Jordon Steele-John (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

ADHD significantly impacts the lives of around one in 20 Australians, and yet it remains fundamentally misunderstood. The medical profession fails to recognise it properly, and last night's budget totally failed to recognise it properly. All month, my office has been running a survey asking people with ADHD to share their experiences with getting a diagnosis and care in our healthcare system. With more than 10,000 responses, and still counting, I'd like to share with you some of the outcomes of that work and some of its more distressing figures. More than 63 per cent of respondents who suspect that they have ADHD said that cost is the reason that they haven't been formally diagnosed. More than half worry that medical professionals won't take their ADHD concerns seriously, and over 82 per cent of respondents identify as women, non-binary or gender-fluid people. This tells us that cost and the lack of training are the biggest barriers to ADHD diagnosis, and that these barriers impact women and LGBTQIA+ folks the most. We know how to address this, because 92 per cent of respondents told us how: add ADHD diagnosis and support to Medicare. Such insights are why direct community engagement is so important, and I want to sincerely thank everyone who has completed the survey. The ADHD community deserves better. The Greens hear this call loud and clear, and we are here to demand better.