Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Every year it is estimated that 3.6 million people in Australia will experience mental health problems, with 7.3 million adult Australians experiencing a mental health issue at some point in their lives. Every year more than 65,000 Australians will attempt suicide, with more than 2,500 dying from suicide. These statistics paint a shocking picture. They also, however, make a very strong case for government to make mental health a national priority.

Unfortunately, the mental health and suicide prevention sector in Australia has been in what can only be described as a holding pattern for the last two years. In late 2013 a review was undertaken of mental health services and programs in Australia, and in December 2014 the National Mental Health Commission recommended a major overhaul of the mental health system in Australia. They rightly concluded that, despite significant public investment in the mental health system and the dedication and skills of the individuals and organisations engaged in the sector, a shift in focus was absolutely necessary. The commission called for a shift from a crisis-driven system reliant on acute care to a focus on community-based services, primary health care, prevention and early intervention. As the report put it, the mental health system can and must be better at catching people before they fall. To date, the government is yet to act on the report or any of its 25 recommendations. The mental health and suicide prevention sector has been calling for urgent reform and action. With funding for some programs due to expire in June 2016, they need decisions made and they need a move to reform in line with the commission's recommendations as soon as possible.

While mental health and suicide is a national issue, it is felt acutely at the local level. The commission's recommendations for reform identified the opportunity to address this with a coordinated approach at the regional level. My electorate of Newcastle would be an ideal location for a place-based initiative for regional Australia. We have the patient need for a reformed service-delivery model but also a great capacity on the ground to do things differently. We already act as a tertiary healthcare hub for regional and rural New South Wales, and the new Primary Health Network based in Newcastle services a region stretching from the Central Coast in the south to Tenterfield in the north, and west to Moree Plains and Narrabri.

Newcastle itself can expect to have 30,000 residents experience mental illness in the next 12 months, with over 5,000 of them experiencing serious mental illness that requires coordinated care. We also have rates of suicide and attempted suicide that are above the state average in New South Wales, causing great impacts on families, communities and, indeed, the service providers, who are doing the best they can with limited resources. But we also have some of Australia's leading mental health experts, researchers and service providers. I know that health services, emergency services, NGOs, the Primary Health Network and local councils have been working behind the scenes with the Hunter Institute of Mental Health—themselves a leading national organisation working in suicide prevention—to lay the groundwork for a regional approach. This is in line with the recommendations of the Mental Health Commission's report that call for sustainable, comprehensive, whole-of-community approaches to suicide prevention.

What my region and others around Australia really need is a national government that is prepared to lead and commit adequate resources to implement the changes required. The Minister for Health says that the government's response is coming soon. While we wait, a creaking system that is already under enormous pressure is expected to operate as best it can. Every day that responsibility for mental health reform is put off is another day that people living with mental illness, those that care for them and those who work in the sector are being let down by this government. We need the government to step up to the task, show national leadership and implement the National Mental Health Commission's recommendations. Labor knows this is a national priority and we have already outlined some of our plans for providing better support for people with a mental illness. It is time the government did the same.