Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Furner's contribution to this debate should be noted. I think it says something not only about the person he paid tribute to but about the incredibly good heart that Senator Furner has.

The role that sleep plays in our lives is important but little attention has been paid to the sleep health of the nation as a whole and its wide and varied impact on our health, safety and productivity. That is why the forum organised last week here at Parliament House for the Sleep Health Foundation—the first NGO established in Australia to be primarily focused on raising awareness of sleep health—was so important.

Let me acknowledge Senator John Madigan, whose idea it was to invite the Sleep Health Foundation to parliament, and my colleagues senators Bilyk and Di Natale, for co-sponsoring the forum with me. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the contributions of professionals who spoke at the forum: Professor David Hillman, chairman of Sleep Health Australia and head of the Department of Pulmonary Physiology and Sleep Medicine at Sir Charles Gairdner in Perth; Professor Shanthakumar Rajaratnam, from Monash University's School of Psychological Sciences; Lynne Pezzullo, lead partner in Health, Economics and Social Policy at Deloitte Australia; and Associate Professor Nick Antic, clinical director of Adelaide Institute for Sleep Health and a sleep specialist at Flinders Medical Centre.

Of course, during a parliamentary sitting week the whole issue of sleep deprivation resonates with many of us in this building. Not much is known about why people and animals require sleep. Indeed the definition of 'sleep' itself is highly contentious. We do know that sleep consumes, on average, some 33 per cent of our lives and is essential to how we function.

At this moment, roughly one in 12 Australians are diagnosed with some kind of sleep disorder. That is more than 1.5 million people. Many more suffer in silence, not reporting their problems with sleep to a doctor. As a nation, are we all too busy and sleep deprived to address this issue adequately? Sleep disorders such as obstructive sleep apnoea, insomnia, restless leg syndrome and shift work sleep disorder rob the nation of an estimated $5 billion a year in lost productivity. A further $31.4 billion a year is lost indirectly, according to Deloitte Access Economics.

Sleep disorders have been associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, heart attack, obesity, type 2 diabetes, stroke, dementia, high blood pressure and long-term brain damage. All of these diseases present a problem to our society as it copes with an ageing population and ever-expanding health budgets. Sleep disorders also contribute to an increase in motor vehicle accidents and work related injuries. This is especially a problem for shift workers, who are particularly vulnerable to sleep disorders. We know from the research that an estimated 4.3 per cent of motor vehicle accidents and 4.9 per cent of work related injuries are caused by sleep disorders. That means that literally hundreds of Australians each year are either killed or seriously injured at work or on the roads because of sleep disorders. It is reported that the US incurs $71 billion to $93 billion a year in costs for motor vehicle accidents caused by sleepiness. The risk of work related accidents is increased by 60 per cent for shift workers alone. When you consider that 16 per cent of Australia's workforce is comprised of shift workers—that is, some 1.5 million people—that is very significant.

In fact, some man-made disasters have been associated with sleep deprivation: the Exxon Valdez oil spill, the Challenger space shuttle disaster and the nuclear accident in Chernobyl. A fully rested person can operate for 16 hours, but after that time it is as though they have a blood alcohol reading of 0.05 per cent. If this norm is interrupted because of sleep deprivation, the 16-hour time frame significantly contracts.

I am a firm believer in preventative medicine for our own health and that of the economy. If we reduce the incidence of sleep disorders we can take the pressure off our health budgets, and that is a good thing . We need to tackle this as an issue. At a time when a growing number of people are experiencing depression or are overwhelmed by the stresses posed by modern life and tightening economic conditions, we owe it to ourselves to get a good night's sleep. However, I fear that successive governments and politicians of all persuasions—me included—have been asleep at the wheel when it comes to tackling such a huge problem. A little bit of support and funding can reap huge dividends for the health, wellbeing and productivity of our nation. Mr Deputy President, I hope I have not caused you to nod off, but it is time for all of us in this place to wake up to the urgency of tackling this issue.