Bert Van Manen (Forde, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about an issue that faces many in our community—that is, mental health. I had the opportunity in the past week or so to visit a number of services that provide mental health support to various people in our community. I was accompanied on this trip by Greater Metro South Brisbane Medicare Local CEO Simon James. We visited three different facilities, all of which offer varying services and support to vulnerable people in our community, many suffering from mental illness. I would like to thank Eschleigh Balzamo and Ani Katene from Brook RED in Beenleigh for offering a great insight into their facility. Brook RED is a peer-run community service providing support for any individual who has had a mental health experience. Their facility is unique in the support they offer, with many of the staff able to relate to the clients on a peer-based level. They also of an out-of-hours support line.

I visited headspace at Meadowbrook, which recently opened its doors and provides services to young people aged 12 to 25. Headspace is a great facility for early intervention and helps young people with mental health and wellbeing support.

My last visit was to Canefields Clubhouse at Meadowbrook. I wish to thank Steve, one of the members of Canefields Clubhouse, who took us on a tour and took time to share with us his story. I also wish to thank Jak Dennison, the general manager, for his time. Canefields creates a restorative environment for adults with mental illness and guides them on the path to regaining the confidence and skills needed for living a socially satisfactory life.

Visiting each facility I noticed a common element—a dedicated, professional and compassionate staff. People with mental illness can be among the most disadvantaged in our society and because of that they confront many hurdles in life. They often require the high-quality, targeted services which these facilities provide. I wish to commend the dedicated staff and management at Brook RED, headspace and Canefields Clubhouse for the tremendous work they do, often under difficult circumstances, to assist people with mental illness to get their lives back on track.