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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 4957 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

I hope that whoever is in government in the next Assembly does pick this up and see it as a matter of urgency and as a very high priority. I acknowledge that the Government in this Assembly has tried to reform how we deliver mental health services. I am concerned that as we speak serious problems are still occurring in the delivery of services, that we are not adequately supporting people and that there are problems in the hospital, with people resigning and so on. There are a lot of issues still to be addressed. I guess why I want to stress the importance of it - and it has come up in every report the Social Policy Committee has done - is that if we do not acknowledge the plight of those people in our community who are vulnerable we are failing as a community and as a parliament. I look forward to seeing these comments by government being picked up in the next Assembly by whoever is in power.

MS REILLY (4.06): It is pleasing to get the Government's response to the report of the Standing Committee on Social Policy on the adequacy of mental health services before the Assembly finishes. This report did go through a number of discussions and various things happened, but there was no suggestion in the report that all recommended actions should be taken immediately, that all things should change at once.

The committee reported on the gaps in services that we heard about from people using those services. I think what this Government should take away from this report, no matter what, is how important it is to listen and take into account what the people who use services actually say. In most cases the issues they raise are not outrageous or unreasonable. They are just saying that the services are not always as effective as they could be; that there are times when they cannot get hold of the services when they want them, even though these services are supposed to be 24-hour services. These people should be listened to. They should not be dismissed as ungrateful or having unrealistic expectations. One of the important outcomes of this report and the other reports of the Social Policy Committee is the importance of listening to those who use the services whether they are part of the ACT government service or the non-government services. These are often the people who know what should be available. We raised this in several areas during question time today, but it is just as applicable to mental health services.

It was pleasing to hear Mrs Carnell say that the clubhouse model will be looked at in the budget. It is very pleasing that she will pick up that issue, because there are gaps in social services in this area. It is very difficult not to be gravely concerned by a report in the Canberra Times last Saturday about the number of resignations of psychiatrists from the government service. The fact is that the chair of psychiatry is still vacant. Even though an appointment has been imminent for months and months, still no-one has decided to take on that position. For more than 12 months now we have been trying to work out who will head up Mental Health Services in the ACT. We still have a difference between the person who is sitting in the position and the needs under the legislation. This issue of more than 12 months' standing has not been resolved. It has an influence on the delivery of services in the ACT and needs to be resolved. It is ridiculous to leave such an important position in limbo. We cannot go on with this situation, and the Government needs to address it as a matter of urgency.

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