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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-07-01 Daily Xml
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MENTAL HEALTH

Ms BEDFORD (Florey) (14:41): My question is to the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse. How will the new state Mental Health Act, which takes effect today, assist the government's reform of the mental health system?

The Hon. J.D. HILL (Kaurna—Minister for Health, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, Minister for the Southern Suburbs, Minister Assisting the Premier in the Arts) (14:41): Completing the multimillion dollar overhaul of South Australia's mental health services is a key priority for this government in this third term. In its second term, the government commissioned the Social Inclusion Board to review the provision of mental health services in South Australia; and I think it is fair to say that our services in this state were, and had been for many years, below par.

The result was the Stepping Up report, the key recommendation of which was to provide a stepped system of care—giving people the ability to step up into services if they become unwell and to step down into intermediate support as they get better. I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate, again, Monsignor Cappo, the Social Inclusion Commissioner, and his board for their report.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Madam Speaker, the government accepted the recommendations in this report and has since committed more than $300 million—

Mr Marshall interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The minister will be heard in silence. This is an important issue. Members are constantly asking questions about it; listen to the answer.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: I must say, Madam Speaker, that I am not saying anything political or controversial; I am just going through the facts as to the work that is happening in this state at the moment in relation to mental health. We, as a government on behalf of the tax payers, on behalf of the community, have committed over $300 million to reform and rebuild our mental health system.

Ms CHAPMAN: Point of order.

The SPEAKER: The member for Bragg.

Ms CHAPMAN: The question was specifically how the new Mental Health Act, which comes into effect today, is going to assist people in South Australia. So far, all we have heard is a list of claims by the premier about what he has done in mental health.

The SPEAKER: I do not uphold that point of order. The minister might answer the question.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Yes, I shall. I certainly will, Madam Speaker. It is very hard to separate the reform and the actions that are happening because they are very much interlinked. I do thank the member for Bragg—obviously, she has premiership issues on her mind—for calling me the premier, but she has got it wrong: I am actually the Minister for Health. We are building a brand-new Glenside Hospital.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. J.D. HILL: Thank you, Madam Speaker. We are building a brand new hospital, which replaces the Victorian era asylum that is there. The Mental Health Act that comes into place today, the Mental Health Act 2009, puts into place in South Australia a 21st century mental health policy framework and replaces the Victorian era, if you like, policy framework that existed until yesterday. It provides the legislative framework for the Stepping Up reforms.

The act changes the approach of the public health system to mental health patients by recognising that they are people who require medical treatment, as opposed to being people who need to be isolated from society. Unfortunately, it is still very current in political discourse in our state and nation that people who are mentally ill tend to be categorised as people who need to be locked up and the public protected from them. Sometimes that has to occur but, generally, that is not the case. While the safety and wellbeing of patients and the community are always paramount, the act seeks to ensure that patients are able to retain their freedom, dignity, rights and self-respect.

The new act provides for community treatment orders, enabling patients to be treated, where appropriate, in the community rather than in an institution and, while acute hospital care will always be available to those who need it, it should not be the first and only form of treatment. Less restrictive treatment methods enable a level of care that is catered to a patient's needs. Detention and treatment orders available under the act also enable early access to care and treatment when a person's mental health deteriorates to the point where admission to hospital is the only option, but it should be the last option; we should always try the other approaches first.

There will also be limited treatment centre beds in country areas for the very first time. This is consistent with the government's broader policy of reducing the amount of travel country residents have to undertake to receive health services. Information-sharing between patients and their carers or family will be made significantly easier under this act as well. I am sure many members of this place know of parents who have been to see them on behalf of their children who are mentally ill and they have not been able to be told what the problems are, when they will be released and when they are coming home. This legislative change will allow that communication to happen, and I think that is a very good outcome of this act.

The act enhances the rights of people with mental illness and their families and engages patients and service providers, allows for early access to assessment treatment and care and provides for greater accountability through its monitoring and reporting requirements. The act also, for the very first time, introduces a new position of chief psychiatrist for South Australia. That person will be charged with monitoring the operation of the act and reviewing the standard of psychiatric care provided within our state. I take this opportunity to congratulate Dr Margaret Honeyman, who starts today as South Australia's very first Chief Psychiatrist. She is an eminent—

The Hon. M.D. Rann: A New Zealander.

The Hon. J.D. HILL: —very experienced person—latterly from New Zealand and Scottish by birth. I also thank Dr Honeyman and Mr Derek Wright, who has been through the same history—also from New Zealand and Scottish born—and also those past and present in the Department of Health who have worked tirelessly in realising this act.

This is a major reform that the government has undertaken. It has taken time and a lot of commitment and energy. I also acknowledge the work of Mr Ian Bidmeade, who led the review of the Mental Health Act of 1993 and led the drafting process for this new act. The mental health community has also played an important role in the development of the act, including people with mental illness and their carers; and, of course, we should also pay tribute to the late Dr Margaret Tobin, the former director of the Mental Health Unit in the Department of Health. The new act goes some way to realising her vision for mental health reform in this state.

As members would be aware, the act has been a long time coming, and I thank, and acknowledge the work of, my predecessors in this portfolio under whose stewardship the act was advanced. I believe this is an exciting time in the reform of our mental health system in South Australia. The commencement of the act today is an integral part of the government's $300 million reform of the mental health system and further reinforces this government's commitment to delivering better services to South Australians experiencing mental illness.

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