Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

At the request of Senators Keneally, McCarthy, Bilyk, Polley, Rice and Molan, I move:

That the Senate—

(a) notes that:

  (i) six babies a day in Australia are stillborn, and the rate of stillbirth in Australia has not changed in 2 decades,

  (ii) the Senate Select Committee into Stillbirth Research and Education heard many stories from parents and grandparents of stillborn babies about the silence around stillbirth and the solitary nature of this particular grief, and

  (iii) the Committee made recommendations to improve bereavement support for parents and that the Government has accepted or accepted in principle all recommendations from the Committee's report;

(b) acknowledges that social distancing restrictions, which have been necessary during the COVID-19 crisis, will have compounded the grief and sorrow for families mourning their stillborn babies; and

(c) extends condolences and sympathies to the families of stillborn babies in Australia, especially during the COVID-19 crisis.

Question agreed to.