Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the motion on early-onset dementia. Dementia, by definition, is caused by various diseases and medical conditions that result in damaged brain cells or connections between brain cells. For a medical diagnosis, symptoms must include decline in memory and decline in at least one of the following cognitive abilities: ability to generate coherent speech or understand spoken or written language, ability to recognise or identify objects, ability to execute motor activities and ability to think abstractly, make sound judgments and plan and carry out complex tasks.

Dementia is a particularly sad and debilitating disease that takes hold of the one thing we often take for granted: our mental wellbeing. By progressively eroding the memories, intellect and social aspects of a person, dementia ultimately leads to a slow but eventual decline in physical functionality. When we think about dementia we typically consider the diagnosis and effects of the disease on the elderly. However, the tragic reality is that dementia can and does affect younger members of our community as well.

Early-onset dementia describes dementia in any person under the age of 65 years. It is estimated that around 250,000 Australians currently live with dementia and that by 2030 that number will increase to 590,000. There are also around 10,000 people with early-onset dementia, and this is projected to rise to 14,220 by the year 2020. Despite this figure, Australians still associate dementia with the elderly and are therefore unaware that early-onset dementia exists. The fact is that 25 per cent of people over 80 years of age have dementia, while less than one per cent of people under 65 years have this illness. It is crucial that early onset dementia is diagnosed as soon as possible to ensure that appropriate information, support and medication can be provided to treat this disease. The earlier a diagnosis can be made, the sooner and more adequately the issues of behavioural change, sexuality and employment issues can be addressed. While I will not speak on all of these issues today, I would like to focus on one of the main and unique issues which sufferers of early onset dementia face—that is, their ability to work. Because of both the mental and physical symptoms of this ailment, these impairments detrimentally affect a person's ability to carry out their job. This will often lead to an inability to continue or find employment, which in turn causes financial issues that must be faced.

Debate interrupted.

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