mental health of our communities or, sadly, leave people to fall through the cracks. That's why I am and remain deeply passionate about suicide prevention and why I believe the mental health of our nation must remain a national priority. I thank the member for Bowman for bringing forward this private member's business, along with colleagues who have spoken before me, including the member for Maribyrnong, who's a qualified psychologist, and the member for Hunter, who has been working so incredibly hard as our Special Envoy for Men's Health. I also acknowledge the contribution from the member for Monash.

Suicide is complex. There is no single cause and no single fix. Suicidal distress can be shaped by mental ill health but also by trauma, family violence, financial pressure, insecure housing, loneliness and isolation. That's why preventing suicide requires all levels of government services and the broader community working together. It requires a joined-up approach across health, housing, education and social services, because people do not experience these pressures in silos, and our response cannot be siloed. That's the thinking behind the National Suicide Prevention Strategy 2025-2035 released last year by our government. It recognises that, if we are serious about prevention, we must not only respond when someone is in crisis but also address the broader conditions that lead to suicide and suicidal distress. We've made a significant $1.1 billion investment to support the mental health of Australians more broadly, including through Medicare mental health centres, an expanded headspace network and a new network of youth specialist care centres, because this is life-changing and life-saving work. It's work absolutely worth doing, and it's work that we must keep doing together.

See this speech in context