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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 6 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1646 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

To give Mr Quinlan credit, he did explain that a service may be as simple as a telephone call, or all the way through to a full mental health assessment. But they could not tell you how many remandees in the BRC might be there inappropriately, at any time, who should perhaps be somewhere else.

The number of services provided in 2001 were as follows: July, 188; August, 379; September, 216; October, 346; November, 282; December, 134; January, 244; February, 224 and March, 194.

Mr Speaker, those figures tell me that there are a number of people in the BRC who perhaps could be better dealt with somewhere else. The irony of it is that, if you listen to Mr Stanhope, there are only six of them. I refer to his press release, entitled "Smyth wrong on time-out facility". The absentee Minister for Health has finally managed to put out something on mental health and enter this debate. Although it is two months late, it is welcome.

He says that, of the 35 current referrals to the ACT Forensic Mental Health Service Unit, 29 are out on bail, so there are only six people in the BRC with a mental health problem. That flies in the face of what the community and, for example, the Schizophrenia Fellowship is saying.

On Friday, the Schizophrenia Fellowship put out a document which calls for two facilities in the ACT. One is a short-term time-out facility and the second is a forensic mental health treatment facility. I will come back to that later. I want to refer to their figures, because what they have to say is interesting.

They say that about 15 per cent of people in the BRC suffer from major mental illness. They say about 90 to 100 per cent of people in the BRC have substance use disorders, and 90 to 100 per cent suffer from a large number of personality disorders. More than 50 per cent of detainees meet full criteria for either anti-social or borderline personality disorder, or both. They claim that more than 50 per cent of detainees show some sign of brain damage. They go on to say:

If one were to include the minor mood disorders, anxiety disorders and other personality disorders in with the major mental illness, one reaches a figure in excess of 50%. Adding substance abuse to that mix virtually gives a figure of 100%.

Mr Speaker, here we have evidence, from different groups, that seems to be in conflict. I have no doubt that the officers working in the field of mental health in the ACT do everything they can to look after their clients-and I have to admire them. It is not a field I would be very good at or aspire to work in because I do not think I have the skills for it. Those who do so are deserving not only of our praise, but also of our support.

That is why, when we were in government, we increased the vote to mental health. It went up by something like $1.6 million last year through various programs. I welcome the Chief Minister's announcement that they will put another $1 million into mental health; that is good. But that is what happens when you make up operating losses of $344 million: you can then spend that money on the community.

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