Catryna Bilyk (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I also wish to take note of the committee report. Stillbirth in Australia is still the biggest cause of death amongst infants. The rate of death from stillbirth is higher than the national road toll. As we heard from Senator Keneally—we recite this fairly frequently now—Australia loses 2,200 babies a year to stillbirth. That's six babies a day. Just by way of comparison, without being at all denigrating about SIDS, that is 30 times more common than SIDS. We all know that, with SIDS having a community approach and some funding being put into SIDS, we managed to reduce the rate of SIDS dramatically over the past few years. I just want to point out to people that it is 30 times more common. You can tell that the rate of stillbirth in Australia is still way too high.

As Senator Keneally also said, we've seen very little action. In fact, statistics have been kept for only the past 20 years. Thirty-six years ago, when my husband and I had our son and he was stillborn, he didn't even rate as a statistic, let alone anything else, and there was no counselling or support available for us. Nobody really came to us or spoke to us very much. We were lucky that we did have very good friends. We were living here in Canberra at the time, away from all our family. So, for me, this was a very personal inquiry as well.

One of the things that I took from this inquiry was the importance, as Senator Keneally also mentioned, of being able to speak about your child. Every day, Senator Keneally's Caroline is still her Caroline. Every day, my Timothy is still my Timothy. No matter how many years go by, they are still our kids. I just want to thank Senator Keneally because she brought this inquiry to the Senate. Without her doing that, this wouldn't have happened. Senator Keneally, you have changed the lives of so many parents by bringing it to the Senate. Being able to talk about it makes life a little bit easier. Parents don't ever forget their stillborn child—ever.

One of the things about this committee was that we started to remove the taboo around death, stillbirth and dying, and 'What's worse than having your baby die?' It really is something that people are very uncomfortable in speaking about, but this committee enabled people to start talking about it, and I think that's wonderful. I've always spoken about our son and I've left lots of people not knowing how to handle me, but I was never going to ever deny his existence. Family members who had stillborn children long before me—in fact, decades before me—did things after the inquiry like organising a memorial plaque for their child, which they didn't do previously, because it has come into the open so much more.

As Senator Keneally also mentioned, there were about 300 submissions to this inquiry. That shows the level of interest. When people gave evidence, especially the parents, it was extremely moving. It was a tough inquiry to do, but it was so worthwhile to be able to do it. I want to take this opportunity today to thank those parents who were so courageous to tell their stories. It stays in my mind that there was a mum and dad who had lost their baby 12 weeks before. I have to tell you that, 12 weeks after losing my son, I don't think I could have fronted a Senate inquiry. But they did. The courage and frankness the parents in particular showed to the committee was amazing.

I also want to take this opportunity to thank all the committee members. As Senator Keneally mentioned, it's nice when you can work in such a cooperative fashion with people right across the chamber. You would hope that there wouldn't be any sort of dissent on this issue, but you can never be sure. Everybody on the committee was respectful to not only the people giving evidence—and, as Senator Keneally said, that was researchers, parents and others—but also each other. I think that speaks heaps for how really well this chamber works when it works well.

We have seen successes achieved in other countries. Australia really lags behind countries like the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Norway and the Netherlands. It's really time that we took concrete action to start reducing the number of stillbirths in Australia. This committee inquiry was the first national investigation and report on the impact of stillbirth on Australian families and the Australian economy. Senator Keneally mentioned that. One of the things people on the outside, so to speak, don't understand is the effect that it can have on the economy.

The fact we've been able to have autopsies allocated a Medicare number is really important because the last thing you want when you're grieving is to have to find the money to have an autopsy. We didn't have an autopsy on our child. We just could not afford it, so it didn't happen. Things like that will give us so much more information for research into what causes it. A variety of issues can cause stillbirth of course—anything from a genetic issue to how the blood is pumped to the baby and all sorts of things. Being able to find out what might cause it is beneficial to not only the country and prospective parents but also the parents whose child has died.

As Senator Keneally said, the report made 16 recommendations. I see it as the first step. Labor welcomes news that the government has agreed or agreed in principle to all of the recommendations of the Senate select committee. We also welcome the announcement by the government of additional funding for perinatal services. This will aid research and prevention programs to drive down Australia's stillbirth rate. We remain committed to working with the government to prevent these tragic deaths in the future and we offer our support in developing a national stillbirth action plan. I recognise that the government is taking steps to make progress on this issue. I'm hopeful and confident that the government will accept our support.

In the last minute or so that I have left I would once again like to pass on my sincerest heartfelt thanks to all those people who gave evidence to the inquiry, to the committee members and to the secretariat. Sometimes I think the staff in the secretariat just go way above and beyond—from discreetly supplying tissues to being so professional about the whole inquiry. I would really like to thank the secretariat that worked on this inquiry. They didn't choose to work on this inquiry. I actually did choose to come on this inquiry; they didn't. They were so professional, and so caring of the witnesses in particular, that you've just got to stop and think about the great job they've done. I know that Senator Keneally, Senator McCarthy, who was the Chair, Senator Molan, Senator Rice and former Senator Gichuhi also really appreciated the support of the committee secretariat. On that note, I will seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.