Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Mental health issues disproportionately affect young people, and in the past 18 months it's been a real challenge for many as we continue to navigate our way through the COVID-19 pandemic. Approximately 560,000 children and adolescents in Australia are estimated to have a mental illness, and one in four young Australians aged 16 to 24 experiences mental illness in any given year. Young people are less likely to seek help for mental health issues if they hold negative attitudes towards help-seeking or have had negative past experiences when they've sought help. This needs to change.

Children and young people have been particularly impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and its lockdowns. Since March 2020 the government has provided more than half a billion dollars of additional funding for telehealth and direct supports to ensure Australians have the mental health support they need during the pandemic. Young Australians continue to be a focus of the government's investment in mental health to support them reaching their full potential. The government is committed to delivering meaningful and lasting reforms driven by the government's zero suicide target. Every year in Australia more than 3,000 people die by suicide. That's approximately nine people each day. We know suicide is the leading cause of death for young people aged 15 to 44, with more deaths from suicide than from cancer or car accidents. That's why support in this area is absolutely critical. In the 2021-22 budget the government invested a record $2.3 billion in a national mental health and suicide prevention plan to lead a landmark reform. This is the largest federal government mental health investment in Australia's history.

There are several mental health and suicide programs serving my electorate which provide vital services. The Northern Sydney Local Health District, which serves my electorate of Berowra, supports young people facing mental health issues. The district has a youth response team, which provides free and confidential services to young people and their families experiencing distress within the community. They also have a safeguards team which provides additional supports for assessments and therapy for young people, in-reach support to emergency departments and community rapid response. Since the beginning of the pandemic there have been 940 emergency department presentations for mental health reasons in people aged zero to 24 in the northern Sydney district and 2,887 new registrations to mental health community teams.

I want to acknowledge the work of the mental health unit at Hornsby hospital, which has admitted a number of these patients during the course of the pandemic. I particularly acknowledge the work of Dr Choong-Siew Yong, the clinical director, and Ayisha Chitakunye, the service director of the child youth mental health service at the hospital. Another key mental health organisation is the Ku-ring-gai Youth Development Service, KYDS, a free local and confidential counselling service for young people founded in 2003 by the Lindfield Rotarians, who were concerned about the increasing number of young in Ku-ring-gai people who were struggling with mental health issues, including the stigma associated with it. They raised funds and partnered with Ku-ring-gai council to establish KYDS. On 31 March 2005 KYDS opened its door with a counsellor who operated out of the library. They supported 36 people in their first year. Today a team of 18 passionate and qualified mental health professionals support young people to work through their challenges and help them achieve their potential. Over the past year, they have provided 5,462 counselling sessions to more than 400 young people. KYDS is led by Anthony Rigney and the chair of the board is Helen Jarvis.

Lifeline Harbour to Hawkesbury is another service providing support, led by the outstanding Wendy Carver. They offer support when members of my community are experiencing distress, with access to 24-hour crisis counselling and suicide prevention services. With a workforce of over 90 per cent volunteers, they deliver first-class volunteer management and training that create rewarding experiences for people and meaningful impacts for people in my electorate and across the country. They also work in response to immediate local needs, providing other community services, including in-person financial counselling, community and corporate training programs.

Finally, Youth Insearch, led by Stephen Lewin and chaired by Gary Rothwell, has helped over 30,000 young people rebuild their lives since it was founded in 1985, currently assisting 1,000 people a year across the country, including in my electorate. Youth Insearch runs one of the most successful youth intervention programs in the country. They working with at-risk youth aged 14 to 20, supporting them to turn their disadvantage into an advantage, enabling them to reach their full potential through peer-to-peer support programs and community programs.

I would like to commend the thousands of mental health workers across the country for the outstanding work they have done over the past 18 months. The COVID-19 pandemic has been a challenge for us all but it is their selfless work that has saved so many Australians. They are the ones who pick up the pieces and get peoples' lives back to together. I want to put my thanks on record to them for all of their efforts.

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