Murray Bridge Mental Health and Disability Services

The Hon. S.W. KEY (Ashford) (14:31): My question is directed to the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Minister, can you update the house on the current mental health and disability services in Murray Bridge?

The Hon. L.A. VLAHOS (Taylor—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (14:31): I thank the member for her question. On Monday, as part of the state cabinet meeting in Murray Bridge, I had the pleasure of meeting with local representatives in the mental health sector and visiting a number of disability service providers in the town. It was a pleasure to convene a mental health round table at the Murray Bridge Soldiers' Memorial Hospital that included hospital representatives as well as representatives from Drug and Alcohol Services South Australia and headspace Murray Bridge.

A number of matters were discussed during this meeting. It was great to hear some of the real positive contributions and actions that are being undertaken in the local area to improve the way in which care is provided to mental health consumers. During this round table, we also discussed some of the challenges associated with living with a mental illness in a regional community. As I am sure the member for Hammond recognises, this includes the social stigma surrounding people living with mental illness and how we dissuade other members of the local community from not seeking assistance.

Another matter that was also raised was the issue of culturally and linguistically diverse communities and some of the difficulties that the community in Murray Bridge and the Riverland face in accessing mental health services. I also had the opportunity of visiting two newly built houses in Murray Bridge where people with a disability are living.

It was a pleasure to have afternoon tea with Mark and Gordon, as well as the caring Life Without Barriers team, in their new homes. It was fantastic to talk with them. I had the opportunity to partake of their cooking and they showed me around their new homes. They were so excited to be living in their new premises. They had been there for just under a year. They shared their life stories with me, and what a profound difference a home had made in their lives. It had transformed the lives of these two men since moving into this new residential setting.

It was clear that both Mark and Gordon were enjoying the independence of living with and helping people in that team to cook, clean, shop and budget for themselves for the first time in their lives, as well as undertaking other daily tasks. I would like to personally thank Mark and Gordon for hosting me in their home as well as thank their carers and the caring team at Life Without Barriers for the amazing contribution they are providing in the local community at Murray Bridge and the level of care and independence they are growing in these two men.

I also had the opportunity to visit with Glenn Rappensberg from Novita and the mother of a client who had also recently moved into a newly built long-term residential care facility in the town. It was incredible to hear from the mother of this man about the difference it had made to her son and about the experience of his own development and wellbeing. It was a profoundly different story from both her and her son and how she dealt with living with someone with a disability and how he was growing by having his own independence.

I look forward to visiting more of our amazing service providers across rural and regional South Australia in the coming months to see the amazing difference they make to people's lives.