Greg Hunt (Flinders, Liberal Party, Minister for Health) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Durack, who has been a passionate advocate for extension of mental health services through rural telehealth to the members of her great electorate. As part of that process, the government committed in the budget $9 million to the extension of rural health services through telehealth and mental health to those people in rural Australia.

In addition to that, mental health is something that I believe brings together people on all sides of this chamber. There are four million Australians—people in every electorate, in every corner of the country—who suffer from mental health issues: anxiety, depression, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, and manic depression. Most tragically, these often end in suicide, with 3,000 losses a year. As part of that, we have seen over many years the support in a bipartisan fashion for mental health services from different ministers, such as the member for Sturt and the member for Port Adelaide.

This budget continues that tradition with a commitment of $173 million for extension and expansion of mental health services. We have seen $11 million for prevention of suicide at suicide hotspots, something which the Prime Minister himself championed given the tragic experiences in his own electorate.

In addition to that, there is $15 million for mental health research targeted at different states, beginning with Victoria and the work of Pat McGorry and Orygen looking at youth mental health services. There is $5 million for the Black Dog Institute and the Hunter Institute of Mental Health in New South Wales. In Queensland, in the member for Fairfax's electorate, for the Thompson institute and Sunshine Coast university there is additional funding for anxiety and depression in the youth community. In particular, through the veterans health package, we announced $58 million for looking at veterans' suicide and assisting in preventing that terrible scourge. Perhaps most significantly in this budget, we have provided $80 million for addressing psychosocial services outside of the NDIS. This will go to ensuring that there are stronger community support services for those who face the challenge of psychosocial conditions which mean that they simply cannot function on a day-to-day basis.

The NDIS has been fully funded. Outside of the NDIS, now we have committed $80 million to support mental health services and to assist those who would otherwise be suffering, and we are doing it on the basis of matched contribution and funding from the states. This is an important topic that touches every member and every family. I am delighted that this budget, under the leadership of the Prime Minister and the Treasurer, continues in the past traditions.

See this speech in context