Helen Polley (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I want to put on the record how wonderful the first Parliamentary Friends of Dementia event for 2024 was. Today in this building we heard from wonderful advocates of this terrible disease. Tears were shared, laughs were had, and we were all taken aback by the dementia journey that many in that room were on. I would like to first put on record my deepest respect for the outgoing CEO of Dementia Australia, the inspiring Maree McCabe, AM. I want to thank her for her inspiring leadership of Dementia Australia over many years. Maree, I wish you and your family all the very best for the future. I am wishing you health and happiness in your next chapter, wherever that chapter may be.

I'd also like to acknowledge Professor Graeme Samuel for his contribution as the outgoing chair of Dementia Australia. What a fantastic advocate he was. The difference is that, when you've had a family member who has been on that journey of dementia, it gives you great passion and insight. So to both Maree and Graeme I say: thank you for everything you have done, and I know you will continue to advocate on this very important issue.

I'd also like to welcome the new chair of Dementia Australia, Merran Kelsall, AO. In welcoming you to the Parliamentary Friends of Dementia, I look forward to continuing the proud legacy of this group with you and to forging and continuing to develop a very strong relationship with you and to continuing that relationship with Dementia Australia, the pre-eminent organisation for helping all Australians with a dementia diagnosis and their families on the journey of dementia.

Today's event was extremely important. Dementia Australia spoke to their budget submission, and I'm very proud to be part of the Albanese Labor government, which, since coming to the office, has put dementia on the map. We up improving residential aged care, with better pay and conditions for those working in the aged-care sector, which gives that important care. It's so important that, when you get acknowledged through your remuneration, the workforce appreciates that confidence that you're placing in them; therefore, the care results do improve. We have a nurse 24/7 in over 99 per cent of residential aged care now across the country, and we're improving the food quality for residents.

We're also taking away the stigma that is associated with a dementia diagnosis. The more we can learn from people with the lived experience and from carers and loved ones who have cared for people living with dementia, the better we all are. This makes for better informed policy responses and care plans for Australians living with dementia and those who will be diagnosed going forward. We can all learn from one another, and it's important that we do.

At the event today we also heard from Dr Rowena Mobbs who talked about CTE, which is a brain condition linked to repeated injuries or concussions which lead to dementia. It's often associated with trauma to the head and with people involved in contact sports, but it's not just contact sports. It's road trauma, it's domestic violence, it's cyclists and it's basketball players who have been affected by head trauma. It can be that knocking to the head—not just concussion, but the repeated knocking. In a domestic violence situation where a woman is being slapped around repeatedly, you can imagine that shaking of the head. We know how terrible it is when little babies die from being shaken by a perpetrator. It's just like that.

But we also heard from the sporting great Wally Lewis AM, former Australian professional rugby player and better known, as I understand it, as 'the King'. I did confess, at the event this morning when I spoke, that I'm an AFL girl and I don't really understand that game, but I know who Wally is and I know what a great player he was.

Also on that panel today we heard from Lynn McGregor, Robin McGilligan and panel facilitator Pat Walsh, who informed us about what a CTE diagnosis means and what living with CTE means day to day. And I have to acknowledge Wally Lewis and those people who spoke on the panel. It takes a great deal of courage to open up and talk about the things that you are experiencing on a day-to-day level. And when you think of someone like Wally Lewis—and this happens to everyone, not just celebrities or great sportspeople—you become so vulnerable; you really do. You've had an inspirational life as a rugby league legend. He relived some of the embarrassments that he's been through, like the severe pain and the memory loss. In his workplace he was very fortunate because the television station has supported him all the way through. But when crossing from a live event—you're reading a script and then you go live—he couldn't remember whether he was at the beginning of the presentation, in the middle or at the end. This is what happens, and this was the beginning of the disease and how it's manifesting itself.

His short-term memory has left him, and he now relies on a daily diary, and he's so proud of that diary. He is very fortunate, because he has a very supportive partner and family to get him through those days. He advocated great education and understanding for those wishing to play a contact sport so that everyone understands the risks associated with continuing knocks to the head. And it's important, as he said, that you don't have this conversation with young players just after their first season; you have two continue to educate.

I'd also like to place on record my deep appreciation for the fact that Wally has taken on the role of our newest Dementia Australia ambassador. The story of the heartbreaking cycling accident which has led Robin McGilligan to be diagnosed with probable CTE was also harrowing. This man had his life changed after a cycling accident that left him with severe headaches, confusion and anger behaviour. He changed from a competent corporate lawyer and a loving father to a man he didn't want to be.