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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 07 Hansard (Wednesday, 30 June 2004) . . Page.. 3051 ..

shortfalls. Certainly, one of the more significant initiatives tackling this traditional shortfall has been the impact of educational and awareness campaigns. Organisations such as Beyond Blue and SANE Australia have played a significant role in addressing many of the stigmas surrounding mental illness. SANE Australia, for example, has played an important role as a watchdog, monitoring the portrayal of mental illness in the media. SANE Australia has committed itself to fighting the stigma surrounding mental illness and achieves this by improving the community understanding of it, mainly through its StigmaWatch program.

Over the course of 2003, through the StigmaWatch program, SANE Australia identified an increasing public intolerance of inaccurate and insulting reporting of mental illness, as well as an improved understanding of the harm done by such portrayals. As a consequence, it has also noted an improved sensitivity among health, medical and social affairs journalists as to how they report on mental illness.

SANE Australia is just one organisation among many that have been helpful in addressing many of the stigmas surrounding mental illness and, as such, has contributed largely to changing the community’s consciousness in its perceptions, awareness and tolerance of mental illnesses such as self-harm. The impact of this is not only to reduce stigma. Notably, these campaigns and organisations are also to establish important safety nets in our community. Greater awareness and knowledge are also able to generate a greater confidence and capacity for those in our community not only to identify those who may be suffering with a mental illness but also to intervene and refer such people to appropriate support services for treatment and/or management, as well as offer friendship and support.

The importance of this grassroots network of support has been identified by the Australian National University Centre for Mental Health Research which has established a mental health first aid program working within the ACT and throughout Australia. This program has been designed not only to raise awareness of mental illness but also to equip people with the skills to understand, identify and support those suffering with such illnesses. The more our community is able to identify and reach out to those suffering from mental illnesses such as self-harm, the greater our capacity to manage the extent of mental illness. Importantly, this program has been grounded on world-renowned research into risk factors, causes and management of mental illnesses. This research is crucial and is a key to developing an effective framework to coordinate best practice in treating mental illnesses associated with self-harm.

Self-harm is a complex illness and thus also requires a diverse and comprehensive program for treatment and management. As just mentioned, it is important that we are able to identify those with illnesses, such as self-harm, and refer them to the appropriate support services. However, this is mostly very difficult as self-harming may often live outside the previously mentioned networks of community surveillance and support. Such people often weather their reliance on self-harm themselves. It is therefore encouraging to note the gradual development of such a diverse response to managing self-harm and other mental illnesses. For those reluctant to seek direct help, again the ANU Centre for Mental Health Research has established a “mood gym”. This is a free online service available to all curious about mental illness or, more importantly, those suffering and reluctant to seek direct personal help.

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