Page 3837 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 25 September 2019
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job of this type. Over the years in this place, I have spoken on a number of occasions about the challenges of training and retaining Auslan interpreters here in the ACT and the impact the closure of the CIT Auslan course could have. I suspect that over time this challenge of interpreting here in the ACT is going to become greater and greater.
Madam Speaker, we need to provide this much-needed mental health assistance to deaf Canberrans. We need to show them the same respect and dignity that we show to others. We need to recognise that they have every right to expect and receive the same health services as the rest of us. The government should work to reinstate the previously contracted psychologist with Auslan skills to serve the needs of the Canberra community. They should examine how deaf people in the ACT are provided with health and mental health services; examine how their needs can and will be better addressed in the future; and investigate other ways to support our deaf, deafblind and hard of hearing community in the ACT with their mental health and wellbeing.
It is not good enough to say, “We don’t believe there is a gap.” If you went out on the ground and talked to members of the deaf community, you would very quickly find that there is a growing gap and a very deep need for mental health assistance, just as there is across the broader community. We must do everything we can to support Canberrans with mental health concerns.
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) (11.54): I thank Ms Lawder for the motion in today’s Assembly which raises concerns about psychology services for the deaf and deafblind community of Canberra. I will, like Ms Lawder, use the shorter expression.
I assure Ms Lawder and others present today that the ACT Health Directorate, Canberra Health Services, I and the Minister for Disability and other ministers who will speak later in this debate are committed to ensuring that when a deaf person seeks access to mental health services they can have their need met and with a particular awareness in that service provision specific to their needs. In that regard I can ensure the Assembly that our treating teams fully understand that an Auslan interpreter would need to be arranged, that all services have access to an interpreter and that all clinicians are trained to be culturally sensitive and understanding.
The motion addresses some matters about a specific psychologist. I will provide some additional information. Between 2009 and 2017 the ACT Health Directorate supported a specialist to provide psychological services to the deaf community in Canberra. The ACT Health Directorate covered the costs of all disbursements, including out-of-pocket expenses incurred by the specialist, such as transport and room hire, for when she travelled to the ACT to deliver services for two days of every fortnight. On top of the fixed payment from the ACT Health Directorate, the doctor used the space provided to her to bill clients through Medicare and the national disability insurance scheme.
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