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House of Assembly - Fifty-Second Parliament, Second Session (52-2)
2012-03-15 Daily Xml
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EDUCATION AND CHILD DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT

The Hon. R.B. SUCH (Fisher) (12:29): I move:

That this house calls upon the Minister for Education and Child Development to significantly increase the availability of counsellors, psychologists and mental health professionals for all E&CD schools.

This is a very important issue. Members will recall the recent case of a lad who was 14, who was suspended from school and who went out and killed a lady in one of the Hills towns. It is an issue I have raised before, that is, the inappropriateness of excluding and suspending students, who are then free to go out—and in that case, according to the court report, the lad wanted to go out and kill someone, and he did. That lad obviously needed help, and he is one of many, probably hundreds if not thousands.

You talk to any junior primary teacher with any experience, and they will tell you that there are students who need special help. It is not just in the junior primary years, but that is where, if you can detect an issue, it should be dealt with. Some of the children need counselling. In the year 7 level in primary school, some of the students are exhibiting signs of requiring significant intervention by a psychologist, and at the secondary school level many secondary students are showing signs of mental health problems. But, sadly and unfortunately, those issues are not being addressed adequately at the moment.

There are some counsellors and psychologists, and there is what is known as CAMHS, the agency with responsibility for mental health issues, but what teachers and principals tell me is that, in order to access some of these services, they have to wait months to get the service of a professional person to deal with an issue involving a student. I do not believe that it is rocket science that, if these issues are not addressed—and, tragically, we have seen this with Martin Bryant in Tasmania, the Truro murderer and with others—when those problems are apparent at school, that child can go on to do great harm not only to themselves but to the wider community.

I have mentioned in this place before the example of a doctor on the West Coast who took it upon himself to check out all the students on Eyre Peninsula, and a clinical psychologist assessed the students as well (it was funded, I believe, under the federal program, Divisions of General Practice), and they cut the suicide rate from about nine a year to about one—and, importantly, those who needed special help were directed so that they got that help. A lot of the behavioural issues which arise in schools and which result in suspension or exclusion are because those students clearly have some behavioural problem or whatever.

I will not be too specific, but the son of someone I know who works in the support staff area for members of parliament recently enrolled at a secondary school. This particular child has a learning disability. Within a few weeks of term 1 commencing, he was attacked by another student. That student was suspended, and that student who did the assault is known to spend his time at Marion shopping centre. How is that going to address the issues that particular child has?

Another thing that is quite concerning is that the department seems to have this view that, if a child is in a so-called affluent area, such as Burnside—and, for some strange reason, they include some of my electorate—the department seems to take a different view about their need for counselling and other help. I find that highly objectionable because, if you are a child who is experiencing family breakdown, it does not matter whether you live in Burnside, Bordertown or Bowden, you are a child in need and the system should be focused on children in need who need counselling.

I recall a student who did a lot of damage at one of my local high schools when his parents split up. He did thousands of dollars damage. If that child had been counselled and it had been explained to him, 'Your parents' splitting up is not your fault. Sadly, these things happen,' and it was worked through with that child, it probably would have saved the department tens of thousands of dollars in damage that could have been prevented to the infrastructure of the school. So, there is a consequence.

For example, we know that arsonists have a particular orientation (usually based on some sexual dysfunction) and that they get pleasure out of lighting fires. Those inclinations are well known early on. For people who go on to commit serious sexual offences—who assault and murder people—there is usually an indication long before it happens that those indicators are there and they need help.

The Truro murderer (who came from what people would regard as a fairly standard family; I think the father was in the Air Force) in junior primary school that lad was smearing faeces on the wall of the classroom. That is a classic sign of dysfunction; the issue was never addressed. I know the teacher who had that child in her classroom; the issue was never addressed. Society, in particular the government and the Department for Education and Child Development, needs to get a handle on this issue to ensure that there is proper intervention as early as possible.

Apart from the human cost, there are the savings. To incarcerate the lad who killed a lady in the Adelaide Hills for the next 15 years (which is the minimum term that was set) the cost will be a minimum of $100,000 a year. Apparently he was addicted to games of violence and so on. There needed to be some sort of help in terms of the family situation. I understand the mother had left. We cannot guarantee it but possibly, if he had had the appropriate counselling and psychological help, it could have saved the life of that innocent woman and it could have saved the taxpayer 15 years of paying $100,000-plus a year. The economics alone make a compelling case.

A lot of the behaviour that manifests in a negative way in schools is a result of young people showing early signs of a psychological problem or mental health issue; early signs of depression which, sadly, as we know, can often result in suicide. I do not need to stress the point any more. It is self-evident that if people at school, in their early years, have these significant issues (not only learning disabilities, but behavioural issues as well, and often the two are connected) then they need to be addressed.

I make a plea to the minister and the government that this is an issue which is above partisan politicking and point-scoring. We are talking about the lives of young people, in particular, but also the consequences for the wider community. There needs to be more emphasis on providing these services earlier on rather than when something bad happens. When a child does not achieve their learning potential, we sit back and say, 'Look, isn't that unfortunate? Isn't that sad?' Let's make sure that something happens in a positive way early on to change the course of that child's life. Not only will it be a saving in monetary terms, more importantly it will be a saving in terms of the suffering of people who would be impacted negatively by the behaviour of an individual like that.

I include not only psychological and mental health issues but learning disabilities as well. It needs to be across the board. It needs to be available to all students irrespective of where they live. The income level of parents has got nothing to do with it. If a child is in need of support from a psychologist, a counsellor or a mental health worker, then it should be provided.

I think the current what I call 'post code discrimination' should end and all children who are in need should have those needs addressed promptly right across the state, in the city and the country. Often, country students miss out on access to some of the professional services, and I have spoken to people throughout the state who tell me that waiting months and months for an issue to be attended to because there is a lack of professional service available is just not acceptable.

I make this plea to the minister. I have spent a lot of my lifetime involved in education and I interact closely with all my schools, private and public, and there is a desperate need for all children to have access to professionally qualified people, whether they be psychologists, mental health workers or properly trained counsellors.

I do not oppose in any way, and I am not critical of, the pastoral care workers but, if you are dealing with some of these issues, you must have properly qualified psychologists and mental health professionals, not just people who may be there to promote values and religious orientation. I do not have a problem with that—I think that is good—but you need to have the professionally trained people as well. I commend this motion to the house and ask the minister to do something in the short term to implement what has been requested.

Mr PEGLER (Mount Gambier) (12:41): I rise to support this motion. It is something that has been very dear to my heart and is a matter that is extremely important for the young people in the electorate of Mount Gambier. Too often, we see children in trouble with their mental health or the way they fit into society in schools and they cannot get the professional help they require. Often, it takes many months for one of those professionals to turn up to see that child and, in the meantime, there is a lot of damage done. Of course, when those people do turn up, sometimes, the child may be out of sorts on that particular day and will not communicate properly with that health professional so then they have to wait another three or four months and there is more damage being done all the time.

I think that if we could have a lot more professional people working in this field, we could nip in the bud a lot of the ongoing problems and it would make it a lot easier for the families of those children, our schools and society in general. I certainly support the fact that we need many more professional people providing these types of services, particularly in the country areas where it takes many months to get those professionals to turn up to see those children. I commend this motion to the house.

Debate adjourned on motion of Mrs Geraghty.

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