Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Jacqui Lambie Network) Share this | Hansard source

This week we are being encouraged to ask R U OK? It is an important thing to ask and I think we should be doing it every day, not just this week. It's a time to stop and reflect on our mental wellbeing and the wellbeing of family and friends but it has me reflecting on what we're doing in this place about mental health. On R U OK day, politicians of all colours will post on social media, glossy yellow pictures will fill up your feeds and people will post heartfelt messages about the importance of mental health. But are we taking steps forward to make things better for people with mental health issues? It is something people in Tasmania ask me about a lot. It is not unusual for a person in Tasmania to wait three months, six months or even eight months to see a psychologist. It's a really hard thing for someone to put their hand up and ask for help. We tell people to do it all the time. But it is pretty terrible when they are finally able to take that step and we cannot help them. If it has taken a while to work up the courage to ask for help, you probably can't afford to wait another eight months to get it.

I have read horror stories from constituents trying to access mental health assistance. They highlight different areas where there are gaping holes in the system. A close friend of mine was diagnosed bipolar disorder. One night he was having suicidal thoughts. He is a dad and a husband. He drove himself to the Mercy hospital to get help but, as he was driving there, he thought about driving into a tree to end his life. He was seen pretty quickly at the hospital but they did not have the facilities to care for him. My friend was told to drive to the North West Regional Hospital in Burnie, where he could get care in the mental health facility. So the doctor told my friend to drive 40 minutes to another hospital, even though he was having thoughts of taking his life—wrapping his car around a hydro pole.

Another young woman went to see a doctor to get the mental health plan to see a psychologist. She had been self-harming and having suicidal thoughts. I actually know this girl; she is a great girl. Before he would sign off on the mental health plan, the doctor told this young woman to go home and write her own eulogy so she would know how her family would feel if she took her own life. That young woman says she still feel sick to the stomach when she thinks about that conversation.

I know a lot of people are receiving good care from professionals for their mental health issues but there are also a lot of people out there that we are letting down and I think we can be doing more. Last year the Labor government stopped the extra 10 subsidised mental health sessions under the better access scheme. These should not have been stopped without another alternative in place, even though I know we have a plan coming. There are ways we can do things better but this has left a gaping hole in the care people are able to receive. People with complex needs are now rushing in the sessions they do have and aren't getting the full care they require. It's leading to further pressures on an already overwhelmed health system.

We have a critical workforce shortage in the mental health sector, and we need to look at pathways for people to study psychology and related fields. But that'll take years, and people need help now. The government should consider expanding Medicare rebates to provisional psychologists to help address the severe waiting times for help. There are around 8,000 provisional psychologists across Australia, and in Tasmania that would mean 150 extra professionals ready tomorrow to provide subsidised sessions.

We also need to go back to the recommendations of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. I can't count how many inquiries we've spent a lot of time on and whose recommendations we've then tossed aside. The committee made 44 recommendations, and they need to be seriously considered and addressed.

The government should also publicly release the National Mental Health Workforce Strategy report. There are probably some great ideas in there, but, when they won't put out the report, who knows? When we're committing $60 million in the budget towards implementing a strategy, I think the parliament and the public should know what that is.

These things won't single-handedly fix our mental health system, and even if we do all these things there'll still be a lot of work to be done. But it's important to show all Australians, particularly young people, that we're actively working on improving things in this space It's time to reach out and say: 'You're not alone. You're not in this alone. We've got your back.' Please ask your mates, your friends or a stranger, 'Are you okay?' If you love them, ask them if they are really okay.