Page 219 - Week 01 - Thursday, 11 February 2016
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In the ACT we are lucky to have Headspace ACT, child and adolescent mental health services, a range of non-government providers in generalist youth services, and homelessness, education and care and protection sectors who all play an essential role in supporting young people, often up to 25 years of age, who may be struggling with anxiety, borderline personality problems and depression or other common mental health concerns.
Perhaps the most obvious missing piece in our fairly well-established collection of service responses to these issues is a stand-alone youth-specific mental health unit as an adjunct to the existing mental health unit, which I understand provides the best possible support it can under the circumstances that are available to them to those under 18-year-olds who do present.
There is a range of other areas where I am sure there is room for improvement in the way we coordinate services, and certainly a committee like this is a very good opportunity to hear from a range of witnesses, to have them come before the Assembly and share with members their experiences and observations from the front line of where things do work. I am sure there are many things that do work and occasions where things do not work, and I think the value of a committee like this is to look at the both the positives—things that can perhaps be rolled out even further— and those areas where there are problems.
Certainly in the education portfolio for which I have now taken responsibility we are seeing a marked increase in students with a medical diagnosis of anxiety, depression and schizophrenia, and the directorate is seeking to respond with better training and support to teachers and school communities through programs such as mindmatters and enhanced screening tools.
I think the ACT is well placed to be a leader in reducing suicide and self-harm incidents with our solid approach to cross-sector collaboration and linked-up thinking, as evidenced by the new step up for our kids approach to care and protection and the blueprint for better services work being led by CSD but with input from all directorates. In plain English—we are a small town and we should be able to sort these things out in a relatively small community.
The key to this inquiry being successful then will rely on whole-of-government understanding and coordination to ensure our funded services are meeting the needs of young people at the right time, in the right places and for the right length of time. In relation to funding, I will particularly look forward to the committee’s report on the impact of the new commonwealth directions and the allocation of resources and coordination powers to the local primary healthcare networks and the broader national conversations about the need for specific service targets for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people.
Youth self-harm and suicide, while at times linked, can be quite separate issues for many young people. As far as services on the front lines are concerned, in terms of clinical interventions they often require a differentiated response. This is something
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