Page 1472 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 28 March 2012
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
I note that the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs report The hidden toll: suicide in Australia recommends that, as part of a national strategy with state and territory and local governments for suicide prevention, the commonwealth set an aspirational target for the reduction of suicide, and this is not necessarily in line with setting a specific jurisdictional target for a place as small as the ACT.
However, I will take the advice of the Ministerial Advisory Council on Mental Health. I chair those meetings, I think, every two months. It might be three months. It is between two and three months. I think there is one due within the next six weeks or so. I am very happy to discuss the target, whether it should be aspirational, what target should be put in, what they feel about the target, how we report against that target and some of the issues about timing there. I am very happy to consult with them and come back to the Assembly on that by the end of 2012. Indeed, I will be able to update and include information about available services and support in that.
I have outlined my view on it. I think we should have consulted about whether or not a target for the ACT was the right thing, but we will move forward on that. The government will be happy to support Mr Hanson’s revised amendment, which he will move shortly. I think it is worth acknowledging the important role that local community groups and mental health workers play in suicide prevention in the ACT. It is a very difficult job, often a very traumatic job. Certainly all the people that I know that work in this area are first-rate people doing a first-rate job.
MR HANSON (Molonglo) (5.44): I rise today in support of Ms Bresnan’s motion and echo the sentiments and the comments of the Chief Minister. It is somewhat unusual that a motion in this place receives such unanimous support. It is very encouraging, I think, and shows that this is a very important issue that each of us strives to address.
The only thing I would say is that I have invited a couple of guests in to observe the chamber today. I have promised that it is very combative, that we are always at each other’s throats. So they are probably sitting there a little surprised and not dismayed, I am sure. I would like to beg the Assembly’s indulgence to note the presence of Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Herbert and Warrant Officer Class 1 Tom Byrne, both of whom served with me in Iraq. It is good that they can come in here and see us working together on an issue and they will just have to forgo the combative stuff that normally happens. They will need to come to question time for that.
Getting back to this motion, it is indeed a serious motion. One of the most concerning things I discovered today when I undertook research on the internet is that, when I typed in the word “suicide” on Google, that search engine automatically brought up the most common search terms and disturbingly the most common search term in relation to suicide was methods—not prevention, not reduction, but methods.
This is just another example of why it is important that we discuss this motion today in the Assembly. We need to raise awareness about suicide and its devastating effects. We need to raise awareness of where people can seek help and we need to reduce the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video