Milton Dick (Oxley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'd also like to thank the member for Fisher for raising the important issue of mental health and its significance across Australia. It was only last week that we recognised Mental Health Week, with World Mental Health Day on Tuesday, 10 October, a day for global mental health education, awareness and advocacy. The theme for this year's global day was mental health in the workplace. World Mental Health Day was first established on 10 October back in 1992. Since then it's been an important event that highlights mental health education, awareness and advocacy.

The numbers are stark, as we've heard, when it comes to Australians living with mental illness or disorder. A recent national survey of mental health and wellbeing found that one in five Australian adults have had a mental disorder in the last 12 months and that almost half the total Australian population would experience a mental disorder at some time in their lives. This is the reason why it's so important we address the issue. It affects so many Australians, particularly young Australians. One in four young people are living with a mental health disorder, with suicide the cause of one-third of all deaths of young people. That's why mental health services like headspace are so critical to communities across Australia.

Last week, on national headspace day, like many of my colleagues I had the pleasure of visiting a local headspace centre in Inala. I'm proud to have had a long association with headspace in Inala, since they first opened their doors in our community around five years ago. As the inaugural chair of the headspace committee, I was really pleased to go back and see the amazing work that is happening. It is one of 21 centres across Queensland that provide this important service. Headspace first began operations in 2006. Over 350,000 young people have used headspace centres to seek help. All the staff at headspace Inala, led by the centre manager, Tim, and the community development coordinator, Amy, perform the invaluable role of supporting our young people when they need someone to talk to. I congratulate them and thank them for their tireless efforts, and I look forward to working to support them well into the future.

Whilst I'm happy to acknowledge and support the government's continued investment in headspace centres, I'm afraid I have to inform the House that this has not always been the government's position.

It was only 12 months ago that we saw the CEO of headspace leave the role in frustration at what he described as the government's bizarre decision to stop funding headspace directly and, instead, hand control to 31 primary health networks over two years, which, it is suggested, would effectively mean its demise. The decision at the time meant that the national headspace office budget was scheduled to go from $19 million to $8 million per annum and $5 million the following year. It was also part of the Turnbull government's decision to cruelly cut funding to early psychosis intervention services by up to 70 per cent over the next two financial years. Former headspace CEO, Chris Tanti, said these changes effectively meant that headspace's national office would no longer have oversight of clinical standards, hiring of staff, consistency of care or even which centres remained open. The funding cuts meant that six early psychosis centres, which support hundreds of young people with psychotic disorders, were told that their budgets would be cut by 25 per cent on 1 July 2016 and by 70 per cent the year after. This decision casts serious doubt over headspace's successful early psychosis programs, with very little time to prepare the young people who use the services or the staff who work with them. Despite the health minister defending the decision for months after it was announced, the Prime Minister was dragged to table by the public outcry and publicly overruled his health minister on Q&A by agreeing to protect headspace centres and to finally restore funding to early psychosis centres.

Fast forward to today and we see the member for Fisher wanting to congratulate the government for its engagement with the mental health community and its measures to support mental health in Australia. Whilst the $170 million investment in mental health programs is, of course, welcomed, it does come with the government's normal approach of cutting first, reinstating and then asking to be congratulated. The government needs to be consistent in its approach to mental health funding and not threaten to undermine the incredible work that services, like headspace and all the spaces in Queensland, have already done. I witnessed that firsthand: the failed experiment of the Newman government. After being in government for a short time, it made horrific decisions affecting mental health patients, including the closure of the Barrett Adolescent Centre in Wacol, in my electorate, which has been found to have caused tragedy. There was no apology from the former government. Thank goodness that terrible experiment is over. While I'm pleased to debate this issue today, we must all remember that more can and must be done when it comes to support for mental health in this country.

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