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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-05-07 Daily Xml
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Wellbeing and Resilience Centre

Ms DIGANCE (Elder) (14:44): My question is to the Premier. Can the Premier inform the house about the recent launch of the SAHMRI Wellbeing and Resilience Centre and the work the centre will undertake?

The Hon. J.W. WEATHERILL (Cheltenham—Premier) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for her question. The Wellbeing and Resilience Centre at SAHMRI is an important part of our state's ambitious goal to be the first political unit in the world to measure and build wellbeing and resilience at scale, and really to immunise people against the scourge of mental illness. This is one of the great challenges of our modern community. As the general level of stress and pressure raises in our community, it begins to affect more and more people, and this is having a massive effect on our health and wellbeing.

Mental illness is touching us all. One in five Australian adults and one in four young people are experiencing mental illness in a given year. What we need to do as a society is anticipate and prevent mental illness, rather than wait for it to emerge and then have to deal with its damaging effects. The work in South Australia began to crystallise a few years ago with the arrival of Professor Martin Seligman, which arose out of a stint as Thinker in Residence. During his time here, Martin boldly proposed that South Australia become the first place in the world to measure and build wellbeing. It fits nicely with what we like to think of ourselves as a state, which is having this extraordinary commitment to livability.

One project is the provision of resilience training to staff at two companies facing closure as a result of the imminent Holden close-down. It is a perfect example of what we are looking for: identifying a mental health dimension to something that we know is coming rather than waiting for it to come upon us. Another is the launch of a centre last week called Resilient Futures, a mentor-based program that will measure and build the resilience and wellbeing of 850 disadvantaged young people in Adelaide. These young people are disengaged. They are not in school, work or training and, as a group, they are often hard to reach, but we cannot give up on them. We must keep trying to help them move forward positively with their lives.

Also encouraging is the outstanding level of support that is coming from private donors. The Wyatt Trust, the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation and Margaret Stewart have together invested more than $1.3 million in a three-year period. It is also wonderful to see the young people who are coming forward and participating in this. Mount Barker school and St Peter's school are participating in this initiative. The work that is being undertaken there has the potential to not only change the trajectory of the lives of the young people it is touching but also raise the general level of wellbeing and resilience in our community. Thriving, not merely surviving, is the name of the game in the 21st century. I am confident that the new Wellbeing and Resilience Centre will be at the forefront of further advances in this vital field of study.

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