Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I wish to firstly thank the member for Reid for bringing this motion to the House. I'm sure that many of my colleagues who have contributed to this debate, and others in this place, know somebody who at some stage in their life has been affected by mental illness or have lived with somebody with mental illness—or, worse still, been affected by suicide.

Last week we marked mental health awareness week and it was a timely reminder to all of us of the important roles communities play in suicide prevention and, more broadly, in mental health. In my travels across my electorate I'm constantly reminded of the lifesaving work of individuals, organisations and support services in my community. Whether it is a mental health service provider, or headspace, or the work done in our schools, particularly with our chaplaincy services, many groups play a crucial role in suicide prevention and assisting with mental health. Importantly, our sporting clubs also provide a lot of support, and that support is sometimes unrecognised.

On World Suicide Prevention Day, we as communities come together across the world to unite, not only to create greater awareness of suicide and suicide prevention, but also to change the way it is understood and discussed in the community and to connect people to support services. Of great concern to me as a father of two young men is that one in four young Australians aged 16 to 24 experience mental illness in any given year. Sadly, I've seen that much closer to home than I would wish. One in four is a distressing and heartbreaking statistic and one I certainly hope we can change in this term of parliament.

As I mentioned earlier, there are a number of support organisations across my electorate of Forde. One of them is Canefields Clubhouse at Meadowbrook, which provides valuable membership based services to adults living with mental illness. Canefields Clubhouse follows the international clubhouse model, which is person-centred and focused on providing meaningful work and socialisation for individuals living with mental health issues. It was a humbling and rewarding experience to join the Prime Minister and visit Canefields to get a real idea of how they are not only changing lives but also saving lives each and every day.

Another terrific service in our local community is Brook RED in Beenleigh. The centre offers a number of recovery orientated group activities and one-on-one peer support. The peer support at Brook RED is based on a foundation of having a shared experience of working towards recovery with a mental health focus. This shared experience of recovering is what brings people together as a community and is crucial in the fight to save lives. I am pleased to say that the government is delivering $1.6 million to Canefields Clubhouse and $2.8 million to Brook RED to ensure these organisations can continue to provide essential mental health support services over the coming years.

Equally, headspace at Meadowbrook is helping young people to overcome their mental health challenges and it is building stronger and more resilient youth in my community. In 2018-19, headspace Meadowbrook provided services to over 1,400 young people and provided some 5,600 or more occasions of service. Last week I had the privilege of visiting to see the terrific work they're doing and to speak with some of their amazing staff and volunteers.

I'm also pleased to say that, as a result of the continued growth in the northern Gold Coast part of my electorate, we made a commitment during the election to fund a new headspace in Upper Coomera to the tune of $750,000 over three years from 2019-20 and $1 million over four years from 2020-21.

Lastly, I want to recognise one of my sporting clubs, as I mentioned in my earlier remarks. Eagleby Giants junior rugby league club hold the annual Ky Boss suicide awareness game in recognition of a young man who committed suicide five or so years ago. The important part of that day is the message that it's not weak to speak and share your concerns. (Time expired)

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