Patrick Secker (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to speak about mental health and the lack of importance it seems to have with the South Australian government. It has been revealed that three wards in Glenside Hospital have closed down in the past 12 months due to what the state government says is a lack of demand. This has resulted in the number of available beds going from 1,200 in the early 1990s to approximately 300 last month. Even the number of beds available to mental health patients is significantly lower in South Australia, with only one bed being available for every 100,000 South Australian mental health patients compared to a national average of 11 beds being available per 100,000 patients, as outlined in the National Mental Health Report released in December last year.

By taking this approach the South Australian government is placing an unnecessary burden on the hospital system, as public hospitals are now operating as de facto psychiatric wards. I find this rather interesting, considering that the Australian Labor Party South Australian Branch’s mental heath policy, which says ‘Rann Gets Results’—but not very good ones, I can assure you—states: ‘Our vision is to deliver the best mental health services to the community of South Australia.’ In actual fact, they have the worst. I fail to understand how it is possible to deliver such services to South Australians when figures clearly show that South Australia remains at the bottom of the tally board for mental health spending.

This comes after the Prime Minister’s announcement in April this year of the government’s $1.9 billion package. Whilst the increased funding was unconditional, it is desired that the states come to the party by collectively matching the much needed cash injection with new funds of their own. When we review the state’s contribution towards funding and what the government would have liked to have been injected as a contribution by the South Australian ALP government, there is currently only $50 million allocated over four years, as opposed to the $144 million hoped for.

Without the necessary funding, patients with mental health illnesses cannot receive the treatment and support they need and we cannot educate others about mental health or continue to try to prevent the unnecessary deaths of people of all ages from these illnesses—deaths which are predominately higher in rural regions, like the seat of Barker. In a paper written in 2002 titled Suicide in Australian farming it is noted that in Australia approximately one male farmer dies from suicide every four days. This is a huge amount of people taking their lives. Unfortunately, more than half the men who have depression or a mental illness in rural areas do not seek help. This may be due to the fact that they are not aware of the signs of the illness, that they may feel ashamed or that they just do not know where to get help.

Quite often farmers have a poor understanding of mental health and are reluctant to access formal health care. What we can identify is that there are a number of factors which could contribute to suicide, including drought-induced financial difficulties, stock loss, pressure of decision making and the constant physical and mental demands of farm working. It concerns me that, this year, South Australia is facing drought all around the state. It has been a shocking year, and that is going to put a lot more pressure on farmers in South Australia. By providing funding through the South Australian government, we can assist in the education and treatment of such people, to show them that life can be good despite the bad times, and we can assist and treat others before they get to the point of their mental illness becoming unbearable.

Thankfully the Australian government is working with all the states and territories through the Council of Australian Governments, COAG, and has developed a national approach to mental health service delivery. The National Action Plan on Mental Health will see the establishment of a COAG mental health group in each state to monitor mental health services and provide independent assessment of the process. It is just not good enough for the Labor state government to push this issue to one side and not give it the appropriate attention and funding it deserves. Mental health illnesses affect many people in many ways in many parts of South Australia, and it is time the issue is taken more seriously by the ALP government in South Australia.