Page 1165 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 4 May 2022
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over future years, building on the ACT health system’s current capacity and further developing the already established approaches.
While these plans are in development, there is more that the ACT government will be pursuing in the short term to support the integration of these services in the community. This includes establishing an advisory group of local substance use and mental health stakeholders and experts, including representatives from community organisations, primary care and hospitals, to provide advice on integration activities; and supporting the development of a stronger connection across the community mental health and alcohol and other drug sectors to enhance local knowledge and skills development.
To facilitate this, the ACT government has already started working in partnership with local mental health and alcohol and other drug peak organisations to identify how to best support the community sector and to build the local interest and knowledge, to support people with co-occurring mental health and alcohol or other drug issues.
I believe that, together, all of these initiatives that I have described are a good platform for the ACT to further develop integrated and coordinated mental health and substance use supports for people. I am conscious that there is no finish line with regard to integrating services. Rather, continuous development and iteration is required to meet the growing demands and needs in the ACT.
As the Minister for Mental Health, I am committed to continuing to work closely with my colleague the Minister for Health to ensure that our ACT services are closely integrated and able to provide the right care, at the right time, in the right place. This cooperation also will be important as the ACT government progresses our nation-leading harm minimisation approach to alcohol and other drugs policy, which is a key tenet of the Drug Strategy Action Plan but is also a key theme of the proposed Drugs of Dependence (Personal Use) Amendment Bill 2021, currently standing in the name of Mr Pettersson.
I note that the debate on this bill has been delayed until after this update. While I will leave that particular discussion until then, I would like to say that I hope that this statement and the upcoming debate on the amendment bill will go some way to alleviating the stigma that people with co-occurring mental illness and alcohol or other drug issues experience and are exposed to. Issues of stigma and discrimination can lead to people with these co-occurring issues not being able to seek treatment or being refused services.
One of the reasons for this, as highlighted in the Productivity Commission’s inquiry, is that many still see substance use issues as an issue of character or personal choice and not as a problem that is influenced and exacerbated by a range of social and economic determinants. I want to say to everyone listening today: there is no shame in seeking help if you or others around you have identified mental health or alcohol and other drug issues in your life that you want to address. I hope that we will see more people able to identify when they need help and coming forward for assistance to receive the support they need and to continue on a path to recovery.
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