Gavin Pearce (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week, Burnie's new headspace facility was opened officially. This means that young people aged between 12 and 25 years from the greater region of Burnie no longer have to travel to Devonport in order to access mental health, alcohol and drugs education and vocational support. Input, trust, leadership and guidance from one's peers are incredibly powerful things when it comes to managing issues around mental health. So, when I was speaking with the members of the Youth Reference Group—in fact, to all the staff at the centre—I could tell straightaway that this facility was really going to make a difference to the lives of those who choose this service.

Ashley Murphy is one member of the Youth Reference Group. Ashley said about the Burnie headspace:

In a small town, people can unfortunately get used to services popping up, and then disappearing, but having a prominent service in the Burnie community that is so recognisable for what it does for young people—it signifies to those young people that the community cares.

The opening of the Burnie headspace centre follows the upgrade of Devonport last year, and it fulfils the Morrison government's election commitment to improve access to headspace services for young people living right across the north-west coast of Tasmania.