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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 07 Hansard (Wednesday, 30 June 2004) . . Page.. 3053 ..

a monetary cost of 15 per cent to 20 per cent of the federal health budget but continue to receive only seven per cent of the funds available.

This year has been no exception; in fact, it has been difficult to find any mention of mental health in the federal budget at all. The federal government’s failure in this instance to adequately address the shortfalls surrounding issues of self-harm and of mental illness generally leaves Australia lacking in its commitment to combating mental health problems. Additionally, and more significantly, it also does little to bring such issues out of the dark within our community and, therefore, seriously stunts our ability to counter and manage this growing problem at a national level.

Governments at state, territory and federal levels have a pivotal role in addressing the problems associated with mental health and self-harm in our community. As mentioned many times, because of the clandestine nature of this problem, in many cases such issues also fail to receive the political spotlight. Governments therefore have a duty to ensure a continued effort to fighting this problem which indeed requires a matrix of strategies and programs if we are to achieve a sustainable outcome. I have said that we need funding for research into mental health problems, but issues such as self-harm are not resolved purely by throwing money at them.

The shortfalls in the treatment of self-harm can reflect the more serious shortfalls in both the perception and treatment of mental health in our community. In the community, it is paramount that the perception of mental illness, often stigmatised with associations of weakness, be altered to more accurately reflect not only its medical reality but also its prevalence. Without doubt, current media campaigns and research addressing such issues have played a significant role in addressing such shortfalls. However, without directing appropriate mental health resources and training towards such problems, any progress made through, for example, awareness campaigns cannot be developed. Self-harm, along with other mental health issues, continues to be a major concern in our community. Mental illnesses affect one out of every five citizens and require a serious and continued commitment if we are to be able to more effectively manage both their extent and consequence throughout our community.

I commend the motion to the Assembly. This is an important issue. I have talked about how attitudes and perceptions have changed because of the programs that have been conducted within Australia over many years. Mental health is now not a taboo subject, as it used to be. There is still a stigmatised attitude towards it, but it is getting better. We have to be continually vigilant and make the community aware that mental health is an issue for all of us, not just for a select few who can be ignored, locked away or just not dealt with. We can all play a role in raising the awareness of issues such as self-harm and other mental health issues.

MR SMYTH (Leader of the Opposition) (3.41): I congratulate Ms MacDonald for bringing on this motion relating to the management of mental health issues today. Every opportunity should be taken to talk about mental health because, as Ms MacDonald concluded, it should not be a taboo subject. There have been recent national initiatives lately by organisations such as Beyond Blue, and Jeff Kennett, a prominent former politician, has said that he has suffered from mental health problems. The only way we can minimise the impact of mental health issues on the community and on individuals, I suspect, is to talk about it. So, well done to Ms MacDonald for bringing on the motion.

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