Page 215 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 February 2018
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community-based mental health supports for vulnerable people, including $3 million to support children and young people’s mental health; and $2.9 million towards the development and rollout of the office for mental health.
Mrs Dunne makes an important point: there is a particular need for supports for children and young people. Mrs Kikkert has followed through in making that same point. The government is responding to that need. We know that half of all lifetime cases of mental illness begin by age 14, which is why early intervention and access to mental health support services for children and young people are vital. That is why the government continues to provide support for these important services.
One example is the recent allocation of $100,000 to Menslink. I was pleased that Mrs Kikkert is supportive of that, because I think it is a really good program. This will provide two additional counsellors, allowing them to expand their services to boys in the 10 to 12-year age group. I was very pleased that the ACT government was able to step in to provide this money to Menslink in a partnership. To be fair, they are putting money on the table as well. This is a co-funded model. They came to the government and said, “We have identified a new need. We think we have got a solution.” We have been able to jump in and respond to that with an innovative new program that I think will make a real difference.
In terms of Mrs Kikkert’s question of where they will go, the very purpose of the Menslink program is to intervene early to avoid escalation. That is the whole point here. Some will need escalation. There is no doubt about that. The child and adolescent mental health service is a key referral point for Menslink. That is how this has been set up. I am pleased with that model and I am pleased that Mrs Kikkert noticed. I welcome her support for that program. I think Menslink are doing a good job, because this is a challenging space. We know that parents, schools and service providers are seeing people come forward younger and younger. This is a response to that.
We have also expanded access to our child and adolescent public mental health services with the CAMS consultation and liaison service at the Canberra Hospital now providing services seven days a week. Previously it was five. That has taken effect in the past two months. The service can now provide specialist mental health assessments on weekends for young people aged five to 18 years who are already admitted to the paediatric ward or who present to the emergency department. This means that young people no longer have to be seen by the adult mental health service on the weekends.
Because we know that people need mental health services at all stages in life, we have just expanded the perinatal mental health consultation service with specialised psychiatric clinics that have been increased from one day to three days a week, as well as providing an outreach service with the West Belconnen Child and Family Centre.
The government is committed to continuing to invest in and improve our mental health system. It is also worth pointing out the extent to which mental health is a whole community issue. We know that we need to work with other parts of government. That is what we will continue to do.
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