John Cobb (Calare, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I have to say I am thrilled to speak about the new headspace which is set to open in Orange early next year. It will bring the total number of headspace sites across the country to 100 centres, and as we already have one in Bathurst that will mean two of them operating in Calare.

The new centre will mean young people living in smaller communities to the west and the north of Orange will no longer have to travel to Bathurst to receive help and treatment. The need in Orange is clear as the community continues to look for more relevant and accessible services, with many young people needing support as they struggle with health problems or drug and alcohol problems.

Last year, headspace in Bathurst held nearly 5,000 appointments, helping around 1,000 young people. We believe Orange will offer support to a similar number of young people, with calls already coming in from people trying to book appointments. The coalition government are committed to providing more mental health services that specifically cater to the needs of our younger Australians, and the need is clear. Three-quarters—an amazing figure—of all mental illness is present in people under the age of 25. I guess a reason for that is modern life, and perhaps what they sometimes take when they should not, but that is a fact. So we have to provide these young people with treatment and support services early on to avoid serious and debilitating conditions later in life.

Headspace was developed by the former coalition government and it is doing an incredible job in providing young people with the support they need in a comfortable environment. In fact, I had the pleasure of opening the Bathurst headspace in 2007. The response of the Orange community has been wonderful. A number of organisations and individuals are already stepping up to join the consortium of groups, and it is a very wide consortium that want to support and do support headspace. Marathon Health will be one of the bigger supporters of the Orange headspace, with a number of other organisations offering in-kind services.

Orange is just one of five new regional centres announced in Mental Health Week last year. Regional young people deserve to have access to treatment for mental health issues despite living in regional Australia and the bush. It is a serious issue that is not going away, and we must continue to tackle it head on. I thank Headspace operations manager Peter Rohr for all his hard work and dedication towards getting this facility up and running in Orange.

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