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House of Assembly - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-05-17 Daily Xml
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Mental Health Commissioner

The Hon. L.A. VLAHOS (Taylor—Minister for Disabilities, Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse) (14:26): I seek leave to make a ministerial statement.

Leave granted.

The Hon. L.A. VLAHOS: This government will always place a high priority on mental health in South Australia. In October last year, this government announced that we would be establishing the South Australian Mental Health Commission to fulfil our $9 million election pledge. Dr Stephen Christley, South Australia's former chief public health officer, took the reins as the interim mental health commissioner in November so the commission could begin its work immediately.

Dr Christley has done an outstanding job, building on his significant experience in the health system and already laying the foundation for a strong strategic direction in mental health in this state. I sincerely thank those people with lived experience, service providers, stakeholders and staff in our system who have already provided constructive input to the interim commissioner. I am very grateful for his positive support, help and advice during this period, and his involvement, and wish him well in his future endeavours.

It gives me great pleasure today to announce to the house the appointment of South Australia's new Mental Health Commissioner. The new commissioner is Mr Chris Burns CSC. Mr Burns has an extensive record within the veteran and defence community, working with people with a lived experience of PTSD and other mental illnesses. His work with the Australian Defence Force, Defence Teaming Centre and, more recently, the Veterans Health Advisory Council has demonstrated that he is a capable and high-profile advocate.

The commissioner is an experienced senior executive with a strong passion for improving services, the delivery of services and the community's welfare. Mr Burns' appointment is welcomed by the Mental Health Coalition of South Australia, the state's peak representative body of the non-government mental health sector in South Australia. I would like to acknowledge Paul Senior, the president of the Mental Health Coalition, in the gallery today. Thank you for joining us.

I am confident that Mr Burns will be able to use his many skills to engage with all parties across the community in this diverse sector to develop innovative and pragmatic solutions to a challenge that is growing. He will ensure the voices of people with lived experience, consumers, carers and NGOs are incorporated into the everyday work of the commission. The commissioner will lead the development of the state's mental health plan and drive ongoing reform towards integrated mental health services in our state.

I have also asked the commission to explore and develop an action plan that can assist people living with borderline personality disorder and take their lived experience into account. I expect at all times that people with lived experience will be at the centre of the commissioner's work to strengthen mental health care for South Australians.

In my former role as a parliamentary secretary to the Minister for Health, I had the privilege of spending significant time investigating commissions around the country. During my research, I received much good advice and I believe the New South Wales commissioner, John Feneley, got it right when he spent many months out and about with consumers, their families, carers and stakeholders, both government and non-government representatives.

Commissioner Feneley fostered a sense of community, with stakeholders owning the commission. I want South Australians to feel the same about this commission—it is our commission, all of our commission. It is important because when people are at their most vulnerable they need a strong system that delivers to them the best possible care and support.

I am confident the SA Mental Health Commissioner will be an inclusive voice for a lived experience community and a strong advocate for bringing people together for a vast array of services and stakeholder perspectives. I wish Commissioner Burns all the best in his new role, and I look forward to working with him to build a great system.

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