Mark Arbib (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Social Housing and Homelessness) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I present the government’s response to the report of the Senate Community Affairs References Committee on its inquiry into suicide in Australia.

Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I seek leave to take note of the government response to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs report entitled The hidden toll: suicide in Australia.

Leave granted.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the document.

I am pleased to be able to take note of the government’s response and I congratulate the government and Minister Butler for meeting the three-month time line in responding to a committee inquiry report. I think it is probably the first time that I can remember in the 5½ years I have been here that the government has responded within the deadline of three months, so I would particularly to congratulate the government for that and I would like to note a couple of really important issues. Having said that, however, I will note that we were not given the usual period to review this. I have literally had this response for about 10 minutes. I am sure that other speakers following me will also be seeking leave to continue their remarks so that we can go through this in a bit more detail.

I will point out a few of the key areas that the government has responded to. One of the key things that kicked this inquiry off was the fact that we do not know the real impact of suicide in Australia. We know that the figures are not correct. The official figures are around 1,800 suicides in Australia a year. We know that this is underreported and it is more likely that somewhat over 2,000 deaths are attributable to suicide. We also know that in Aboriginal communities deaths as a result of suicide are proportionately higher than in non-Aboriginal communities.

One of the key areas of recommendation we as a committee focused on at the front of our inquiry was this issue around the statistics, because it is so critical. Of course, any suicide is too many and there was some notion in the community that the number of people taking their own lives was decreasing, because the statistics were not showing the true numbers on suicides. We need to get a good understanding of the statistics because we need to be looking at whether we need to be increasing our investment in suicide prevention. Our inquiry clearly showed that the statistics are not showing the true numbers. I am pleased to say, in my quick look at the response, that the government has agreed with most of our recommendations around improving statistical collection and working with the states to improve coronial responses and approaches to suicide. In some states unless there is an inquest they do not actually report the cause of death and that is very important if we are going to address the high rates of suicide in Australia.

The government also notes in its response that its package that it announced during the election campaign—the $274 million for mental health and suicide prevention—is, as I understand the government’s response, a key plank of its response to the committee inquiry. While at the time I did welcome the $274 million—and I still do welcome it—we are looking for more. The previous debate that we had in this chamber, for example, indicates that we need to significantly increase our level of investment in mental health. One of the recommendations of the committee inquiry was increasing investment in mental health, so we need to be doing that. One of the other areas of recommendation was a doubling of investment in the Suicide Prevention Strategy and the government has increased investment in the strategy, but there are still some key areas in which we need investment, so we will be continuing to pursue that.

The other area that I am particularly pleased about—as I said I have not had the chance to go through all of our recommendations yet—is Indigenous suicide. One of our recommendations was that under the Suicide Prevention Strategy there be a specific strategy to address Indigenous suicide. The government, I am really pleased to say, has taken that recommendation up. It is particularly important because, as I noted in this chamber last week, there have been a number of suicides in northern Australia and I understand in other places as well recently and that needs to be urgently addressed.

I note that the government has said that it is setting up a consultation process early in 2011 to coordinate recommended appropriate mental health and wellbeing approaches for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and I understand that will link into how some of the $274 million is spent in addressing Aboriginal suicides. I cannot say how pleased I am that the government has taken up that recommendation and will invest some of that $274 million in Aboriginal communities. As has been identified through estimates, only $8.1 million of the $274 million is actually going to be spent in this financial year. My plea there is that we need to get investment on the ground in some of these communities as soon as possible because we know through this report that there are significant differences in Aboriginal communities relating to people taking their own lives. There are more what are called ‘clusters’. I should preference that with saying that a high number of the recent deaths have been young people. We know through the evidence presented to us that there are a significant number of what are called ‘copycat’ suicides in Aboriginal communities and so there needs to be a lot of really intense postvention. That needs to be driven by the community in addressing community needs. I implore the government to get investment going on that as soon as possible.

One of the other areas that we focused on was other high-risk groups such as men and members of the LGBTI community and I notice that the government has addressed that through the strategy. I will look at that in more detail as I can. One of the other areas that we addressed was the need for awareness raising of the issue but the issue that is always struggled with is in trying not to glamorise suicide. What we recommended was that there needs to be a five-year long-term investment in awareness raising, but that research needs to be done to look at how we invest in that to get the best quality outcome.

So I am going to be pursuing that through the recommendations and ensuring that that recommendation is pursued. I will look at it through the current investment but, of course, continue to pursue the government over a higher level of investment for mental health, because we cannot get away from the fact that, when we are addressing issues around suicide, we absolutely have to address issues around mental health.

As I said, I congratulate the government for its comprehensive response in a timely manner. I am not saying I am totally satisfied with it yet, because I have not had a chance to read it all, but I have certainly read some of the key areas now. I think it is a very significant step in the right direction. I am particularly pleased about the response on a specific Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander strategy, and I will continue to follow up with the government on that issue, but the message is also: ‘You’ve invested $274 million. That’s great. You’ve addressed some of our recommendations. We will continue to pursue investment in these other recommendations.’

Claire Moore (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will speak briefly, because I believe that this particular report will now be on the agenda for a number of months with people wanting to be engaged on this topic. But today it gives me great pride to be able to say that our government has responded within the time frame for responses. I want to echo Senator Siewert’s comments on that. I have not been here that long—not as long as you, Mr Acting Deputy President McGauran—but I do not remember a community affairs committee report ever having a response within the agreed time frame before. I do not think it is something that happens very often, but when it does happen it should be noted.

The report has 42 recommendations. Community affairs committee reports do tend to have multiple recommendations, but in this process I have been through them briefly and will have to do a lot more work to see where all the responses are in it. But all the recommendations have been picked up by the government. The ones that need more work are clearly identified in the listing at the back, so it is quite an easy format. I want to acknowledge the format used in this report. The government notes issues that need considerably more work, and it acknowledges that that needs to happen. So when people are reading the report they can look at the special recommendation about which they feel most strongly. If it says ‘the government notes’ then it is up to all of us to ensure that the government notes it and takes future action. The ones I particularly want to note, though, are ones where action is going to happen. It happens so often that when you work closely on an issue like this one, which has such incredible personal pain related to the topic, you become deeply engaged in the people’s lives and their families, and that again happened in our committee. Senator Siewert touched on many of the same issues that I want to briefly reinforce now.

After that passionate statement about how personally and deeply you get involved with the people, the first comment I am going to make is about statistics, which often do not have such a personal link. But, in terms of data collection and knowledge, statistics must be effectively acknowledged, identified and useful. Certainly, in this particular discussion, a great deal of effort was put into the committee’s submissions around concern with the way statistics were maintained in this area in Australia. The fact is that the way suicides are identified and classified and the responsibility for ensuring that the national database is accurate vary from state to state. Different people are involved. There was a standard issue that there was a lack of real knowledge and also resourcing at the state level. So certainly one of the key aspects of this was to have that on record and to take the information that had been collected by specialist agencies through the wonderful Suicide Prevention Australia network, on whom we relied so greatly in this whole inquiry for their professional knowledge and understanding and also for their personal support—because, for many of us involved in this particular inquiry, at times it was very difficult as we were learning of individual cases, the causes, the lack of knowledge and the sheer waste and loss which are caused in this community by the issues around suicide.

We relied on the personal and professional knowledge of Suicide Prevention Australia. They have had a special working group in place now for a couple of years looking specifically at the issues around data and statistics. They brought that knowledge to our committee, and it has now been taken up by the government in relation to the fact that it needs to be on the COAG agenda for the ministerial grouping that has this responsibility across the country. So that will happen. We as a Senate need to maintain the interest to ensure that it does happen and that we come back and revisit this topic, which we have had a reputation for doing over the last few years. It is one thing to establish a committee, to make recommendations and to have government responses, and we have all of that in this case, but the other thing is to keep a very strong watching brief on it to ensure that it does not slip off the agenda. As I am sure you have seen, Mr Acting Deputy President, once something is actually completed there is a tendency in government to take it as a tick and move on to the next priority. That cannot happen in this case, because the need will continue. Certainly I think those areas around statistics and data collection need to have that constant scrutiny to ensure that we maintain the watch.

Senator Siewert mentioned the issues around Indigenous need, and certainly that was a major concern for all of us, and I will take that up at another time in a longer contribution. But I do want to look at the issues of research, because one of the things that we talked about was the need for effective and publicly shared research in this area. Certainly there is a specific recommendation looking at the issues of research and the need for professional knowledge in the area. I have mentioned Suicide Prevention Australia. I also want to mention Griffith University in Brisbane, where I have visited and spoken with the people who work with Professor Diego De Leo up there. They have such knowledge in this area. They also continue to research international best practice and international literature and put that information into the public awareness so that, if you are interested in issues around suicide, you have a central base on which to rely. Then it is up to you whether you wish to take more knowledge. That particular service needs to be maintained. You know that in this place there is no such thing as a guaranteed funding mechanism but, in terms of where we go from this process, we have to have that effective database of information. We have to encourage professional research in the area so that we understand the issues. There are so many and they are so complex, but in the end it comes down to people who are lost and troubled. So we have to provide the best possible support for them and provide effective research. I note that this week the National Health and Medical Research Council grants were handed out, and I know mental health research received a number of those grants, so in that way there has been acknowledgement of the need and moving to the future, but that needs to be maintained.

I only wanted to make a few comments this afternoon, because there are more senators and a limited time, but this issue cannot be taken off the agenda. We have the committee report, a resource that should be used into the future. We now have the government response. We need to keep that pressure on government to ensure that the initial response continues. We have seen significant financial involvement in this area of suicide already, but that is the first step. These programs are over four to five years. We need to ensure that they are evaluated effectively. I can say as a member of this committee that there were 42 recommendations. They are all important, and we need to continue the commitment.

Concetta Fierravanti-Wells (NSW, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Ageing) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have just received a copy of the report and obviously have not had the opportunity to read it. I will just make some general observations and then seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Of course, suicide and suicide prevention are vitally important. As I said in the earlier matters of public importance debate, it is a false economy not to fund mental health properly because we ultimately all pay for that through the cost of suicide. I quoted figures showing six Australians a day die from suicide, and that is only the statistics that we know. Society ultimately pays for it through costs for policing, emergency hospital admissions, road accidents, unemployment, family dysfunction and other sad outcomes of mental illness.

My criticism of the government and its lack of action on mental health was shared by so many experts at the last federal election. When the government announced its $277 million spending in suicide prevention it was criticised, not because this was money that was not vitally needed in suicide prevention but because this was the sum total of what the government did for mental health. This was the only announcement in relation to mental health by the government, and that was done during the election campaign. Whilst it was welcomed, the scathing criticism of this government was directed towards the fact that it was the sum total. I can remind the Senate of comments that were made by Professor Mendoza, attacking the government’s announcement as just being mere tokenism. That was only one of the rather scathing comments that were made.

Regrettably, the issue before us today and what we discussed in matters of public importance highlights that suicide is vitally important and funding towards suicide prevention is vitally important. But that is not the sum total of mental illness and the spending that needs to happen for mental illness in this country.

Mental illness affects more Australians, as I said earlier, than other health disorders; only cancer and heart disease impact more people. Almost half our population experiences some form of mental disorder. Recent studies show that in any given year one in five Australians will experience some form of mental illness. As I said, suicides are a portion of this, but where you have mental health being 13 per cent of the total burden of disease in Australia and only six per cent of the health budget you do see the need, and you do see why people like Professor McGorry, Professor Mendoza and so many other experts in this field have been so critical of the government for its lack of attention to mental illness.

We know that delays in accessing appropriate treatment and early intervention are not only damaging to young people but to people suffering from mental illness across the spectrum, and that social and family relationships suffer. In employment, secondary problems such as substance abuse, behavioural problems and the illness itself may become more deeply entrenched. Most people with mental illness in Australia have little access to appropriate professional care and, of course, if left untreated they become increasingly unwell. Then you have the vicious cycle of revolving door presentation at hospital emergency departments, confrontations with authorities, substance and alcohol abuse and homelessness. That all adds to the cost pressures in health care and also to the detrimental outcomes for sufferers.

As I said in the earlier debate, criticism of the government has been very much in relation to its inaction. I want to focus on this because the government missed its opportunity. The coalition has been very critical of the hospital grand plan. Indeed, we believe that monies should be better spent to assist mental health in this country—$1.5 billion was our policy. Money should not be pumped into needless state and territory bureaucracies, which is what the government’s grand hospital plan is all about. That money also builds on the single biggest investment in mental health, which was undertaken by the previous coalition government. It committed $1.9 billion over a five-year period for services not only for people with mental illness but also for their families and their carers.

Through that program we saw increased packages and increased access to psychiatrists, psychologists, GP mental health nurses and other health professionals. We saw the Better Access initiative, which this government attacked. It was not until the coalition, social workers and occupational therapists thumped the table and really made a big song and dance about what the government was doing that suddenly the Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister Roxon, had to do another government backflip and reverse her decision. That has been typical; we saw that initiative and we saw the day-to-day living program cut back by this government.

I hear Senator Moore and her colleagues come in here and attack me because I am being critical and political. Senator Moore, I am doing that because the government has failed. We sat through the COAG health reform inquiries and we heard expert after expert in the mental health area castigate the government in the most scathing of terms for its lack of action in mental health.

Certainly, the spending in relation to suicide prevention was welcomed; but, in the words of Professor Mendoza, it is just tokenism and it goes nowhere near the spending that is vitally necessary in this country to help with the one in five Australians—and, indeed, a staggering 65 per cent of sufferers—who battle their disorder alone or with the help of their families only. Indeed, Professor McGorry told the COAG health inquiry of the hidden waiting list of Australians desperately in need of mental health services, including three-quarters of a million young Australians. He was focusing on the expanded funding of headspace and EPIC programs, which of course are the focus of the coalition’s policy and were the focus of the motion that was passed by the Senate on 26 October. I hope that the motion will also be passed tomorrow in the other place.

The reality is that, sadly, Labor’s gross failure in mental health has been evidenced by the scathing criticism of so many people, including Professor McGorry; Professor John Mendoza, the former chair of the national advisory council who resigned in utter disgust at this government’s lack of inaction; and the Mental Health Council of Australia. To quote Professor Mendoza after resigning from his position on the advisory council:

It is now abundantly clear that there is no vision or commitment from the Rudd Government to mental health.

That came from the former chair of the National Advisory Council on Mental Health. I seek leave to continue my remarks.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.