Page 2783 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 13 August 2019
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
Delivering wraparound services is an important part of the ACT government’s commitment to mental health, from early intervention to acute care and providing care for people at the right place and at the right time.
As part of this, over $2.2 million is allocated to establishing an eating disorders specialist clinical hub and a community-based intervention support service to expand the range of eating disorder services available in the ACT and make these available to more Canberrans. This initiative follows the release of the ACT government’s eating disorders position statement in October last year. The position statement was developed through a series of stakeholder workshops that examined the current status of eating disorder services in the ACT, the gaps in those services and how best to move forward with evidence-based treatment programs.
Eating disorders are serious illnesses that are often poorly understood, and their impacts underestimated. These diseases cause high levels of psychological distress, and carry a risk of long-term mental and physical illness, an increased risk of premature death due to medical complications, and an increased risk of suicide. This is an initiative that is going to make a huge difference to the people in our community who are affected by eating disorders.
I am pleased to get this work underway. I particularly want to acknowledge, once again, the community partners who helped the ACT government develop the position statement and identify where services were needed and which services would be most effective in addressing the needs of people in the community with eating disorder concerns.
The current budget also provides $457,000 for more support to build the resilience of mental health carers in the ACT. This initiative acknowledges the important proactive role that carers play as part of someone’s journey towards recovery and recognises the stressors and challenges that mental health carers face and the impact that this can have on their own health and wellbeing. It is an initiative that will strengthen the resilience of people who care for people with mental health needs and support their involvement in care and recovery planning. With this funding, Canberra Health Services are recruiting two carer engagement clinicians to pilot a range of support and psychosocial education activities that will build capacity for the families and carers of people with mental health conditions.
Another budget initiative I am pleased to highlight is the $323,000 to undertake planning and design work for a police, ambulance and clinician early response service, known as PACER. This initiative will bring together police, ambulance paramedics and mental health clinicians to focus on designing an integrated service model that will enable our first responders to provide better support for people experiencing acute mental health incidents. This will include consideration of support for safe assessment and treatment of people experiencing acute mental health episodes and help minimise both avoidable hospital presentations and contact with the justice system for people with mental health conditions.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video