Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

R U OK? is based on a simple concept. It is about taking the time to ask someone the three simple words, ‘Are you okay?’ It is a simple question, yet its meaning is profound and asking the question means you care about the answer. It is this connection, this thoughtfulness, that can help someone open up and communicate their problems. Research shows that it helps people at risk of self-harm to get them to talk about their problems and that talking can ensure that small problems do not become big problems.

It is shocking to learn about the prevalence of suicide in our society. Around 2,000 people take their own lives in Australia each year, and that is tragic. That does not include the number of people who attempt suicide or the number of people thinking about suicide or the number of people affected by suicide. Suicide claims the lives of more Australians than our road toll, and it is the biggest killer of Australian men and women aged 15 to 35. People who are isolated or feel isolated are at risk. This includes the elderly and people living on their own. Losing one’s life partner, a perceived lack of purpose upon retirement, isolation should children move out to find work, depression and stress can all contribute to suicide. I am particularly conscious of these factors in relation to my own electorate, where the proportion of single households is one of the highest in the country.

I am pleased that the Australian government is committed to strengthening suicide prevention efforts in Australia and that it remains concerned about people at high risk of suicide. This includes Indigenous Australian men, those in rural areas, people with drug and alcohol problems and people with mental illness. In recognition of this, funding under the National Suicide Prevention Program has more than doubled from $8.6 million in 2005-06 to $22.1 million in 2009-10.

Mental illness remains the single biggest risk factor for suicide. In addition to this specific suicide prevention funding, broader funding by the Australian government on mental health programs contributes significantly to the suicide prevention effort. The 2009 report on government services identified recurrent funding of $1.6 billion by the Australian government on mental health services and programs.

Australian health ministers recently agreed to achieve better alignment between state and territory governments and the Australian government regarding suicide prevention activity through the development of a nationally agreed suicide prevention framework. This is a key area of action under the fourth National Mental Health Plan, which was endorsed by health ministers on 4 September 2009.

I am very pleased that Gavin Larkin started R U OK?, an organisation to help all of us understand that we can help someone. The national R U OK? Day initiative encourages all of us to take some responsibility for the wellbeing of those around us and to take more opportunities to connect with each other. All we need to do is ask those three simple words—‘Are you okay?’—and then listen to the answer. This initiative also aims to raise the profile of suicide prevention and support services such as beyondblue, the Black Dog Institute, Lifeline and SANE Australia. These organisations are just some of R U OK? Day’s crucial partners in this new national campaign. I am very pleased that a number of other organisations are supporting the campaign, such as the National Prescribing Service, the Australian General Practice Network and the Pharmacy Guild of Australia. R U OK? also has the support of News Limited and on R U OK? Day itself one million homes across Australia will receive in their newspapers a guide to specific signs to look for, how to have a successful conversation about it and where to direct people for their health.

The first national R U OK? Day is this coming Sunday, 29 November 2009. The organisation has distributed through the whips’ offices here badges for all of us to wear this coming week. I think it is wonderful. It is practical and positive. It is a positive initiative and I urge everyone in this place to support it. I ask all of us to ask our friends and families and people in our communities and electorates to ask people if they are okay. (Time expired)

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise this evening to express my support for and to commend the motion put by the member for Hindmarsh. This motion noted the tragically high rate of suicide in this country—which is some 14 people per 100,000—as well as the disproportionately large number of suicides in rural and regional areas. According to the ABS statistics, approximately 2,500 people die by suicide each year. Of course, there are many more people out there who think about committing suicide. That is a great worry to us as well. More Australians die by suicide than die on our roads each year. We do not talk about it and we do not see on the news the tragedy of suicide, but we do see road deaths almost daily in our local papers and on the news at night. Suicide is the biggest killer of men and women aged between 15 and 35.

This motion also notes the establishment of R U OK? and the national R U OK? Day on Sunday, 29 November. This will be the inaugural R U OK? Day, which, as they say, aims to inspire all Australians to reach out to anyone doing it tough in order to prevent little problems becoming big ones. R U OK? Day is about taking the time to talk to friends and loved ones and to ask them if they are okay. It is supported by respected organisations such as beyondblue, the Black Dog Institute, Lifeline, headspace, SANE Australia and the Australian General Practice Network.

I would like to mention some of the wonderful work these charities are doing for the drought affected communities in my electorate of Maranoa. Last year the Black Dog Institute organised two ‘tie up the black dog’ meetings in my electorate: one in Goondiwindi and one in Roma. These were held in the middle of winter—and in the middle of winter out in western Queensland it gets well below freezing at night—and in the middle of the week. Not many people would normally come out in the middle of the week in the middle of winter to listen. I was staggered to see that there were over 1,000 people in those two towns, Goondiwindi and Roma, who turned out to attend those meetings. There were many concerned wives, relatives and friends who were interested in attending and, of course, many men as well.

I was devastated by the impact that suicide was having. Perhaps I was not was not reading my electorate in that regard. But that was an example of people voting with their feet—coming forward to listen to what those presenters had to say and to hear the stories so that they might help them identify others who may be thinking about, tragically, taking their own lives. I want to express also my support for the motion of the member for Hindmarsh because there are so many people in my electorate who have been affected by suicide—whether it is a relative, a friend or a workmate, suicide has become a tragic statistic in the lives of people of Maranoa, who are suffering through one of the nation’s longest and harshest droughts.

Just a fortnight ago I met with the drought support counsellor in South Burnett, which is at the eastern end of my electorate. The Burnett region had its exceptional circumstances revoked by the federal government in June this year. Whilst it is a very difficult job for NRAC to do, this area and many other parts of my electorate should not have come out of EC at that time. In fact, the state agricultural minister wrote to me and said he did not believe that the buffer zones should not be reinstated. They were not. He also said that this area, particularly the South Burnett region, should not lose exceptional circumstances classification. This charitable organisation has spent some $16,000 of government emergency relief money and with that money they have helped 488 families. I have to ask the question: what would have happened to those families without that meagre amount of money to help them on a day-to-day basis? This drought counsellor is a very strong and lovely lady. She said that this drought has really fractured communities. She said that people are only so resilient and then they start to retreat into themselves, and that is when the community crumbles.

Tomorrow will mark two years since the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry was given the opportunity to become the minister for one of the most important sectors of the Australian economy. I say to the minister for agriculture: these regions should not have come out of drought relief. The drought counsellor in that region said to me that in a six-month period in the last 12 months she went to over 25 funerals—most of those were farmers who had taken their own lives; some were small business people. I say to the minister: reinstate a health card and income support. With only 32 days to go to Christmas, show some compassion and support these families. Anything that can be done to prevent suicide is something that is worthwhile doing. (Time expired)

Tony Zappia (Makin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I commend the member for Hindmarsh for raising this matter of the incidence of suicide in Australia and the work of the R U OK organisation. We have heard that Sunday 29 November is the inaugural R U OK? Day, on which Australians are encouraged to reach out to anyone who might be doing it tough and who might also be contemplating suicide. We have also heard that, sadly, over 2,000 Australians each year die by suicide; and for every person who commits suicide about another 10 make an attempt. We also heard how more people die from suicide than by road accidents. In fact is the biggest killer of Australian men and women aged between 15 and 35 years of age.

For those whose suicide attempts fail there is a second chance, but for those who do suicide there is no second chance. There is no bringing them back, undoing whatever caused the suicide or reaching out and helping them through their trauma. Equally sad is that for every suicide the lives of many more family and friends are forever damaged as they grapple with the unanswerable questions of what if or if only—if only I had made more time; if only I had taken more interest; if only I had acted. There may be questions such as: what if help had been sought? What if he or she were alive today? What if the suicide attempt had failed? These and many more questions will forever haunt the close family and friends left behind.

We all know people and families affected by suicide and we have all seen the pain they have endured. Two of my long-term friends committed suicide. Only last week the 26-year-old son of a family acquaintance was buried after having committed suicide. Today’s society is full of people struggling to cope with financial pressures, family expectations, study, drug addiction, violent situations, sexual abuse, gambling and so on. Everybody is prone to stressful situations and everybody copes differently. Everybody under stress does, however, cope better if they have the necessary support around them. That is why I particularly commend the efforts of the R U OK? organisation.

I particularly note that a disproportionate number of suicides are from rural and regional areas. Suicide rates in rural and regional Australia are significantly higher than the national average. Very remote regions have suicide rates double that of major capital cities, and approximately 80 per cent of these suicides are males. It is the most common means of death of Australian men under the age of 44.

I have discussed the matter of rural and regional suicide with people from those areas and, in particular, with people who have been personally associated with counselling services in the Riverland region of South Australia. Many Riverland growers have endured successive years of drought, poor crops and low prices for their produce. Their debts are mounting as their crops fail, and for some their spirit is ultimately broken. These are extremely hardworking, decent people with self-pride who can no longer cope, yet they make the most courageous decision I can think of: the decision to take their own life—not an easy thing to do. These are people who have families and friends, people who should not end their life by suicide. One can only speculate at the stress a person must be under to take their own life.

Males are less likely to discuss their problems with others. It is a male trait. Many males also have a belief that they are the breadwinner of the family and therefore feel responsible when their farms fail. Males often see themselves as being weak if they have been abused, bullied or exploited. Perhaps that is why we have a higher incidence of suicide amongst males than we do amongst females.

The R U OK? organisation ought to truly be commended for raising this matter publicly, and through their efforts on the 29th I hope that it will get the public recognition it deserves, because we as a society can collectively help those people who might otherwise be contemplating suicide. We can help them by being receptive to them. We can help them by initiating conversations with them. We can help them by being good listeners. We can help them by encouraging them to talk to others and to seek help, and we can be helpful to them. If we all do those things when we notice stress in the people that we associate with—often we notice but perhaps, for whatever reason, decide to mind our own business and take a step back away from them—and if we in fact take an interest in those people, we may well be able to give them the support they need. If we can save even one life through our action, then it has all been worth while. Once again, I commend the R U OK? organisation for this very good initiative.

Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support and commend the motion put forward by the member for Hindmarsh and also to support the inaugural R U OK? Day on 29 November. As members would be aware from my previous speeches, I have close links with Youth Focus, a youth suicide prevention organisation in my electorate of Swan. Tonight I want to concentrate particularly on youth suicide. The first part of this motion notes that a suicide rate of 14 persons per 100,000 has been the norm in Australia for much of the 20th century. It is disappointing that successive governments have failed to make any significant inroads into this problem over time. The latest data from the ABS shows that Australia has a youth suicide rate of 8.3 per 100,000, and the statistics show a rate of 12.3 for males and four for females aged between 15 and 24.

As members would be aware, Mr Georganas is Chair of the Standing Committee on Health and Ageing and I am the deputy chair. Last week I met with the member for Hindmarsh to discuss the issue and I am pleased to say that we both agreed to work towards getting a roundtable on youth suicide for the health and ageing committee. I am pleased that we are both committed to dealing with this issue and I believe this roundtable could have the potential to save lives.

This will be the inaugural R U OK? Day and I look forward to participating in it and letting my electorate know about it. Tonight my 17-year-old son is down at schoolies or leavers in the south-west of Western Australia, so I sent him a message, ‘Are you okay?’ and he has sent back a message to say at the moment he is okay, but I have asked him to send me messages twice a day while he is down there. But I gladly support this motion and I am grateful for the opportunity to speak.

Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The time allotted for this debate has expired. The debate is adjourned and the resumption of the debate will be made an order of the day for the next sitting.