Julian Leeser (Berowra, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Thursday, I visited the NorthConnex training hub in my electorate. NorthConnex is the missing link in our national transport system. Funded by the federal and state coalition governments in partnership with Transurban, NorthConnex will take 5,000 trucks off Pennant Hills Road every day. NorthConnex will significantly reduce air and noise pollution and return our local streets to the local community.

But this was no regular visit to NorthConnex. I had the privilege of participating in a general awareness training course run by Carolyn Kelso and Heather Drew, from Mates in Construction. Last year, I met Peter McClelland, CEO of MATES in Construction NSW. MATES in Construction was established in 2008 to reduce the high level of suicide among Australian construction workers. In 2015, 54 per cent of people who died by suicide were men aged 25 to 64. The rate of suicide in the construction industry is alarmingly high: 71 per cent higher than in any other industry. Between 2001 and 2013, there was an average of 182 deaths per year, or one suicide every second day in the industry.

MATES in Construction raises awareness of mental health issues in the construction industry by training workers to recognise the signs. They also provide support to workers, including case management and on-site visits by field officers. Since 2015, more than 400 NorthConnex staff have undergone this training. These workers will apply these skills to their work today and at future worksites. I commend the work of MATES in Construction, LendLease Boris and NorthConnex.