John McVeigh (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was privileged to officially launch a new service in the Groom electorate recently—just a few weeks ago, in fact—that will be at the front line of suicide prevention in our region. The launch happened at our magnificent Empire Theatre in the middle of Toowoomba. Our region includes the surrounding townships of Pittsworth, Oakey and many villages and small communities in between. The Way Back Support Service will now be operating out of the Toowoomba base hospital in order to provide specialised and personalised support to people who have attempted suicide or have experienced a suicidal crisis.

I congratulate the teams at Beyond Blue, the Richmond Fellowship Queensland and the Darling Downs and West Moreton Primary Health Network together with the Darling Downs health service. They are national, state and very much local health services and health bodies who have joined together to deliver this vital service to the Toowoomba region.

Under the way back program a support coordinator will be available on a daily basis at the Toowoomba base hospital to meet with clients and to guide them through safety planning and a personalised aftercare program for up to three months. Of course, it will integrate with other health support and healthcare services throughout our community. In this case, it can mean anything from helping them access financial advice, for example, through to connecting them with community groups or helping them attend healthcare appointments. Mostly, this support coordinator will maintain contact and provide encouragement and support, most importantly, on an ongoing basis.

Sadly, on average 65,000 people attempt suicide in Australia each year and eight per day are likely to die. That's almost 3,000 per year. The research shows that those who have previously attempted are amongst those most at risk of attempting again. It is these very people, most importantly our own people, that the way back program supports. Assertive aftercare is considered amongst the most effective ways for reducing suicide re-attempts.

During the launch of this service we heard, by way of a short video, from a participant in the way back program called Fiona. We learned she had attempted suicide on numerous occasions, but with the enormous support and help offered through this program she has been able to find her own way back to move forward with her life. In particular, Fiona explained to us that it was 'just such a relief to know that someone was there for me'. She referred to the fact that her support coordinator had actually contacted her during a suicide attempt and it was that contact that was critical in getting her through that particular drastic moment.

I very much thank the men and women in our community working every day to help people deal with mental illness. Those who work with these people are literally saving lives and giving individuals the message that they are not on their own, that it is okay to seek help, that we are all valued in our community and that their friends, their families and their communities are with them all the way through.

In particular, I note the broader activities in our community, reflected no doubt across Australia, particularly in my case and other examples across regional Australia. For example, I talk about the Men's Shed movement, Lifeline and, in our case, Queensland Health—our public health network, as I said. I talk about Sunrise Way, a drug and alcohol rehabilitation service in our city; various specialists; GPs; those focused on supporting our veterans, young and old; and, of course, those in our schools and various community groups. This is a message echoed time and time again across the aisles of this House—our national parliament. Again, I say to my own community and those around the country that it is okay to seek help.