MENTAL HEALTH (REPEAL OF HARBOURING OFFENCE) AMENDMENT BILL

Second Reading

Adjourned debate on second reading.

(Continued from 26 May 2010.)

The Hon. T.A. JENNINGS (20:05): I rise to conclude my comments on the Mental Health (Repeal of Harbouring Offence) Amendment Bill. I said at this time that I would be bringing the voices of carers to this debate. It is a voice that was not heard in context when the original amendments that became section 105 were first moved. As many members here would know, there were many years of discussion and consultation regarding the new Mental Health Act which is set to take effect next Thursday. However, this particular amendment to include a harbouring offence in that act was never the subject of community consultation.

Thank you to those members who attended a briefing in this place today on the bill. In particular, special thanks to the head of Carers SA, Rosemary Warmington, and the head of the Mental Health Coalition of South Australia, Mr Geoff Harris, who attended that briefing and spoke to interested members.

I will share just one story from a carer; that is, a woman who has a sister with a bipolar disorder. Her official diagnosis came only four years ago, and that woman's parents and siblings would say that there has always been something about her that, at times, made her difficult to understand. She was, however, never difficult to love. She has a generosity beyond compare and a great sense of compassion for others. She is intelligent and articulate, she holds a university degree; and this carer considers herself very fortunate to have a sister with bipolar disorder in her life.

She has been an invaluable support at times as a sister, but when her diagnosis finally came, after she suffered acutely from the disorder for about 10 years, she had already been placed on a lengthy treatment order. During the 10 years that she remained undiagnosed, she was treated for everything from schizophrenia to borderline personality disorder. She was prescribed a vast array of medications, all with various forms of side effects, some of which have been quite severe and permanent.

When manic, this woman's sister becomes obsessive and compulsive. Their parents have often been called at all hours of the day and night, while the sister has been requested by the police to provide family assistance to calm her down. That family has seen many psychiatrists during her treatment orders and visited her in almost every single public institution for mental health patients in Adelaide.

Mental health professionals across the board have expressed concerns about the lack of resources, funding, expertise and so on to adequately care for mental health patients. This woman writes that she has seen this take a huge toll on her parents, and it must be very difficult for any parent to see their child suffer this way.

During the time that this woman's sister has remained undiagnosed, she was detained on too many occasions to count. She often talked of suicide, but, thankfully, she has never undertaken that course of action and she has always turned to family at times like these so that they can talk to her and get her the support she needs. She has also made many attempts to escape or abscond from detention. This woman says, 'I hope in some way that this is because of the level of support she receives from her family and friends when she does so.'

The one thing that this woman can say with absolute surety is that, at the height of her sister's illness, strong-armed tactics of the law do nothing to help her sister. Her sister is not a law breaker; she is sick. Armed police have gone to her home to detain her and this terrifies her because, in her mind, these people are out to do her harm. I would say that it does not take mental illness to feel those emotions when police are breaking into your house to detain you. These officers are rarely trained to deal with mental health patients, which is no fault of their own, and often respond to her as though a criminal and she has often been handcuffed and put in a paddy wagon.

The sister does not blame the police as they are not trained to deal with mentally ill people, but they are trained to deal with lawbreakers. I would at this stage urge that we need more training for our police forces and other professionals in dealing with people with lived experience of mental illness. This woman writes:

If my sister were ever to escape detention I hope she comes straight to me but I believe if the new harbouring law remains in place it would deter people like my sister from going to family and friends [or myself]. Mentally ill or not they love and trust the people they turn to for support at the worst times [without a level of trust] and the harbouring law [clause in this new Mental Health Act] will destroy that trust.

This woman writes that she understands that:

...sometimes people escape [or abscond from] detention and do terrible things including committing suicide but how many more terrible things would happen if people believed they had nowhere to turn to for support?

At this point I should note that these family members are often the only people that somebody with a mental illness who is absconding from detention has left in their life to turn to for support. She continues:

Most people who have a loved one with mental illness only want what's best for them. We work with an inadequate mental health system [at the moment] to try and get them the best possible treatment. We already call crisis health professionals and police if we need to before our loved ones are detained and we would continue to do this if they escaped detention.

However, we do not need this harbouring offence hanging over our heads. The woman goes on to say:

Writing it down makes it sound like having a sister with a mental illness is something we deal with easily but it's not. In reality these times are very traumatic and difficult for all of our family But I think how much worse it would be for my sister to be 'dobbed in' by me and for my children to have to witness their aunt being dragged out by police knowing I caused this to happen. And then thinking that she would never turn to me for help again is just too distressing to contemplate. If you ask me would I be prepared to pay a fine or go to jail to help my sister—I would like to say I would do it without a second thought. But if I get fined or go to jail where would that leave my partner and children?

This law makes caring a crime in an area that needs all the carers it can get. Please get rid of it. There are so many better ways to help families deal with their mentally ill loved ones.

On that note, I commend this bill to the council.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. I.K. Hunter.