Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The opposition will support this motion today. The fact is that there has been an increase in demand for mental health services over the past month as a result of the postal survey. In August it was reported that beyondblue registered a 40 per cent increase in call volume following the announcement of the postal survey. LGBTQ phone counselling service QLife has also recorded a more than 20 per cent increase in the number of calls since the postal survey was announced.

We know the mental health of LGBTQ people is of concern, with lesbian, gay and bisexual Australians twice as likely to have a high to very high level of psychological stress as their heterosexual peers. Australia's leading mental health experts were so concerned about the impact of the postal survey on LGBTQ Australians that they launched their own campaign, Mind The Facts. Opposition Leader Bill Shorten wrote to the Prime Minister, Malcolm Turnbull, because he too was concerned about the impact this postal survey would have on the LGBTQ community. It is also clear that they never wanted a public debate— (Time expired)

Question agreed to.