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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2024-03-20 Daily Xml
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Unmet Needs Report

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS (Black—Leader of the Opposition) (14:11): My question is again to the Premier. Will the Unmet Needs Report be funded in its entirety? With your leave, sir, and that of the house, I will explain.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.J. SPEIRS: In 2023, the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist released the Unmet Needs Report, instigated by the former Liberal government, which identified that 19,000 South Australians are living with unmet psychosocial needs and the cost to deliver those services is $125 million per annum.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON (Kaurna—Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (14:12): This is a very similar question to the member for Frome's question, I think, in the last sitting of parliament. This is something that the government is taking extremely seriously and has already taken action on in terms of increasing the funding for our mental health care services. What happened over the course of the previous term of the parliament and the previous Marshall Liberal government was we saw psychosocial NGO services for mental health being cut in this state—absolutely disgraceful.

Between 2018-19 and 2020-21, funding for NGO-commissioned mental health services by the South Australian government was cut—not by 5 per cent, not by 10 per cent, but by 19 per cent by the previous government.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Schubert! The minister has the call.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is warned. Order!

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is warned. The minister will be heard.

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: How many health ministers have closed hospitals?

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is warned for a second time.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: While the Leader of the Opposition was sitting around the cabinet table, was the cabinet secretary, was on the budget committee of cabinet—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: You were the existing Minister for Health who closed the hospital.

The SPEAKER: Order, member for Morialta!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —there was a 19 per cent cut to these mental health services—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —here in South Australia. Absolutely disgraceful.

The Hon. L.W.K. Bignell interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Member for Mawson!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: There is a contrast, and I am happy to lay out the contrast, because in our first year of government this government increased funding to NGO-commissioned mental health services by 11.8 per cent just in our first year—so a 19 per cent cut over the course of the previous government and an 11.8 per cent increase in funding—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —under this government.

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! The member for Schubert is warned.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Thanks to you, thanks to you.

Mrs Hurn interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Schubert, you are on a second warning and close to your third. The minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Cuts have consequences, and those cuts have had a consequence in terms of—

The Hon. J.A.W. Gardner: How about when you closed the Repat?

The SPEAKER: The member for Morialta is on a second warning.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —people being able to access those services, and that's why we are putting additional funding in. On top of that additional 11.8 per cent funding—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Morialta, the minister has the call.

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: —the government, through the Mid-Year Budget Review, put additional funding in place that, together with recontracting of services, is going to see another 1,000 people being able to be helped by these services.

In addition to that, through negotiations at national cabinet there is now work underway in relation to unmet needs for people who are unable to access the NDIS, enabling foundational support services for them for mental health and also for other disability services. That work is ongoing, as well as a federal unmet needs report. This government is taking that extremely seriously. We have a different approach than the previous government, in that we are not cutting these services; we are putting more funding into them, because we know how important that is.

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: Order! Member for Florey!

The Hon. C.J. PICTON: Not only are we investing in over 100 additional mental health beds in our hospitals to make sure we have the acute end provided for but we are also investing to reverse those cuts that were made to psychosocial services in the community, to make sure that people can get the support that they need for mental health across the community.

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