Page 2115 - Week 07 - Thursday, 20 August 2020
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With the time I have available today I cannot speak to the many matters that we have canvassed in the platform we have put forward or to all the parts of Mr Pettersson’s motion. But I do want to turn to the issue of mental health and drug use, because I well understand that there is a clear and well-evidenced link between substance abuse and mental health, both as a causal factor and a co-occurring health issue.
We believe that alcohol and drug services are also often on the front line of mental health support and vice versa, and both sectors need ongoing resourcing to improve integrated responses. We believe that this includes increased support and referral pathways away from the criminal justice system for people with comorbidity, opportunities for cross-sectoral professional development and information-sharing, and greater awareness in the community of the complexities of supporting people with these co-occurring issues.
We need both our health and our justice systems to provide better integrated services whereby mental health issues and drug dependency can be treated concurrently and holistically. Services must bring together diagnosis, treatment, care, rehabilitation and healthcare promotion to ensure that those experiencing comorbidity can learn the management and recovery skills necessary to remain well and reduce risks.
The other overarching comment I would like to make today is one about resourcing for the sector. For a long time now, the alcohol and drug service providers, those who work in the advocacy space in Canberra, particularly ATODA, the Alcohol, Tobacco and Other Drug Association of the ACT, have been calling for increased investment in vital services. ATODA has done it on behalf of its 23 member organisations that provide treatment and services. It is time to listen to those calls. If, as a community, we want to be able to respond to the needs of people who seek support, treatment and rehabilitation in a timely way then we have to put our money where it counts: in the community.
The Greens support ATODA’s calls for an immediate baseline funding boost to double the annual funding for drug and alcohol treatment services to $40 million a year in the ACT, reducing long wait times for rehabilitation and detoxification services. This will fund therapeutic support services, including inpatient beds, and improve existing infrastructure.
When somebody decides that they need support and treatment, they need to be able to get that treatment straightaway. They cannot go onto a waiting list. When people have that moment of personal clarity that some people will have then that is the time when they need to get the support. We have long discussed in this place the idea that you cannot force someone to do something they are not ready for, but when they are ready they certainly need to get the support they need.
I welcome this motion in the Assembly. I welcome the tenor of the debate. It does give me some hope. It has not always been the tenor of the debate in this place, but it does prove to me that evidence-based policy ultimately wins through. You cannot keep ignoring the evidence. This motion today reflects the fact that the evidence has finally started to register. I think it is very promising.
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