Bills

Suicide Prevention Bill

Introduction and First Reading

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (10:33): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to reduce the incidence of deaths by suicide in this state, to establish the Suicide Prevention Council, to provide for the preparation and implementation of plans to prevent suicide in the state, to encourage the training of persons and organisations in suicide prevention and postvention, and for other purposes. Read a first time.

Second Reading

Mr PICTON (Kaurna) (10:34): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Sadly, all of us in this chamber, and likely everybody in the South Australian community, know the impact of suicide on one of our friends, one of our loved ones or people in our community. It has an awful, everlasting impact upon everybody in the community. We need to do everything we possibly can to prevent the incidence of suicide, to make sure that people can be supported and get the help that they need. We have a role to play in the parliament and in the government to make sure that we are doing everything we possibly can to prioritise this very important issue.

Sadly, we know that suicide is the leading cause of death for South Australians aged between 15 and 44 years—the leading cause of death. We know that the preliminary data available from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare from 2019 shows that 251 South Australians were registered as lost to suicide. That was up, sadly, from 212 people the previous year. That is the highest number in recent memory.

Those 251 South Australians are a huge loss to all their communities, to all their families and to all their friends, and one that will leave an everlasting impact. We need to do everything we possibly can as a society, as a health system, as a government, as a parliament, to prevent any more of those suicides from occurring. Sadly, we know that more have happened since 2019. We do know that the reporting is significantly delayed in this area, which is one of the reasons why we need to take action.

This has been an area in which a member of parliament in the other place has devoted his career to undertaking a huge amount of work. I would like to pay tribute to the work of the Hon. John Dawkins MLC, who is President of the Legislative Council, somebody who up until recently was in the Liberal Party, and I think everybody on all sides has tremendous respect for the work he has done. Not just for a short period of time in recent years but over a long period of time, he has devoted his career and a huge amount of his work in this parliament to raising the issues of suicide prevention.

Of course, he recently held the position as the first Premier's Advocate for Suicide Prevention, a role he relished, a role in which he spent a huge amount of time visiting communities across South Australia and helping to establish suicide prevention councils and committees and networks across South Australia so that people could identify local solutions, local ways of promoting mental health and wellbeing, and help to prevent further tragedies from occurring.

Unfortunately, he is no longer in that position. It was one year ago this week that the government removed him from that position, as there were all sorts of political hijinks that occurred, but I think it is very sad that he is no longer in that position. In fact, it was the same day that he was removed from that position that he received a national award from the Hon. Greg Hunt, the federal health minister, for his work in suicide prevention, and it was also World Suicide Prevention Day, which is of course being held this Friday.

One of the key things the Hon. John Dawkins worked on in the time he was the Premier's Advocate for Suicide Prevention was this legislation. I know how important it was to him and also how important it was to the council that he established, to the suicide prevention networks across the state, that this legislation be pursued in the parliament so that we can have not only a legal marker but also some very established pathways, some very established mechanisms within our government, to make sure we do everything we can to prevent suicide.

Unfortunately, this bill has been on go-slow since then. The bill was drafted before John Dawkins left that position. John Dawkins did all the work in terms of this legislation. It was ready to go, to be announced, to be introduced. The government then decided to put it out for another round of consultation. They had already consulted with the council and with various suicide prevention networks across the state, but they put it out for another round of consultation in December last year.

It is now nine months since that piece of legislation was circulated. I believe the consultation on it ended back in February, and there has been no effort to pursue it and to introduce it into the parliament. That is why we have had to do this today. This is the first time that a parliament in Australia has had legislation introduced to establish suicide prevention legislation. That is happening here in South Australia this morning.

The submissions in response to the discussion paper closed on 12 February 2021, and the government has failed to introduce the bill in the seven months since that time. With only 14 sitting days left, we have to introduce this into the parliament now to make sure that we can get some debate, some consideration of this before the election.

The bill aims to create a longer term focus on suicide prevention efforts across government and the broader South Australian community. It further aims to facilitate the monitoring systems and data gathering needed to ensure suicide prevention policies are properly targeted and achieving results. It will establish the suicide prevention council to provide oversight on suicide prevention efforts. The council will comprise a member of parliament to preside over the council; a number of senior health and other positions, including the Chief Public Health Officer, and of course we know that the current person providing a great service in that role is Professor Nicola Spurrier; and 13 members with relevant skills and lived experience to benefit the council.

The discussion paper released in December last year suggested that expressions of interest be sought from a broad range of individuals to fill these 13 member positions. That approach is supported and that is why we are continuing it in this legislation. The council will be tasked with the development and rollout of the state suicide prevention plan.

The state plan will require government departments to develop suicide prevention plans, making sure our Public Service is well equipped to assist in providing intervention and support to those South Australians at risk of attempting suicide. Importantly, the state plan is required to have a specific section dedicated to suicide prevention efforts in Aboriginal communities in consultation with those communities. The bill requires annual reporting on the state plan and that a review of the plan is instituted every four years.

In addition to developing and implementing the state suicide prevention plan, the council will be tasked with a number of additional functions, including providing advice to the minister on suicide prevention initiatives and programs. The bill, importantly, includes that the council must be given the staff and resources it needs to carry out its functions. It further allows the Governor, on the recommendation of the health minister, to declare certain methods or means as controlled lethal means, then enabling recommendations to be made to respond to those controlled lethal means. Any noncompliance with those recommendations can then be made public.

The bill further requires the creation of a suicide prevention register, a database to provide accurate and timely information on suicide. This is a very important point because South Australia is the only state in the country that now does not have a suicide register. That is very important for making sure that we have a timely response to this awful issue of suicide in our community, for government departments to take action and for researchers and for the community to understand the issues.

As I said before, at the moment we have a very delayed release of statistics in terms of the incidence of suicide in South Australia compared with other states that have regular reporting on that and also more detailed information that government departments and officials are able to access through that register. A register has been called for by many groups, including the current President of the Australian Medical Association, Dr Michelle Atchison, who said, 'Data informs decisions, and good data means good decisions.' Renowned mental health expert Professor Patrick McGorry has similarly called for the establishment of such a registry; in fact, he has called for a national register. In expressing his frustration about delays to suicide data last year he said:

It's a bit like lights coming from distant stars: it's reflecting the past not the current reality. Of course, that's not much use in responding to suicide.

So establishing that register is absolutely important to make sure that our government departments and our health officials know exactly what is going on. It is disappointing that we are the last place in the country to establish this, and that is why it is so important to get this legislation moving.

This bill is an important step in the right direction. It will ultimately establish those key mechanisms of the council, of the need for a state plan, for individual government department plans and also, importantly, for that register, which will make sure that we have much more dedicated information on the current status for our key decision-makers.

I do not think that any one of us can overlook the fact that, particularly in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important that we make sure that every possible resource is put in place to help people with their mental health and wellbeing at what can be a very difficult time for many people in our community. We know that right around the country there have been additional strains on our mental health services, and South Australia has been consistent with that. We need to make sure that we can do everything we possibly can, and this bill is a key mechanism for doing that.

It is not just the legislation that needs to happen. We do need to make sure that it is followed through by listening to the council, not only by putting those plans in place that are going to have a meaningful impact but also by making sure that the services and supports are going to be available for people when they desperately need them. It is important to note that World Suicide Prevention Day and RU OK? Day are this week. I would encourage everybody to speak with their local communities, their friends and families to make sure that we are checking on our loved ones, our friends and our neighbours to ensure we can all play our part to help prevent suicide.

It does take the government to play a leadership role. It is unfortunate that the great work done by the Hon. John Dawkins MLC has not been followed up on over the past nine months. Hopefully, in the remaining 14 sitting days of this parliament we can consider this legislation, enact these important proposals and, hopefully, have bipartisan support from the government as well to make sure that we can put in place that great work the Hon. John Dawkins has started to have a long-lasting impact and to make sure that we can protect and look after our fellow South Australians and help to prevent more tragedies of suicide happening in South Australia.

Debate adjourned on motion of Dr Harvey.