Michael Johnson (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mental health is an extremely serious issue in our society. We probably all know someone, directly or indirectly, who has or is suffering from a mental health illness. Those suffering from mental illness are suffering an illness. Mental health is an illness; it is not just a personality problem or a passing mood problem. Those suffering from mental issues are not crazy people or mad or insane. They should not be forgotten in our community. They are ill and they require the very best treatment that a rich and prosperous country like ours can deliver. Some one million Australians experience some form of mental health illness, which can be in the form of depression or severe and sustained anxiety.

The Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research, based at the University of Queensland, which is one of this country’s great universities and is in the Ryan electorate, reports that each employee with depression symptoms would cost their employer up to $9,665 a year. The interesting aspect of the UQ research was that $7,878 of this amount could be recouped if sufferers of mental health problems had accessed treatment right at the very beginning. So just from this economic perspective we can see how significant it is for us as a nation to tackle mental health issues.

I know that the Rudd government has allocated $50 million towards mental health services, including $20 million to tackle suicide prevention, particularly for young Australians. This is a good start, and I am pleased that it has been done. But let me just make one comparison with what the Howard government invested in mental health. In May 2006 the Howard government invested a massive $1.8 billion in mental health programs. The Howard government’s $1.8 billion package was a remarkable and innovative funding package. For one thing, it allowed clinical psychologists and clinical psychiatrists to bill patients under a Medicare entitlement. The consequence of this was that in its first month of operation, some 45,000 Medicare billing transactions took place involving clinical psychologists and psychiatrists and accredited GPs who were able to take advantage of the new Medicare coverage.

The $1.8 billion funding package also provided for more mental health nurses, some 650 new respite places and the employment of some 900 support workers to help with the daily chores of the sufferers of mental health problems. The $1.8 billion funding package of the Howard government was funding well beyond the substantial resources that had already been committed to mental health through the national mental health plans that have a five-year lifespan and are negotiated between the states and territories and the Commonwealth.

I refer also tonight to an aspect of mental health that is very important for me as the member for Ryan, because I have had the opportunity of seeing many local constituents about this particular aspect of mental health. I want to talk about bipolar disorder very briefly. Bipolar disorder is a term used to describe extreme fluctuations of mood. The term describes the exaggerated alternating pattern of emotional highs and lows—the low being a reference to depression, in particular. The intensity of the associated signs and symptoms varies. Bipolar disorder can range from a mild condition to a terribly severe condition, and there may be periods of regular behaviour in between. The mood swings pattern for each individual is generally quite distinctive, with some people having episodes of mania only once a decade, while others have daily mood swings. Bipolar disorder can commence in childhood, and this is of interest to me because many young people who could potentially have great lives ahead of them may not reach their potential. Some people develop their first episode in their mid to late adulthood, so it varies quite dramatically amongst Australians.

I raise that here because I have recently been invited to join a not-for-profit association that has its roots and its conception in the Ryan electorate. I will be pleased to elaborate further on this at another time. The Bipolar Expedition is something which I am very proud to be part of, and I want to commend Dr Tim Silk, who is based at the University of Queensland, for his leadership and stewardship, and also to commend the committee members of the Bipolar Expedition, which aims to raise significant funds to bring bipolar disorder to the attention of the Australian public as an issue within the Australian community. I also want to thank all those who are associated with voluntary work in bipolar disorder for their contribution to making the lives of so many Australians much easier. (Time expired)