Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs, I present the report entitled FASD: The hidden harm—inquiry into the prevention, diagnosis and management of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders,together with the minutes of proceedings and evidence received by the committee.

In accordance with standing order 39(f) the report was made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—I rise today to present the report of the Standing Committee on Social Policy and Legal Affairs into the incidence and prevention of foetal alcohol spectrum disorders, or FASD. I am honoured to do so so soon after the Prime Minister this morning introduced the National Disability Insurance Scheme legislation.

FASD is the umbrella term for the range of conditions that can occur in an individual who endured prenatal exposure to alcohol. These conditions may include physical, mental, behavioural, cognitive and learning disabilities.

The risk of FASD increases with the quantity of alcohol a pregnant woman may consume. I will repeat that: the risk of FASD increases with the quantity of alcohol a pregnant woman may consume. However, what is not widely understood is that even small amounts of alcohol at critical developmental times can result in irrevocable damage to the developing foetus. This damage may not be physically apparent but can manifest in cognitive and learning impairment.

In a poignant DVD about children affected by FASD, a young boy called Tristan says, 'I wish I can be a policeman just when I grow up.' Then he adds, 'Nah, I just want to be normal first. I just want to be normal.' This Australian movie, for me, was more tragic than Gallipoli and Breaker Morant combined. As a parliament, we owe it to Tristan and to every child, every woman and every family to bring to light the risk of FASD and the hidden harms of prenatal alcohol exposure. Prevention is the key—and FASD is entirely preventable with proper public awareness. For those impacted by FASD, we need appropriate diagnosis and support.

The series of recommendations in this report are a pathway for a national action plan for FASD. This national action plan can spearhead progress in all sectors—health, education, criminal justice, social support—towards understanding, treating and eliminating preventable but lifelong birth defects and brain damage caused by prenatal exposure to alcohol. A nationally consistent approach is the most effective, and the committee has recommended that a specialised FASD reference group be established to provide guidance and advice to the Commonwealth government on the most effective policies and strategies. The FASD reference group will oversee the national action plan for FASD, which will address three critical issues: (1) prevention, (2) identification and (3) management.

The prevention of FASD is unequivocally the most cost-effective strategy. The advice must always be that the safest option for a pregnant woman is not to drink alcohol. The cost of a comprehensive and effective public awareness campaign that educates people about the risk of FASD is a fraction of the cost of supporting individuals with FASD. There needs to be a concerted campaign by health professionals to screen and identify women at risk of alcohol consumption in pregnancy. It is unacceptable for our health professionals to be unfamiliar with this preventable condition and to not be giving women and their partners all the information they need to have the healthiest possible pregnancy.

Addressing the culture and easy accessibility of alcohol is a key strategy in preventing FASD—particularly in the context that we are leading up to Christmas—as well as minimising the many other serious social and economic harms. To this end, the committee recommends mandatory health warning labels on all alcoholic beverages and further investigation into the control around sales and promotion of alcohol.

While recognising that FASD can be completely eliminated in theory, the committee accepts that it may not be prevented in 100 per cent of pregnancies. In such cases, it is essential that the potential for FASD is identified and diagnosed in a timely manner. A nationally consistent definition of FASD, greater awareness amongst health professionals and a national screening and diagnostic tool are all urgently required. Support and education must be available to carers and educators so that the best management strategies can be put in place at home and at school. Effective intervention in childhood will improve considerably the life trajectory of a person with FASD.

I thank the secretariat, especially Dr Anna Dacre, Pauline Cullen and Natalya Wells, and the rest of their team. I particularly thank them for the great brochure that they have put together. I know not everyone will necessarily read the report, but the brochure is a great summary. We cannot keep hidden the harms being caused by alcohol in our society and, in particular, the devastating harms of prenatal alcohol exposure. As other speakers have said, season's greetings to all. I hope everyone has a great Christmas but that they also drink responsibly. I commend this report to the House and thank the member for Murray. Whilst she is not the deputy chair, she was the driver behind the social policy and legal affairs committee undertaking this inquiry.

Sharman Stone (Murray, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

by leave—Pregnant women drinking alcohol is the biggest cause of permanent, irreversible, non-genetic brain damage in newborns in Australia. I think this is a shocking statistic and it is a tragedy, because so many of the women who give birth to these disabled babies had not been aware of the danger of drinking during pregnancy. Other women have in fact had an alcohol addiction but they were not helped or supported during their pregnancy to try and reduce their alcohol consumption or to eliminate their alcohol use altogether. This is a shocking indictment of our society, I believe.

We can no longer simply pretend that there are no serious consequences when it comes to keeping this problem hidden. That is why the title of our report refers to the hidden business of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder—the exposure of the unborn to alcohol in the womb and the irreversible brain and other damage that can occur. I know we were deeply moved during the time that we took evidence in this inquiry. We were moved by the pleading of birth mothers and foster mothers and fathers who care for these children, despite their often not being able to get any government support or assistance, despite a lot of medical professionals sending them away and saying, 'Look, we don't really think you need a diagnosis for your child, because do you really want your child to live with the stigma of it being known that they have been damaged by their mother drinking?'

We are aware from other reports undertaken in this place, particularly by the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, that so many of our people in prisons, particularly Indigenous people in prisons, are in fact suffering from foetal alcohol spectrum disorder. The effect of this condition means that people who are locked up for crimes often have very limited capacity to stay on the straight and narrow, to remain law abiding. It is a condition that affects their cognitive skills, their capacity to learn and memorise and their poor understanding of cultural concepts, ideals and norms that leads them to being locked up.

I think we are now at a stage in Australia where we acknowledge that, yes, we have a strong drinking culture. We acknowledge that a lot of our alcohol companies, whether they produce beer, spirits or wine, are the major sponsors of sport in Australia. A lot of our sporting clubs could not buy their bats and balls if they did not have the local pub sponsoring their activities. But the time has come when we need to make sure that every man and woman knows about the impacts of alcohol on the unborn. We are asking women who are planning to become pregnant or who are pregnant to simply not drink for the nine months of their pregnancy. I repeat that the problem of foetal alcohol syndrome as it affects the unborn baby is totally avoidable. If you do not drink, there is no possibility of your child being born with any of the characteristics of foetal alcohol spectrum disorder.

I am concerned that, even though we have the National Health and Medical Research Council guidelines quite categorically stating that the safest option for women is not to drink alcohol when pregnant or planning a pregnancy—those guidelines are in black and white—we have medical professionals who fail to even ask about the drinking habits or intentions of women who come to them who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant. So many women are offered alcohol in their hospital bed when they have just delivered a baby, particularly if they are in private medical wards. We have a lot of pressure on young women to drink and to drink as hard and as often as men. We have a binge drinking epidemic at the moment, with young girls binge drinking. Those same young girls may then have unsafe sex and can then become pregnant and may continue to drink for a long time before they even realise that they are pregnant. This is a very sad and serious situation in Australia and it can lead to some shocking consequences for the unborn.

This report is well overdue. It is timely, though, that it is released when the government has already started to invest in a diagnostic tool and when the government has also acknowledged that there needs to be a federal, state and local government and community-wide campaign for understanding what the dangers of drinking are when you are pregnant or hoping to become pregnant. We have to have a communication campaign. It has to be broad as well as targeted. We have to have proper labelling of alcohol so it carries a warning for pregnant women. It is amazing that we are so proud about the labelling restrictions for tobacco and yet we have no mandated labelling for alcohol.

We also have to recognise FASD as a disability so that people who care for the victims can have some resources, through the new disability insurance policy moves or through the current disability support pension and carer schemes. We have to make sure that teachers, those in the judiciary, social workers, counsellors—anyone working in the community—understand what this condition is about so they can recognise those who are victims and then take better action when trying to help those people reach their full potential.

Of course, this inquiry was important for those who suffer from foetal alcohol spectrum disorder themselves, the victims of this condition. Our very able chair, Mr Graham Perrett, mentioned the tragic story of little Tristan. He happens to be an Aboriginal boy, but this condition of FASD is not exclusive to, or most commonly found in Indigenous communities. Tristan is a young boy. He has brothers and sisters with the same FASD condition. He just wants to be normal, he says. He knows he is not. He knows he cannot learn like others. He knows he cannot take responsibility like others. But he just wants to be normal. It is not fair that any young Australian should want to be normal but cannot be because of the damage that they suffered in the womb because their mother did not know not to drink or could not help drinking during her nine months of pregnancy.

This is a detailed report. It includes a lot of time-specific actions. Obviously there are resource implications. We need to thank the health professionals, particularly the people from the George institute and the Telethon institute. We have to acknowledge the brilliant work done by the Fitzroy Crossing community to tackle the FASD problems in their community. We were overwhelmed by the support and concern of those who know about this problem and know it must be tackled. I too commend this report to the House.

Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I repeat my thanks on behalf of the committee to the member for Murray for her great contribution. I move:

That the House take note of the report.

Debate adjourned.