Sophie Mirabella (Indi, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Early Childhood Education, Childcare, Women and Youth) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. The Prime Minister would be aware that tomorrow is National Babies Day—an important initiative of the Bonnie Babes Foundation, which provides national 24-hour grief counselling services to Australian families who have lost a baby. Why won’t the Prime Minister provide the Bonnie Babes Foundation with the urgent $800,000 it needs to continue to be the only provider of 24-hour, seven-day a week free telephone counselling for mothers who have suffered tragic events like miscarriage or stillbirth?

Kevin Rudd (Griffith, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The government congratulates Bonnie Babes for the significant contribution they provide for families affected by the loss of a baby through miscarriage, through stillbirth or through premature death in the case of kids and related issues such as infertility. They do a very good job. The government also congratulates them for their contribution to providing medical equipment for the care of premature babies and their support for research. The government is strongly committed to improving maternity services to ensure that quality care is provided to mothers and their babies. At the same time, the government recognises that pregnancy and childbirth can result in often tragic outcomes for women and their families. That is why the government is committed to the development of a national maternity services plan, which is being led by the newly-appointed Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Ms Rosemary Bryant.

The maternity services review will consider a broader range of concerns relating to maternity services, including possible support for maternity related counselling and psychosocial support services and research into all aspects of maternity care. Key stakeholders and the public have been invited to participate in the review by written submission and we intend to make sure that we get the policy in this area absolutely right. In recognition of the importance of peer and social support in this process, the final forum of this particular inquiry will focus on peer and social support in the perinatal period and will be held on 24 October. I am pleased that Bonnie Babes will be represented at that forum.

What I would say to the House is that this is a very sensitive area and we are absolutely determined as a government to get it right. That is why the Minister for Health and Ageing has commissioned the maternity services review. That is why we have the Commonwealth Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer actively engaged in this process. We will get it right. And the allocation of government funding will therefore follow the recommendations of her inquiry into this matter to make sure that we get it right for the future.

No member of this House regards stillbirth and the problems of premature child death in any way as a matter to be taken lightly. We want to make sure that we get this absolutely right. That is why the health minister and others have commissioned this as an appropriate course of action. Once the recommendations have come to the government we will act, and act comprehensively across the complete delivery of these services for the nation and each community within the nation.