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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-05-12 Daily Xml
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COMMUNITY RESPONSE TO ELIMINATING SUICIDE

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS (15:10): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Industrial Relations a question about the Community Response to Eliminating Suicide (CORES) initiative.

Leave granted.

The Hon. J.S.L. DAWKINS: Many members will be aware that for a number of years I have championed the Community Response to Eliminating Suicide initiative. CORES aims to give community leaders the skills to recognise the warning signs of suicidal behaviour, and the confidence to intervene before a crisis occurs, by assisting the person at risk to receive appropriate help. CORES was established in regional Tasmania, with one program funded in the regional municipality of Kentish in 2003-04. Since then the program has expanded its reach in Tasmania and been implemented in regional Victoria and Queensland to now have 17 programs nationally. In addition, negotiations are ongoing with the Western Australian government.

Certainly in some of those places in Victoria and Queensland the programs were initiated after concerns about suicides in the workplace. In 2008 the Eyre Peninsula Local Government Association decided to fund the CORES package by itself, primarily because it felt that CORES was far more appropriate to its region than were other suicide intervention programs put forward by the state government. The EPLGA recently extended its funding because of the well demonstrated community benefit of the CORES initiative, and I am pleased to say that that has been supported financially by the Eyre Peninsula Division of General Practice and the commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing.

Last week I met with Mr Mark Stemm, the chairman of CORES, when he was visiting Adelaide. Mr Stemm advised me of a new CORES strategy that has been developed specifically for the workplace. Workplace CORES builds momentum in the workplace through delivery of the one day course in suicide intervention. Participants are guided through a professionally developed handbook on how to spot the danger signs and how to intervene properly to make a real difference in the lives of people around them. The program was developed because of research nominating workplace stress as a factor in suicide. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, in 2008 alone 2,191 people died from suicide in Australia, an alarming number, given that it is generally recognised that many suicides are not registered as such. My questions are:

1. Is the minister aware of any research on the links between workplace stress and suicide that has been done by his department?

2. If there is no such data, will the minister consider undertaking research investigating the links between workplace stress and suicide in South Australia?

3. Will the minister agree to meet with CORES representatives and consider funding a pilot workplace CORES program in South Australia?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for his important question, because obviously all of us are concerned with the impact of suicide and the related issue of mental illness. It is particularly relevant to the portfolio I now hold because it is well known that there is a higher incidence of depression and suicide in people who have been out of the workforce for long periods. It is also recognised that many people on the WorkCover scheme suffer from psychological illness, largely as a result of coming to terms with the situation and the results of the workplace injury. That is a well-known fact.

To address those issues, I am certainly aware that WorkCover and its claims agents are highly responsive to a situation where a workers compensation claimant is threatening or contemplating suicide. I am well aware that WorkCover and Employers Mutual staff are trained in critical incident management and suicide intervention. It is a difficult and unfortunate issue. Enough research has been done worldwide to demonstrate that those people who have been out of the workforce for long periods have a higher incidence of depression and suicide. If there is anything I can add, I am happy to do so, and will seek further information to determine what other specific work has been undertaken in relation to that important area.

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