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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 10 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3284 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

We have learnt of the problems associated with dual diagnosis and the lack of services for people with dual or multiple disabilities, especially those with substance abuse and mental illness. We also recommend that, as a matter of urgency, the ACT Government should develop and implement a strategy which addresses accommodation and support needs of young people with a mental illness.

Youth suicide is an issue that is finally receiving some attention from government. We understand that the Government is creating a task force to create a strategy for the ACT. While this looks good, and I am glad to see attention being given to the area, I have to point out that there are a number of very well respected research institutes and other organisations that have been working on suicide strategies particularly directed at young people. This work is being done now and has been done recently. These organisations include the Australian Institute for Suicide Research and Prevention, under the auspices of Griffith University and with funding from the Queensland Government; the Centre for Adolescent Health at the University of Melbourne; the Australian scouts movement, in collaboration with the Department of Child Psychiatry at Monash University; and the Australian Rural Health Research Institute, with funding from the Commonwealth Department of Health and Family Services. Rotary also is producing a large body of work through the Rotary health grants scheme.

Governments have also responded to the issue of youth suicide. The Queensland Government has released the Queensland Government youth suicide prevention strategy, identifying key strategies for prevention in the short and medium term. The Victorian Government has published a report of its suicide prevention task force, which describes a suicide prevention framework on four levels of intervention, and the implementation strategy. The Northern Territory Government has released a discussion paper providing a strategic framework for policy and action and the future direction of youth suicide prevention in the Northern Territory.

This list is by no means exhaustive but is an example of the work already done, which we should not be duplicating. What we need is action, and we need action that is supported by resources. We should not be duplicating. We should not be wasting our time and money on producing a strategy that will take six months and will be paying experts in the ACT high salaries to produce a report. There is all this work going on. The youth suicide resource kit designed by the Victorian Government this Government endorsed last week and presumably will be circulating to professionals in the ACT. They have been prepared to use that work from Victoria, and I urge them to look at the work that has already been done and is being done on this issue and to get into doing something about it; otherwise it can look very much like tokenism. I will be particularly interested to see how the Government responds to the recommendations of this report, because it is quite clear that the recommendations dealing with services for young people must be agreed to by government if they are indeed genuine about having a strong place in the battle and addressing the serious problem of youth suicide in our society.

Another area about which there were a lot of concerns brought to the committee is the forensic psychiatric facilities in the ACT. They have also been a matter of concern for a long time. All members will be aware of the very tragic incidents that have highlighted this problem. The ACT Mental Health Services draft development plan, disappointingly, does not include any strategies, visions or objectives for improvements in the service.

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