Stirling Griff (SA, Centre Alliance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the issue of suicide in Australia. The Australian Bureau of Statistics recently revealed that the suicide rate in 2017 spiked by nine per cent to 3,128 deaths last year. That was 3,128 Australians in such a state of pain and distress that they chose not to live. That number includes 98 children under the age of 18 who took their lives. These numbers only hint at the thousands upon thousands of family members and friends whose lives have been devastated by the loss of their loved ones.

Suicide is a leading cause of death in Australia for those aged 15 to 44. To put that into context, deaths each year from suicide are nearly three times the national road toll, and suicide rates have been on an upward trajectory for well over a decade. Yet, as a nation, we have no dedicated minister for mental health to ensure this issue gets the focus it sorely needs. Neither do we have a national suicide reduction target. Other countries do; Australia doesn't. Of those Australians who have taken their own life, 40 per cent were suffering from depression, 30 per cent were suffering from drug and alcohol use disorders and almost 20 per cent were suffering from anxiety and stress related disorders. The suicide rate is higher for men than women, and Indigenous Australians have twice the rate of suicide compared to the broader population.

I note that the government has recently tasked the Productivity Commission with looking at the economic costs of mental illness. I await with interest the minister's announcement of the terms of reference for this. However, there are already concerns being expressed that this will be just another one of the myriad reviews that have been conducted into this issue with no tangible result in reducing the incidence of mental illness and suicide. What may be of more benefit was the announcement by the Australian Bureau of Statistics that in future, in addition to reporting health related causes such as depression, they intend to report on a range of social determinants such as financial difficulty and relationship stress as what they call 'associated factors to a suicide'. Parsed statistics on social determinants may finally focus us as a nation to confront the issue that many of those who have struggled with mental health and illness are all too aware of.

In this year's national report from the National Mental Health Commission, there are four social determinants that either strengthen or undermine the health and wellbeing of individuals and communities. These are early childhood development, fair employment and decent work, social protection and the living environment. Despite being one of the wealthiest nations on the planet, Australia's report card in these areas is very poor. For example, we are experiencing unprecedented numbers of child removals, with Indigenous families disproportionately affected. Those who have lost their jobs, and kids who are not even able to get a foothold on the employment ladder are being subjected to an increasingly punitive and humiliating red-tape regime in order to access meagre assistance to survive on—let alone with any semblance of dignity. Family violence and sexual violence, which occur across all ages and all socioeconomic and demographic groups, and which pose significant risk factors for mental health problems, continue to be a major issue in this country. It was reported last week that as many as one in four Australians are experiencing severe and damaging levels of loneliness. Rates of homelessness are growing exponentially and are now affecting over 100,000 people. Of course, there is also rampant substance abuse.

It is precisely because of the interrelatedness and complexity of these social determinants of mental health and wellbeing that I am calling for there to be a dedicated minister for mental health. This is a role which will need to work with and also be empowered to challenge the various ministers for families and communities, social services, health, veterans' affairs, agriculture and others. Such a ministerial position would ensure that impacts on mental health are appropriately considered and prioritised in these portfolios.

A minister for mental health is also needed to ensure that funding is spent effectively. The total expenditure on mental health related services by federal, state and territory governments has been increasing year on year for the past two decades and is now approaching $9 billion each year. According to the National Mental Health Commission, despite this spending, the prevalence of mental illness has barely changed, suggesting that the expenditure is insufficient or ineffective, or possibly both. A minister for mental health would provide a focal point for those in the mental health community to come forward with evidence based suicide prevention measures, to identify research gaps and to encourage the government to develop trials where we can compare and learn what works best.

I also believe that government needs to set a suicide reduction target. In this regard, I echo the words of John Brogden, the former New South Wales opposition leader and now Chairman of Lifeline, when he stated that the increase in suicide deaths was an outrage. He has called for a 25 per cent suicide reduction target over the next five years, saying:

We need stark action and we need a breakthrough …

It will focus the governments, funders and the community on getting the numbers down and putting funding in all the right places.

Minister Hunt has said suicide is a 'national tragedy' and:

One life lost to suicide is one too many …

The minister's office stated that the national target is zero suicides. Of course that is what we all want, but there is no plan to get there. I call on this parliament to reconsider and recognise the serious epidemic that we are facing. I point to the evidence of Scotland, which achieved an 18 per cent reduction in suicide deaths after setting a 20 per cent suicide reduction target over 10 years. They set that target when they became aware that the suicide rate in Scotland was much higher than comparable nations. But Scotland did not stop there. Realising the value of having a target to prevent unnecessary deaths, the government of Scotland has now set a new and more ambitious target. It aims to reduce the rate of suicide by a further 20 per cent by 2022.

So I call on the Australian government to act decisively and act now. It needs to set a robust target backed by a multipronged community centred plan to save the lives of our fellow Australians. We need a minister, we need a suicide reduction target and we all need to work together in order to prevent the scourge that is taking the lives of too many Australians and leaving in its wake a lifelong burden of loss and futile wondering for grief-stricken families and friends. We need to act now, as a matter of urgency, to implement a plan for ending this ongoing tragic loss of life.