Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

June is an important time for Rotary Clubs all across the country and across the communities of Casey. It's a time when we get together to celebrate changeover. We say thank you to those outgoing presidents and committees and we say, 'Congratulations, good luck and we're here to support you,' to the new presidents. I had the opportunity and the honour to attend the Healesville Rotary changeover last Thursday to congratulate my good friend Sally on becoming the president of Healesville Rotary. The energy that she will bring to the role will make sure that the community in Healesville will continue to get so many benefits. For 48 years Healesville Rotary has been supporting the community of Healesville. Congratulations to Sally and everyone at Healesville Rotary. We are very lucky in Casey to have so many Rotary Clubs—in Lilydale, in Wandin, in Monbulk and in the Upper Yarra—that give back to our community. As I said, through this month we're going through changeover. I thank those that had the opportunity to serve last year, and I thank those that have taken the responsibility to serve moving forward. It's an important role and an important responsibility.

It's because we face so many challenges that we need to do what we can at a governmental level, but community groups play a key role. My community, like many communities, is not immune from the challenges of housing affordability. Yarra Ranges Council, which maps the electorate of Casey, has one of the lowest levels of private rentals in Melbourne and one of the lowest levels of social housing. Our combined rate of homelessness and marginal housing increased by 19 per cent between 2016 and 2021. We're not alone in that challenge. It requires—what I like to talk about—the four levels working together: federal, state, council and community. We need the community to support us.

I want to pay tribute to the many amazing organisations all across Casey that help those with homelessness with the challenges they face—particularly my good friend Neal Taylor at Holy Fools. They've moved into their new location in Lilydale. It was great to go to their garage sale and support them and provide a few DVDs—too many DVDs! My wife was very happy that they left our garage and went to the garage sale. But they were able to raise important funds for Neal and the team, to support their initiatives like Street Angels. I've had the opportunity to go and visit and serve food at Street Angels and talk to people about the challenges they face. You see a range of people struggling with homelessness, struggling with short-term problems and struggling with long-term problems.

With homelessness, it's important that we acknowledge that it's not just about finding a house. There are also the underlying mental health issues that are sometimes at play—not for everyone but for some. We need to continue to do more to support those with mental health issues. I signed up to support headspace with the Push-Up Challenge this month. As my mum likes to say, 'The world is paved with good intentions.' I had the good intention of completing the challenge fully. Unfortunately I fell short, but I tried and that is the most important thing. But it did raise awareness. It did raise funds. I thank those who joined in supporting headspace. We're lucky to have the headspace in Lilydale. It's a spoke off the hub of Knox. We need to continue to support that.

We also need to look at things that we can control in mental health, particularly youth mental health. It was disappointing to see that the free Medicare subsidised mental health sessions were cut from 20 sessions to 10 sessions in the previous budget in the last two years from the new government, but I am proud to be part of a coalition that is committed to reinstating those 20 sessions. I hear from so many people that it being 10 sessions just means that they have to stretch it out; 20 sessions allow them to get the care on a regular basis that they need. Mental health support shouldn't be about your bank balance. The report that the government commissioned recommended that the 20 sessions stayed Medicare funded and free, so we're committed to that. We'll continue to fight for that. I'll continue to make sure that mental health support is a top priority for myself and for the coalition, because I know it is a big issue and a big challenge for many people in Casey.