Page 4728 - Week 13 - Thursday, 28 November 2019
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Mental health services for the deaf and deafblind community
Ministerial statement
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) (11.04): Pursuant to my commitment in response to a resolution of this Assembly on 25 September this year, I rise to make the following statement on mental health services for deaf, deafblind and hearing impaired Canberrans. We know that in Australia vulnerable groups within our community are more likely to experience poor mental health and unfortunately are likely to experience worse outcomes as a result.
In the case of the deaf community, this is due not only to the challenges of engaging in a hearing world but also due to communication challenges posed by limited use of Auslan, the official Australian sign language, by professionals of all kinds. This is compounded by a reliance on a limited pool of skilled interpreters and perhaps a lessened understanding that deafness is not just about being unable to hear but also is a unique and proud cultural identity for many deaf Canberrans.
Since September this year the ACT Health Directorate and my office have consulted with key stakeholders in the ACT community, including organisations, deaf and deafblind people, to discuss the concerns and experiences of this community. I would also like to make it clear from the outset that while some conversations have been had, our engagement with the community on this issue is ongoing. Even as I make this statement, more meetings are scheduled to seek the views of stakeholders, advocacy groups and deaf Canberrans. This will inform ongoing work towards identifying and minimising gaps in mental health service access for the deaf community.
I would like to acknowledge the challenges that have been shared during the past two months and recognise the frustration felt by the deaf community following the withdrawal of an individual provider from the ACT. It is with these challenges in mind that I want to work towards a system that recognises and celebrates the cultural identity of the deaf community through proactive strategies that create equally accessible services and a system that is not reliant upon individual providers to ensure access.
It is clear from discussions with deaf Canberrans and from speaking with key organisations such as the Deaf Society and the ACT Deafness Resource Centre that the issues impacting deaf Canberrans are manifold. As such, I would like to speak about each issue separately to ensure that they are recorded in this Assembly and to voice my commitment to continuing this work with the deaf community into the future. Some matters will be able to be addressed quickly while others reflect the challenges experienced by deaf people across Australia and the world. These will take more time. We will, however, work toward them all the same.
Firstly, I would like to talk about the impact felt by deaf Canberrans as a result of supporting each other. As you would be aware, Madam Assistant Speaker, when people feel depressed, anxious or experience other mental illnesses, one of the first
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