Jodie Campbell (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I was afforded the honour of opening Participate 08, a health and wellbeing expo in Launceston which was part of Mental Health Week. The expo focused on mental health promotion, education, prevention and early intervention. It was a great opportunity to educate the community about mental health. It was also a great way to encourage communities to actively participate in their own mental health and wellbeing. In the lead-up to the event and in researching exactly what Participate 08 was all about, I had to stop and reflect on the impact of mental illness on people, their families and the wider community. It will come as no surprise to you, Madam Deputy Chair Saffin, to learn that mental illness is on the increase in our community. In my electorate of Bass and in my home state of Tasmania it is becoming more prevalent among children and adolescents as well as older people. This indicates that more and more young people are suffering from ailments like depression and autism, but also it is indicative of Tasmania’s ageing population.

Exactly what do we understand by the term ‘mental illness’? There are many things which fall under this very broad umbrella. Perhaps the most common mental illness is depression. According to the World Health Organisation, depression will be the second largest killer after heart disease by 2020 and studies show that depression is a contributory factor to fatal coronary disease. Thirty per cent of women are depressed. Men’s depression rate was assumed to be half that of women, but new estimates have it higher. Forty-one per cent of depressed women are too embarrassed to seek help, 54 per cent of people believe depression is a personal weakness and 80 per cent of depressed people are not currently having any treatment at all.

If these statistics indicate anything, it is the importance of talking about these issues openly and honestly. If someone has cancer, we talk about it. If someone breaks a leg or an arm, we talk about it. I hope that through events like the health and wellbeing expo and annual events like Mental Health Week we can break down barriers and do away with the stigma all too often associated with mental illness because, let us be honest, it affects a whole lot of people. Who of us does not know someone who at some point in their life has been affected by mental illness? I am sure many of us in this House have at some point suffered with mental illness. It should not be embarrassing, it should not be a point of shame and yet all too often it is.

One man whom I spoke with last week is an example to us all, whether we suffer from or know someone with a mental illness or not. Brian Sipthorp has bipolar and obsessive compulsive disorder, or, as he likes to refer to it, a blessing. What makes Brian such an inspiration and worthy of mention is the candour with which he discusses his illness and the steps he takes each and every day to live his life. Brian speaks with passion about taking control of his illness, recognising the impact it has on his life and using it to assist, rather than hinder, how he functions. He is actively involved in what is known as the Pathways program, a wonderful initiative run through Anglicare in Tasmania, which Brian says gives him a place to be involved. To Brian, being involved means activities like bowling, music afternoons, dishwashing, cleaning, walking—scheduled activities which get him out of the house four days a week. This is an example of the system working and of the impact of one of the countless organisations which exist to support people with mental illness, and these services are being called upon more and more.

In Tasmania, the state Department of Health and Human Services set up a mental health helpline two years ago. In that time, the referral and assessment service has compiled a database of more than 13,250. It receives more than 80 calls a day on average, which equates to around 100 new consumers each month who are referred on to a range of services. Those who run the hotline, whilst already under pressure from a rising workload, fear they are seeing just a fraction of those who could be assisted. In fact, they estimate they are in contact with only around four per cent of those people in Tasmania who suffer with mental illness. Having said that, that is quite an improvement on the estimated one per cent of a few short years ago.

The Rudd government’s commitment to mental health is absolutely evident. We are committed to working with the state and territory governments to reinvigorate the national mental health reform agenda. On top of significant funding for mental health through the MBS and PBS, funding for mental health specific programs will nearly double over the next four years, compared to the previous four years. That means $783 million over four years, compared with $411 million in the previous four years. We have also established a National Advisory Council on Mental Health, which will provide independent expert advice to government on a range of issues.

There is always more to do, but to the organisers of the health and wellbeing expo in Launceston, I say congratulations and reaffirm my ongoing and full support.