Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank my good friend the member for Herbert for bringing this incredibly important motion into the House today. First and foremost, I want to recognise the 370,000 first responders that protect every corner of our nation, day in and day out.

My community of Lindsay experiences floods, drought and also bushfires. We are pretty much at the front line of every single natural disaster in this country.

This means that we have a big community of first responders, who do such a tremendous job serving our community. I would like to acknowledge every RFS volunteer, and I was able to do that just a couple of weeks ago. They put their lives on the line and commit so much to serving our community, and I know that they give up a lot when it comes to spending time with their own families. I'd also like to acknowledge our officers with the Nepean Police Area Command, with stations in both Penrith and St Marys; our firies from Fire and Rescue NSW; our paramedics; and our State Emergency Service personnel, among many others.

Our first responders are often the first at a scene, and they go through this every single day, putting themselves at a high risk of multiple mental ill health conditions, such as depression, anxiety and, most of all, post-traumatic stress disorder. As I go across the country in my role as shadow assistant minister for mental health, I see how much people are struggling, particularly with what the country has been going through in recent times. Beyond Blue's national mental health and wellbeing study of police and emergency service workers shows that this group is more than twice as likely to experience high to very high rates of psychological distress. This is no surprise, given the sites they attend, the quick decisions they must make and the difficult conversations they must have. This combination is tough on its own, but constantly repeating it and not necessarily dealing with or overcoming the previous case is something that weighs heavily on a lot of people.

I note that the Senate's Education and Employment References Committee a few years ago inquired into ways of addressing the mental health experiences of first responders. The subsequent report made multiple recommendations. Recommendation 4 called for a national action plan, and the former coalition government allocated $4.5 million for it to be delivered in the Department of Home Affairs by the now opposition leader. The plan aimed to reduce the high rates of suicide and mental illness amongst emergency services workers. Further, recommendation 7 called for the extension of mental health services for all first responder volunteers. The coalition committed to this with $76 million for firefighters, emergency personnel and individuals impacted by bushfires. Additionally, the Mentally Healthy Workplace Alliance received over $11 million over four years from the 2020 financial year. Phoenix Australia Centre for Posttraumatic Mental Health received over $1 million to develop a digital training platform to provide support and resources for health professionals who support individuals and communities affected by disasters. We also had the coalition's National Disaster Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework, which was announced after the Black Summer fires and was part of a recommendation.

Fortem was launched by the then Minister for Home Affairs in 2019. The community organisation focuses on the wellbeing of frontline workers in Australia. It was founded by the co-founders of Soldier On. Fortem provides care to 15,000 first responders and their families, and the coalition before the last election committed $10 million for Fortem to continue its vital work for first responders. After a bit of intervention, the Albanese government in November last year committed to the funding but is yet to commit to continuing this funding beyond March next year. The government must support this important community organisation. The coalition backs Fortem. It's time for this Labor government to wake up and recommit to it.

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