Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

As we move through the health crisis caused by coronavirus and we turn our attention to the recession that we are now living through, many people are talking about the economy, and that's right; we must address the economy. But we have more than an opportunity here to rebuild Australia's economy. We have an opportunity to think about the sort of community we want to be. Do we want to be a community where people are connected to each other? Do we want to be a community where, regardless of how much you earn or where you live or what your circumstances are, there are supports there for you to get through the difficult times? Do we want a community where loneliness is hardly experienced, or do we want a community that is measured in terms of how much you earn, how well the economy tracks and what your social status is?

In my community, we understand and we're working very hard to build connectedness. One thing that the social isolation of coronavirus has taught all of us is that social isolation and mental health problems go hand in hand. We've heard research by places like the Black Dog Institute talk about those people who are more vulnerable to mental health crises during coronavirus isolation being those who already had pre-existing anxiety, people who are healthcare workers on the front line of the crisis, people who are experiencing quarantine and so are more isolated, and unemployed, underemployed and casual workers—people who already have insecurity in their lives.

I would add to that that the experience in Dunkley is that young people are feeling the strain of coronavirus. For many young people—and when I say 'young people' I mean anyone from a toddler up to someone in their mid-20s—their social connectedness has been disturbed over these last few months. School-age children haven't been able to go to school. People whose world revolves around sport, and who thought it was because of the competition and the game, haven't been able to go to their club. They've learnt that their world revolves around sport in great part because of the people who are at the club when they go there.

Last week, I was at the Langwarrin Football Netball Club for their first training session and I spoke to the committee members and the players. To a person, man and woman, they talked about how amazing it was to be back with their fellow club members. They really wanted the season to start but, predominantly, they were just so happy to be back in a place where they felt secure, where they have friends, where they aren't isolated and where they aren't lonely. In Frankston North we have Project O, which works with young women who come from disadvantaged backgrounds and are vulnerable to mental health issues and domestic violence. It is all about empowering those young women and keeping them together. They've been working to have digital connectedness. But it's hard, because not everyone can afford or has access to the sort of internet that we need to have digital connectedness, or can access the sorts of services online that we've heard about—and the government has supported—such as telehealth and Beyond Blue. They're terrific, but if you don't have a computer or an iPad or the wherewithal or the means to be able to afford the data for the internet then you can't access those services. So we need to think about what sort of community we want to be as we move forward.

Headspace in Frankston currently has a waiting list of 150 young people for counselling, and the wait time is four to six months. Last week I met with headspace in Frankston because a constituent had contacted me about his young son, who he's very worried about because he has lost his social connectedness. He was told there is a six-month wait. He thought that couldn't be right. Unfortunately, it is right. We can address this in two ways, and we must. One is the funding for our services and the other is to ask ourselves: What sort of community do we want to be? Why is it that 150 young people are on a waiting list for counselling? There are many things we have to address. But, as we look at how we're going to build back better—not just snap back, not just recover, but build back better—we must ask ourselves: what sort of community do we want to be? I know that I want—and my community wants—to be more connected, to be stronger and to get through it genuinely together with community groups, not just words.

See this speech in context