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

We've had very valuable contributions, although I may not agree with all of them, in particular across five areas: mental health, rural access, Medicare, aged-care and coronavirus and the national response. I'll respond to the first two of those, mental health and rural access, in this, and the latter three items if given subsequent opportunity. In particular with regard to mental health, amongst others, the members for Dobell, Reid, Leichhardt and Perth have all raised questions.

With regard to mental health, let me begin by saying that this has been the largest ever investment in mental health in any budget in the course of the federal parliament, with an additional $2.3 billion as part of our National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, which is our response to the Productivity Commission. It covers five particular pillars. The first is in relation to prevention and early intervention. It has a particular focus on young people but it's not confined to young people, because these issues transcend all ages, sadly, and very much in many cases tragically. That includes $250 million, of which the largest component is $111 million for expanding and extending the Head to Health online and telephone network. We want to be able to support all Australians at any time. In the dark of the night it's 3 am and somebody is having a mental health crisis, and that capacity to reach out through the Head to Health network is a critical one. It's about having a common national system. It's both a destination in itself and an access vehicle for Beyond Blue, Lifeline, Kids Helpline and so many other areas, all of which have been supported in the course of the budget and in this particular component.

The second pillar is, critically, suicide prevention, which has the support of all members on all sides of both houses of parliament. It's a $300 million investment. The most significant element—and I acknowledge the member for Dobell, who recognised and appreciated the government's commitment to this—is $158 million to establish what's called a universal aftercare system. The single group in our nation who are most likely to take their lives are those who've been discharged from hospital having previously attempted. So to offer all of those people the capacity for follow-up care and for follow-up treatment, I hope, will save not just hundreds of lives but thousands of lives over the course of the coming decade. One of our achievements during COVID has been that, to date, we have not seen the much-predicted increase in the loss of life to suicide. We haven't seen a significant decrease, so we have a lot of work to do. But what could have been has not eventuated thanks to comprehensive work, and, in particular, the telehealth system which was put in place. We'll also be putting in place $22 million for postvention to support the family and friends that have been left bereaved. We know that suicide, sadly, can have a contagion effect, and it can be catastrophic across communities. We'll be creating an office of national suicide prevention for the first time ever, charged with the singular task of reducing suicide rates and coordinating national responses.

Treatment is the third pillar and the area of largest investment—$1.4 billion, including $820 million for creating the three-tier comprehensive national approach to mental health treatment. We will have 40 initial national adult Head to Health treatment centres. We will grow to 164 headspace centres. The Wyong headspace centre, which was asked about by the member for Dobell, is due to be completed in Q4 of this year, but the Lake Haven centre will be upgraded, with a $4 million investment, from a satellite to a full headspace. We will have 15 Head to Health kid centres for treatment. Related to that, there will be $100 million for the vulnerable, including $77 million for Indigenous Australians. There will be $200 million for workforce—in particular, there was a question about workforce—which includes $59 million directly for workforce training, $16 million for GPs and $117 million for evidence. And then, on rural and remote, we have a very strong initiative of expanding the bulk billing incentive rate for the modified Monash three to seven areas, which will help both with investment and incentives for doctors. That's coupled with the expansion of telehealth, with a $200 million investment. (Time expired)

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