Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges:

(a) Australia's 370,000 first responders are the brave individuals on the frontline tackling compounding and cascading disasters, risking their lives to safeguard communities and property;

(b) the work of first responders is a service to our nation and we honour it, and that some experiences can be distressing, traumatic and dangerous;

(c) it is crucial to provide ongoing, comprehensive national support and enhance the resilience and capability of first responders, especially during and immediately after the current severe bushfire season; and

(d) Fortem Australia is the leading provider of this support for first responders nationwide, providing effective care to 15,000 unique first responders and their families across the nation, including 37,000 wellbeing activity registrations and delivery of over 6,100 clinical psychology sessions;

(2) notes the Government's delay in confirming additional continued funding for this important work to continue beyond March 2024, resulting in significant uncertainty and a risk that Fortem Australia will need to begin to scale down its operations from November 2023; and

(3) urgently calls upon the Government to announce continued funding for Fortem Australia prior to the commencement of the upcoming summer bushfire period, ensuring that first responders know where to tum in their time of need, and ensuring the seamless delivery of nation-leading support to these dedicated individuals.

There is a group of heroic individuals who live among us.

They run into danger, when we run away. They leave their families to help others, when we cling to our own. They are our first responders. When they are doing everything they can to support the nation in times of need, we need to reciprocate. Ongoing comprehensive national support is crucial to enhancing the resilience and capability of our first responders.

I rise to move this motion today to ensure that the leading provider of support for our first responders, Fortem Australia, receives the continued funding it rightly deserves. Fortem is a not-for-profit organisation that, to date, has provided effective care to 15,000 unique first responders. Their service takes a holistic approach specific to the different roles that emergency personnel play and the unique challenges that come with those roles. The former Coalition government recognised the importance of the work and provided $10 million to support the establishment of Fortem's national support program. This funding was scrapped in the October 2022 budget handed down by the Albanese Labor government. Essentially, $8 million was cut overnight. After immense public pressure, the full $10 million in funding was restored, but it was clear that this program, designed to provide vital wellbeing services to our emergency personnel, was not valued by the Labor government. The writing was on the wall, then and now, and they are set to pull the plug for good.

What does this mean? If continued funding is not announced, Fortem faces the risk of being forced to scale down its operations. This means that, from 1 December, they'll no longer be able to take on new clients. December 1 is the first day of summer, which is the start of the bushfire season and the impending wet season in Townsville. The important work that our first responders do is about to ramp up right when their support services are facing a cut. Our first responders have already had one hell of a spring season, with bushfires and floods sweeping across our nation. Our personnel are depleted, burnt out and, quite frankly, exhausted. This is when they need the support the most.

In the electorate of Herbert, in Townsville, Fortem established a presence in June this year. In this short period they have engaged with over 300 unique first responders and their families in our community alone. To put this in context, Townsville has nearly equalled the engagement seen in the city of Sydney over the last 11 months. This proves the growing need for services, particularly within rural and regional areas. Townsville is also facing the worst crime crisis it has ever seen. Without the state Labor government changing legislation to unshackle the judiciary system, the burden of keeping the city safe sits solely on the shoulders of our men and women in blue. That is another Labor government fail—at the state level, this time—leaving the first responders without hope in the law. They're in need of wellbeing support now more than ever.

We shouldn't have needed to move a motion in this place to bring attention to the issue on behalf of Fortem and the people they help. They have been fighting for a decision to be made for months, and the Minister for Emergency Management is now refusing to take their calls. Not only are they not providing Fortem with a straight answer; they are directing them to funding that is not fit for purpose, such as the disaster relief funding. The funding criteria clearly state that this is only suitable for pilot initiatives, not a proven concept such as Fortem. The Minister for Emergency Management would be aware of this, and I can only hope he did not knowingly give them a bum steer.

Fortem has successfully supported over 15,000 unique individuals. That is 15,000 individuals who will be left out in the cold if the continued funding is not granted, and that is 15,000 individuals who will be shelved back into the public health system, a system that is being weakened by the state and federal Labor governments and is not fit to handle the nuances of the first responder world. This decision will result in a vacuum of support for first responders nationwide. I implore the government to back Fortem Australia through the announcement of continued funding by month's end. This is an urgent and fundamental national priority, and I commend the motion to the House.

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