Bridget Archer (Bass, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is also for the Minister for Health. Mental health and suicide prevention is one of the main issues that are raised with me by parents and young people. Can the minister outline what actions the government is taking to provide support and security to those at risk of suicide?

Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Bass, who was courageous and up-front in her first speech about the challenges that she—like so many in this chamber and in every other room in Australia—has faced in the course of her life. Whether it's as individuals or whether it's within our families, our friendship groups, our community groups or our workplaces, we know that mental health is a challenge that will affect four million Australians in any one year, and suicide will, sadly, take over 3,100 Australians, according to the last year of full figures available to the Australian government, so this is something of profound importance. We're taking steps locally and nationally and for the long term.

In terms of the local level, during the election campaign, with the advocacy of both the member for Bass and the member for Braddon, we were able to announce an adult mental health centre for Northern Tasmania. That will be located in Launceston, in the member for Bass's own electorate. This is something which has been a personal passion and a personal advocacy campaign, and to have achieved so much so quickly is a real measure of the integrity of spirit that you bring to this place.

At the national level, one of the critical things in dealing with suicide is recovery and rehabilitation after somebody leaves hospital. We know that the chances of somebody again attempting suicide, or completing suicide, after they have been discharged from hospital, having been admitted after an attempted suicide, are the highest in the country, in all the different ways of cutting the figures. That means that, whilst this is terrible, we have one particular opportunity here—that is, we know the very individuals who are most at risk.

I want to commend and thank former Prime Minister Julia Gillard for her comments today and her work at beyondblue. We are working with beyondblue on their The Way Back program. We started with the leadership of Jeff Kennett and the baton was passed to Julia Gillard, and she has been magnificent. We are supporting The Way Back program with a $37 million government initiative. It will track the individuals—firstly in 25 groups. We want to work with the states to spread it across every single patient who is ultimately discharged from hospital and has to face the task of recovery from attempted suicide or suicidality.

Then the Prime Minister personally appointed and announced only recently the wonderful Christine Morgan, formerly of the Butterfly Foundation and now of the National Mental Health Commission, as his personal envoy on national suicide prevention. We want to work with Christine on a decade-long plan to address this crisis, to deal with this crisis, and ultimately give every Australian a way back.