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House of Assembly - Fifty-First Parliament, Third Session (51-3)
2009-05-12 Daily Xml
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MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES

Ms THOMPSON (Reynell) (14:42): My question is to the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse. Can the minister inform the house on the government's progress in implementing the recommendations of the Stepping Up report?

The Hon. J.D. LOMAX-SMITH (Adelaide—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for Tourism, Minister for the City of Adelaide) (14:42): I thank the member for Reynell for her question because, in this time of economic uncertainty, it is important to reiterate the Rann government's commitment to reforming mental health, and that is about reinvesting, rebuilding and reinvigorating our mental health system. I will restate our investment of $250 million to reforming our mental health services and implementing the recommendations of the Stepping Up report that was handed down by the Social Inclusion Board in 2007.

The Rann government will continue to work closely with Monsignor Cappo, and also the board, to ensure that this reform plan is rolled out as quickly as possible. Our investment will provide a state-of-the-art mental health hospital at Glenside, as well as extra mental health services to be based closer to people's homes so people can access them without having to travel to central Adelaide. I know that to have treatment, rehabilitation and support close to people's homes is an issue that the member for Reynell has felt strongly about for some time, because there is nothing more disruptive and debilitating for a family than to have to travel for treatment, to be separated from their loved ones, and to have the extent of that long-term treatment spent so long away from home.

Today I have announced extra detail of our four year bed strategy developed by SA Health and ways we will deliver those 86 more adult mental health beds across South Australia. The strategy for this mental health reform puts beds into the country areas for the first time, and this new system of intermediate care as well as rehabilitation services will serve people in outer metropolitan areas as well as rural South Australia.

The bed strategy sees the implementation of the stepped model of care. As people become ill they can have facilities that suit their level of illness with support and care, and, as they recover from the most intense and acute forms of treatment, they can be put into facilities that are intermediate in type; and they can have long-stay facilities where they will be rehabilitated—develop self-preservation skills, cooking skills and life skills—before returning to the community. This program will be humane and modern and will take people back into the community so that they are no longer stigmatised, locked away and marginalised—so they are treated within the community closer to home.

I have to say that this model provides for the sort of support and care that we would want for ourselves or our families, if they were ill. I must say that, whilst those opposite deride an investment of $250 million, this is an enormous investment in mental health facilities. It is hard to understand how they can justify that to the people who come into their electorate office and are concerned about their family members. I cannot imagine how they would justify it to regional and rural South Australia where we are investing in beds for the first time. It is hard to understand how they can make up any sort of argument to deride this massive investment and massive reform agenda that will bring our mental health facilities up to world-class status.

I can assure all South Australians that the Rann government is committed to this reform agenda and massive rebuilding agenda and is committed to investing a large sum of money into facilities—which, obviously, those opposite are opposed to.

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