Katie Allen (Higgins, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. Will the Prime Minister update the House on how the Morrison government is acting in a stable and certain way to address the real issue of providing greater support for mental health and suicide prevention?

Scott Morrison (Cook, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. One life lost to suicide is one too many, which is why my government is working towards a zero suicide goal. As Prime Minister, I have made it a national priority for mental health and suicide prevention to be a focus of our government. The statistics speak for themselves. One in five Australians experience a common mental disorder each year. One in four Australians aged 16 to 24 experience mental illness in any given year. Most sadly of all, 3,046 Australians in 2018 took their own lives, a tragedy that touches far too many families.

The government is making record investments when it comes to mental health in this country: now over $5.3 billion in 2019-20, up from $4.9 billion in 2018-19. In the most recent budget that the Treasurer handed down there was $503 million specifically for measures to deal with youth mental health and suicide prevention. I have appointed Ms Christine Morgan as our national suicide prevention officer. She is consulting with Australians across the country and she is bringing people together from all perspectives in this country to deal with this very serious issue. Some 26 town hall meetings have been held already. On 13 November she brought together over 100 leaders in this area at the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet to have the Towards Zero Suicide Prevention Forum to design new ways to address the complex issues contributing to Australia's suicide rate and involve community members and organisations in this conversation. The forum will determine further priorities and outcomes that the government will seek to work to as we go to next year's budget and beyond.

We are working with the states and territories. My government is working to confront the mental health challenges faced also by our veterans, our police, our security agencies and our first responders, for whom we have a direct responsibly. I also want to acknowledge here in this place the leadership of the Victorian Premier, Dan Andrews, who today released the interim report of the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System. Governments across Australia must work together showing leadership to address the real issues that matter to Australians, and this is certainly one. I look forward to working very closely with Premier Andrews, as we have already had a number of very good and worthy discussions to advance measures together.

This is an issue that I know all Australians feel deeply about. These are the issues we must be focusing on in this place. For those Australians needing support, there is immediate help available to them through Lifeline, Beyond Blue, Kids Helpline and many other organisations. We thank them for the great work that they do in all of those organisations. I particularly want to thank Christine Morgan, who was recognised by the University of New South Wales this year in their annual prize for those addressing mental health. She has done an amazing job for young people, particularly those dealing with eating disorders in this country. She is a great leader on this issue. I'm looking forward to working with her more in the years ahead.

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

on indulgence—I associate Labor with the comments of the Prime Minister. On an average day, six Australians will kill themselves; tomorrow, another six; and, the next day, another six. That's six a day too many. I know that my shadow minister for health is working with the government Minister for Health to ensure that the response is as bipartisan and, indeed, as effective as the response to HIV-AIDS was under the Hawke and Howard government and opposition respectively.