Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Before I start, I commend the King's Birthday Honours recipients in my electorate: the fabulous Karen Heap from Ballarat Aboriginal and District Cooperative; Anneke Deutsch for services to the community; and Jody Gillet, who lives in Ballarat, for her services to small business. It's fabulous to see all three of them are women this year. That is a contrast to previous years, so it is lovely, and I congratulate them all.

On 5 July headspace Ballarat is going to be celebrating its 10th anniversary—10 years of selfless service to the youth of our Ballarat community. Over those 10 years, headspace Ballarat has supported 6,000 young people with over 40,000 treatment services. This is an incredible measure of lives changed and families touched by their work.

I began my work a long time ago now as a social worker when I worked in Ballarat, a long time before headspace was even a concept. I saw kids who had significant problems with anxiety, were angry, were stressed but had nowhere to go for help. Back then, it was clear that our community was crying out for a place like headspace, a place where young people and their families could get the support they need. Then after a long and strong community campaign, I was there in 2013 when our headspace opened with funding committed in 2011 by then Prime Minister Julia Gillard. I've seen the difference it has made and the people it has helped in our community.

Ten years ago, I spoke in this place about my hopes that headspace Ballarat would change the lives of young people in our community, that it would break down barriers and enable young residents to get the help that was too often too hard to come by. Ten years later, I am happy to say that headspace Ballarat has not only met those hopes but has certainly exceeded them. To all of the staff at headspace Ballarat, can I say thank you for the service you provided to young people in our community. Over 10 years you have become an integral part of the community's service system. You have become a place and an organisation that community members can trust and that our young people can rely on.

In particular, I want to acknowledge the many young people who've been associated with headspace Ballarat—those who have been supported and those who have volunteered or worked with organisation through their youth advisory and committee structures. They have made headspace Ballarat truly a very welcoming place for young people. You may never stop to think of the impact that you have had on the lives of others in our community, but many of us do, and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for that. I've seen what Ballarat was like for young people before having these sorts of services, before having such a strong mental health system particularly targeted at young people. I want to thank headspace very much for their first decade, and here's to many more to come.

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193, the time for members' constituency statements has concluded.