SUICIDE PREVENTION

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:40): Will the minister consider the role that a community based program such as CORES (Community Response to Eliminating Suicide) could play in circumstances such as those described by the Hon. Mr Hood and, in particular, in complementing the resources described by the minister?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for Environment and Conservation, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister Assisting the Minister for Health) (15:40): I have answered this question several times, not once but many times before in this chamber. I have already said here very clearly that the CORES program in South Australia is an initiative which, as we know, was developed and implemented, I think, in Tasmania.

I have already outlined the wide range of suicide prevention initiatives that we have put in place, and I have already outlined several times in this chamber an almost identical community suicide prevention education program, the first aid program that we already fund and have funded for some time. This model was put together by Margaret Tobin and incorporates the principles that underpin CORES.

The answer to the question, as I have repeated a number of times in this council, is that we already do it and, what is more, we do much more as well. Ours is a multipronged approach to suicide prevention. We do not believe that focusing attention on just one strategy is the way to go. We already have a community based program, so we already do it and much more.