SUICIDE PREVENTION

Mr SIBBONS (Mitchell) (14:15): My question is to the Minister for Health and Ageing. Can the minister update the house about a new strategy to address the issues of suicide in South Australia and how it compares to other recent announcements in this area?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Ageing, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Arts) (14:16): I thank the member for Mitchell for this question. Suicide is an issue which everyone would feel is a matter of great seriousness and should be focused on by not only government but the whole community. Many of us, I know, have experienced friends or family members, in some cases, who have taken their own lives, and nothing could be more devastating in a family than that experience. To know that someone you loved and cared for deeply has ended their own life and you were not able to do anything to help them—you may in fact not have known that they were suffering from such depression that they would contemplate that step—is something I think all of us are deeply concerned about.

As a government, we wanted to take an appropriate look at the policy area, and I asked my department a year or so ago to develop some strategy in this area. We wanted to put in place a well-thought-out strategy that was developed in consultation with those who deal with this issue—particularly government agencies, non-government agencies, local councils, public and private schools, South Australia Police, the Ambulance Service, general practitioners, universities, churches, carers, mental health consumers, people related to those who have taken their own lives, and of course the general public.

The development of that policy has been a priority over the past 12 months and extensive consultation has occurred right across South Australia, including 350 people who attended forums in 12 metropolitan and country locations. This process revealed there is a vast array of services already available in the community that are either directly or indirectly working with people who are contemplating ending their own lives. It was evident that the coordination of these services was more critical to South Australia than just injecting more services into the system. There are a lot of services there, but they do not link with each other.

The feedback received on the draft strategy included 400 responders to the online survey and 18 written submissions and provided the necessary information for consideration by the South Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Committee, which was established in April this year to oversee the development and implementation of the strategy. This committee comprises representatives from government, non-government, business and academia, as well as consumers, based on skill, expertise, lived experiences and their ability to influence suicide prevention initiatives in the community. I have met with the group and it is a great group of people.

The strategy that has been developed, which I released today on the website of SA Health, has seven goals that encompass a whole-of-community response to this issue. There are specific strategies for groups of people who are particularly vulnerable, including children and youth, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, men and older persons. In the 2012-13 financial year, we have provided $530,000 plus to a range of services targeted at increasing awareness about mental health and suicide risk in our community. So, I think this is a bit of solid work.

I note that the opposition put out a statement last week, and I congratulate them for having an interest in this area. It is harder, I guess, in opposition to develop a comprehensive policy, but I think they could have done better than three or four dot points they had on a single sheet of paper. They could have, for example, consulted with the shadow minister for health about this issue—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order, member for Stuart.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mr VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN: Standing order 98. It is a great shame for the minister to be debating on such an important, sensitive issue.

The SPEAKER: Order! Thank you, you have made your point of order. Minister, have you finished your answer?

The Hon. J.D. HILL: No, I haven't, Madam Speaker. I was actually asked to compare our policy with other statements last week, and that's what I was doing. I am sorry the opposition doesn't like that, but that is what we are doing in here—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Point of order.

Mr WILLIAMS: Point of order, Madam Speaker. Just because a Dorothy Dixer is couched in terms 'to invite debate' it does not give the minister freedom to debate. The standing orders are quite clear that question time is about asking and receiving information; it is not about debate.

The SPEAKER: Thank you. There was a bit of debate in that point of order. Minister, you do not have very much time left.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: No, I'm sorry, Madam Speaker, but I was trying to answer the question that I was properly asked. I now look forward to the implementation and positive impact of our new suicide prevention strategy and continue to work towards delivering 251 additional mental health beds and places across our state, with the commonwealth government, including a brand-new mental health and substance abuse hospital at Glenside. People in immediate distress or those concerned about another person can call the statewide telephone support line on 13 14 65. I would invite the opposition to consider this comprehensive report and make some additions to their beginnings in this area. I do congratulate them for having some thoughts on this issue.