Harry Quick (Franklin, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sadly, another victim shot by the police; sadly, another mental health statistic; sadly, another family grieving for a family member who is a casualty of the hopelessly inadequate mental health system operating here in Australia. This latest case will be front-page news for a couple of days and will then disappear from view until it comes before the state coroner for mention and determination. Occasionally we as members in this place have to deal with the fallout of mental illness striking constituents and their families as we go about our work in our electorate offices. Trying to deal with the immediate crisis is traumatic enough, but even more frustrating is endeavouring to get some answers and immediate results for the client from supportive mental health practitioners and, just as importantly, ongoing support for the client’s close family members.

It is disturbing to note that every family in Australia is at risk of experiencing mental illness. Some of the more common mental illnesses include depression, anxiety, substance abuse, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The facts speak for themselves. About 14 per cent of children and 18 per cent of adults will be directly affected by a mental illness each year—or approximately one in every five people. There are 150 of us in this House. Statistically, what does this say about our chances of suffering from any of these illnesses, and how are we coping in this hothouse environment? Just as importantly, how is our immediate family coping? These statistics alone cannot convey the distress caused to individuals, the impact on family and friends, and the loss of function and quality of life. It is a sad statistic that mental illnesses account for about 30 per cent of the total burden of non-fatal diseases in Australia.

What is the real impact of mental illness? Mental illness impairs a person’s ability to function as a normal citizen—one who can contribute to the fabric of the society in which they live. By this I mean that mental illness impairs one’s ability to learn and to work, to love, to maintain physical health, to earn a living, to enjoy leisure and to obtain such basic things as adequate housing and transport.

Experts in the field measure the effects of a mental illness in something they call ‘days out of role’. According to the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, these are the statistics, and they are frightening: anxiety disorders account for 2.7 million person days out of role every month; depressive disorders account for 2.1 million person days out of role every month; and substance abuse disorders account for 1.1 million person days out of role every month. Multiply those by 12 and you will see an alarming and stupefying statistic. Here is an even more disturbing fact: 75 per cent of mental illnesses first occur in people aged 15 to 24—the vulnerable years—and two-thirds of all disability in people aged 15 to 30 years is caused by mental illness.

I would like to pay tribute to and acknowledge the wonderful work done by all those in the field of mental illness, especially the Mental Health Council of Australia and the Australian Foundation for Mental Health Research, who I acknowledge for the many statistics that I am quoting here today.

As I said earlier, mental illness is no respecter of race, religion or wealth. It strikes at will along the continuum of life. In childhood and adolescence it can manifest itself in depression, anxiety, conduct disorder, substance abuse, aggression and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. In young adults, depression, anxiety and substance abuse are joined by schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and eating disorders. In later adult life to those just mentioned we sadly must add dementia. Along this continuum one sees its effect on function and quality of life. This is evidenced through failure at school, TAFE and university; trouble at home; family and relationship problems; social isolation; unemployment and poverty; legal problems; drug and alcohol abuse; poor physical health; early death from physical illnesses; and, sadly, suicide in large numbers.

At the start of my speech I used the word ‘sadly’. I did this because I wanted to convey to those in this place, those listening to this speech and, more importantly, those affected by mental illness and their families my deep and sincere concern for this issue. In Australia, with 500,000 children and 2.6 million adults experiencing mental illness each year, we as legislators and leaders must ensure that the stigma of mental illness is not shoved as an issue behind closed doors.

I congratulate the Prime Minister, the Minister for Health and Ageing, and the state and territory ministers for their recent initiatives in increasing funding to address this crucial issue. As someone who is involved on the board of a wonderful organisation in Hobart, the Eureka Club, which deals at first hand with the complexities of mental illness, I witness at first hand the stigma and hassles faced by these people. I know, by regularly sharing meals or a cup of coffee with them, just how disadvantaged they are as they attempt to live from day to day. I also know, by having close friends who have experienced mental illness on a daily basis, just how frustrating it is to deal with workers in a hospital system that does not have the resources at the coalface as these sufferers present themselves at the emergency section of the Royal Hobart Hospital.

I raise this issue because it is one of the large social issues facing our country. With the statistics I have quoted here today, we must take up the challenge. Mental illness is not a fashionable cause, but, as I said, almost one in five Australian families is hit by mental illness. I give my commitment here today to bother both our shadow minister for health here in the House and the Minister for Health and Ageing on the other side to ensure that we politicians here in this place and our state colleagues work tirelessly to ensure that the sufferers and, just as importantly, the families of the sufferers get the very best treatment and the very best resources to ensure that they have real quality of life.