Regional Mental Health Services

The Hon. L.A. CURRAN (15:16): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking a question of the Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development regarding the regions.

Leave granted.

The Hon. L.A. CURRAN: Biosecurity risks present a significant threat to the livelihoods of agricultural producers with many farmers petrified at the thought of exotic animal diseases coming to Australia. My question to the minister is: what additional investment is the Malinauskas Labor government making in mental health services to support farmers at this challenging time, given they are already vulnerable to anxiety and depression as a result of financial pressures and isolation?

The Hon. C.M. SCRIVEN (Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development, Minister for Forest Industries) (15:17): I thank the honourable member for her question. Certainly, mental health issues are a very big challenge, particularly those in the agricultural industry and, indeed, in regional areas more broadly. I will refer the honourable member to our election policies in terms of mental health for a general sense, but in terms of specifically for those within the agricultural sector we have been having conversations with other organisations—NGOs and industry organisations—around this topic. Certainly, there are opportunities, particularly around things like co-location of services, some of which are run by community organisations, with events or activities that are regular, and people who may find assistance useful will be coming to.

For example, when there are livestock sales at saleyards, of course there are going to be people coming to those events, and that is a prime opportunity to be able to actually engage with them rather than people perhaps engaging with services that they perceived to have a stigma by seeking those out. It's an ongoing challenge. It's something that we are right to raise and pay attention to. I will certainly refer for further information to the Minister for Health in the other place. But I'm also very keen to continue discussions and dialogue about how across the community, across industry and across government we can work collectively and constructively to assist people who are facing extreme mental stress often.

I also refer to things like the other support services that can also have an impact, such as the financial support services that are administered through PIRSA. All of them have relevance also to the issue of mental health in regional areas, and particularly in agricultural sectors. Family and Business Support is one of those.