Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to rise tonight to talk about a program that I have had the good fortune to have something to do with. It is a program that was first commenced by the former Howard government some years ago. It is a program that I am delighted to say that the former Labor governments continued to support and maintain, and it is one that the Abbott government has increased funding towards so that it can provide a bigger and better service. It is the program for our youth called headspace. This is a program that is designed to assist young people aged between 12 and 25 in the mental health space.

I had the very good fortune about 3½ weeks ago—

Senator Fierravanti-Wells interjecting—

probably closer to four weeks ago now, Senator Fierravanti-Wells, to represent the Minister for Health, Peter Dutton, and formally open the headspace centre in Werribee, which is an area which certainly has some challenges in many ways. It is outside the city centre of Melbourne. This centre has captured a need for such services and is providing services and supporting young people in the area in a remarkable way. The centre itself was actually informally or loosely 'opened' a couple of months before the formal opening of a month ago. Within a day of that centre being opened, 150 people had registered their interest and made appointments to meet with counsellors there.

I will just describe the sort of service that these headspace centres provide. For any young person, as I said, between the ages of 12 and 25 who needs advice, support or some guidance and is not sure or does not feel comfortable about being able to talk to a family member or even a close friend, it is an independent centre that provides really outstanding professional counselling services, including medical services, for young people. They may well be people who—

Lisa Singh (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You're sure you're not cutting these in the budget—a Labor initiative?

Helen Kroger (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I will take the interjection. It actually was initiated under the Howard government. It was first launched under the Howard government when Tony Abbott, the now Prime Minister, was the Minister for Health and Ageing. I am sure you will be pleased to look into that, because it was actually launched when the now Prime Minister was health minister.

But I will go back to where I was. These services are providing a great service for young people, particularly in disadvantaged areas and particularly in areas where there may be an incidence of drug use or where families may have young carers who are caring for their parents and trying to manage that at the same time as going to school and who feel that they have no-one to speak to. The service is really outstanding.

I have to say that, when I was asked to formally launch the centre, it was one of those times when I was really quite dumbstruck for words. There was this wonderful young woman—she would have only been in her early 20s—who was a counsellor at the Werribee centre. She was the MC for the day and she introduced me. And in introducing me she told her life story to date. It was a life story that was fraught with challenges, where she was a carer. She had no-one to seek help from and she had all sorts of very difficult personal circumstances that she had to deal with. But somehow she had the fortitude to rise through that, be educated, get through her own personal circumstances and train as a counsellor. She is now one of those professional counsellors offering a service at the centre.

After she introduced me, having given her life story, I just sat back and said, 'What more can I say?' I felt like saying, 'I formally open the centre,' because what she said demonstrated the strength of and the need for the services and what they will do. It is young people like her who can build the confidence of the young people in the area who are seeking advice. They can relate, they know the stories, they understand what they are going through and they can walk them through it, whatever the particular circumstances are.

One of the other people who spoke at the opening was the very highly respected—and for good reason—Professor Patrick McGorry. He, as many people will know, is the executive director of Orygen Youth Health, which is Australia's largest youth mental health organisation. It comprises a world-renowned research centre. As I said in my remarks on the day, I think Professor McGorry is a leader in the field of mental health, particularly the area of youth mental health. He is a regular visitor in speaking to many parliamentarians up here in Canberra. He is a great driver of continued investment in reform in this area. He has certainly been a strong advocate in the programs that have been rolled out, well and truly, over the last decade. He is a really eminent and commendable person.

The headspace centre in Werribee is one of 100 headspace centres that the government is committed to establishing across Australia. It is one of 15 that has been rolled out this year, which will take the total number of headspace centres to 100. On average, each headspace site receives approximately $842,000 per annum. I would suggest that that is a significant investment by anyone's standards. Seeing the wonderful people go through that centre and how they come through at the other end is the best investment that any government could provide in helping and guiding our youth. So if you have the opportunity, Mr Acting Deputy President Smith—I am not sure where the headspace centres are located in WA—can I commend that you visit one of them because they really are very impressive. The people who work in them are absolute heroes in their own right. It is a terrific program. I commend this centre to the chamber and suggest members look at it, if they have not been to such a centre.

Professor Patrick McGorry is actually visiting here tomorrow. He is addressing the Parliamentarians against Child Abuse and Neglect, a friendship group across parties that both Senator Katrina Bilyk, from the opposition, and I convened. It is a great group. It has been established to highlight and make us up here more aware of the challenges that so many young people are facing. If you are not doing anything tomorrow at 11.30, come and join us and you will get to hear directly from Professor Patrick McGorry.