Page 4525 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 31 October 2018
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which mental health patients presenting at the emergency department have been able to escape onto the roof, threatening to jump off. There have been many cautionary tales from around Australia which we should take to heart to ensure that we do not replicate those issues. We should not be in the situation that we have seen recently in Victoria and Western Australia; we should be learning from their experiences as well.
A couple of weeks ago, the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine hosted a summit in Melbourne looking at mental health in the emergency department. I was not able to attend that summit, but a member of my staff did attend the summit, and it was a fantastic learning experience both for him and for the rest of the office. The outcome of the summit was seven key principles for which the college will advocate. I encourage the Minister for Mental Health to look at what transpired at that summit, read the communique which outlines the principles and start a conversation with the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine about what needs to be done.
In many ways the Canberra Hospital is ahead of the game in how it manages mental health, with its standalone mental health facility inside accident and emergency, but there are still considerable problems with bed block and people being in that area.
Madam Assistant Speaker, could I seek leave to continue my remarks for a couple of minutes?
MADAM ASSISTANT SPEAKER (Ms Cody): Is leave granted?
Mr Rattenbury: Grudgingly.
MRS DUNNE: Sorry, I thought this was going to be a motion that was taken in good faith, but I apologise for my anticipation of that.
There is a lot of work to be done and there is a lot of direction that the government can take in this space, because no one person and no one organisation is the sole repository of knowledge. I do not want us to be in the situation that we have seen, as I have said before, in relation to Victoria and Western Australia in recent days, and I hope that we never see such appalling situations in the Canberra Hospital emergency department.
This motion carries a quite simple message. It is looking for more transparent government, a government that is willing to share information, both good and bad, so that we can work together to provide better mental health services for our citizens. It is looking for a government that has an open mind to achieving outcomes for the people of our community who need help and a closed mind to the dominance of bureaucratic processes and red tape. It calls for the government to get out in front of the challenges and not stand behind them. I commend the motion and anticipate a good outcome to this motion for the benefit of the people of the ACT.
MR RATTENBURY (Kurrajong—Minister for Climate Change and Sustainability, Minister for Corrections and Justice Health, Minister for Justice, Consumer Affairs and Road Safety and Minister for Mental Health) (11.39): I am pleased to again have
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