Page 1266 - Week 05 - Thursday, 4 June 2020
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system. They are the sorts of figures that, in other jurisdictions such as Victoria, have led to the authorities saying that perhaps they need to have a closer look at their mental health system.
In the past, I have been contacted by constituents or representatives of constituents who have been discharged into homelessness, which Mr Rattenbury says does not happen. I raised these concerns in the 2017-18 annual report hearings. Ms Le Couteur raised concerns during the same hearings about people with mental health concerns being released to Safe Shelter, which, as you know, Mr Assistant Speaker, is just about the same as being released into homelessness.
Finally, the data that I state in my motion is from past years. I understand that with the events from this year—namely, the bushfire, COVID-19 and the prospect of recession—there has been a significant increase in presentation to the adult mental health unit. In hearings last week, the COVID committee heard firsthand from the minister and officials about the pressure that we are experiencing in the COVID period.
In our mental health system, the myriad of reports and the myriad of issues that have arisen—deaths, discharge into inappropriate facilities, the heart-wrenching reports that we have seen run by the ABC recently, and issues that have been raised in the education inquiry into youth mental health—show a system that is in crisis. The psychiatrists tell us that there is a crisis. The College for Emergency Medicine tells us that there is a crisis.
My motion today tries to find a way out of this. We can talk about it or we can do something about it. We can address the crisis. We can stop the revolving door. We can drill down, find answers, look to the future and fix barriers in our mental health system that confront some of the most vulnerable people in our community.
An amendment has been circulated. I thank Mr Rattenbury for the courtesy of circulating it early and drawing it to my attention. The Liberal opposition will not be able to support the amendment because it completely guts the motion and takes away the principal thrust of the motion, which is to establish a Human Rights Commission inquiry into our mental health system.
I call on the government to recognise that they have a problem, to recognise that this is a crisis, to stop making excuses, to support the motion, and to have the Human Rights Commission inquire into this most important part of our life.
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) (4.15): I rise to speak in response to the motion brought forward by Mrs Dunne. There are a number of issues in Mrs Dunne’s motion which, I believe, need to be clarified. I will shed some light on the many reviews and improvements that have been underway to improve our mental health system.
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