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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 07 Hansard (Wednesday, 30 June 2004) . . Page.. 3058 ..

people living with mental illness is loneliness. It is not simply a question of mental health; it is also a result of the shape of our society.

I think it is worthy of note that there is an alarming and growing increase in the suicide rate of older women. In essence, our social fabric is generally a much thinner one in this increasingly individuated society. So if you are alone personally, you run the risk of social isolation. If you are at home due to age, disability or health, then there will be less support and engagement around you.

The deinstitutionalisation of people with mental or physical disabilities or dysfunctions has basically left people alone to build their own lives and, on occasion, become further trapped in their own diagnosis. Human beings are, in essence, social beings and unwanted isolation can be very damaging. People living with mental dysfunction so often feel that they are stigmatised or rejected by society. The problems of physical isolation and lack of communication with others become compounded by the feeling that there is nowhere to go. I think for many people it is the hopelessness in that lack of connection which hurts them the most. Self-harm and suicidal behaviour can be a product of those processes.

When we come to the point about acknowledging the progress the ACT government has made in addressing mental health issues, I cannot see that we can go overboard. Comments from the field still suggest that there is a shortage of community level support. It is hard to be convinced that there are sufficient caseworkers, that caseworkers do not have too many clients and that those clients or consumers are not suddenly bereft when they lose their caseworkers. Obviously the crisis end of mental health services is crucial—and I would argue that progress appears slow on the major physical and organisational shifts that need to happen at the PSU—nonetheless, it is true that many people do not get support until they strike an acute phase.

There are other key aspects on how we organise ourselves as a society that have an impact on the health and wellbeing of people living with mental dysfunction or illness. For example, the fact that there is no public transport link, no comprehensive or even viable bus service, to Oaks Estate, where a number of people who find themselves quite isolated in other ways are effectively trapped, compounds for them the problems of isolation. There is an alcohol shop there, but no buses. Indeed, transport is one of the key problems if we are talking about loneliness. There is certainly scope for providing more programs that get people out and about. Poverty is a key contributor to these problems. The federal government push to get people off benefits and disability pensions into work is really just a cruel torment for so many people for whom there is no work. Of course, people trapped into this cycle of ill health and isolation want employment. The presumption that they may be dodging work is wrong and unfair in most cases.

I think this debate echoes something of the previous debate. Perhaps we should be looking at investing more in fairly low skilled employment through the public or the community sector. Anything that can lift people a bit above the poverty line and value their contribution to the community will make a real difference. It is not just employment. I know too that arts and cultural projects, if they are substantial, really can affirm for people their place in the world—but not so much if they are one-off projects, rather if they are a part of ongoing cultural development programs. Initiatives such as these would be supported by the social plan, so we can perhaps look forward to them.

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