Page 213 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 February 2016
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recognise such a situation occurring before their very eyes. So I would like to see us get to the point that we have a “stop, drop and roll” for kids’ mental health and probably a similar response for adults so that we can get out ahead of crisis and know what we are dealing with when it comes.
The issue of suicide prevention and care within our Canberra community has been dealt with here in the Assembly with sensitivity, respect and general agreement across all parties to this point and today I hope my motion will be supported. Back in March 2012 Greens member Amanda Bresnan brought a motion to this Assembly calling for aspirational targets for suicide reduction by 2020 and for a biannual statement on the figures of suicide within the ACT. I am not necessarily advocating very specific targets in a small jurisdiction but I do think that we need to be working towards dealing with despair and mental distress challenges that some in our community face. I think it is vital that we continue to have this conversation.
In late 2014 Ms Gallagher as the health minister presented the suicide statistics for the ACT. Ms Gallagher also committed to a joint research project between the ANU Medical School and ACT Health with a focus on factors contributing to people completing suicide attempts and the health services with which they had been in contact over the five years prior. We are yet to see the outcome of this research but I do hope that when it does come to the Assembly—and perhaps this is a reminder that that is on the way—perhaps we will find a way forward in addressing suicide and creating a preventive strategy. How we provide suitable support for those within our community is important for those who are grappling with the issues or have loved ones grappling with the issues.
The statistics on youth suicide are sometimes alarming. Across Australia for young people in the 15 to 19 years of age bracket there has been an increase of 13 per cent from suicide in 2013 compared to 2012 and I am told the situation is much the same here in Canberra and ongoing in that direction. Between 2001 and 2013 there were more deaths from suicide than there were from car accidents in Canberra.
In my role as shadow minister for mental health I have spoken to many families and friends of those who have been either directly or indirectly impacted by the issue. They tell me of their experiences. One parent explained to me that her daughter recognises that she is extremely unwell and is crying out for help; yet she does not understand why she is not receiving it. She said, “What is it going to take? Most likely her death or the death of countless other teens that desperately need help. We have no facility in Canberra for mentally ill children.” That was her statement. She said that the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service resources are quite stretched and underqualified, in her view, to help. It is only due to her sheer persistence, she says, and willingness to continually battle the medical system that her daughter is still alive.
I was in Canberra Hospital emergency probably about two or three months ago and as I arrived a mother was melting down because she had spent a total of, I think, 20 or 21 hours, she was saying, across two emergency departments, from Calvary to TCH, with her daughter who was threatening to kill herself. I was shocked that it would take two emergency departments and that length of time and the mother was actually getting to the point where she was considering taking her daughter home because she
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