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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2011-10-19 Daily Xml
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MENTAL HEALTH WEEK

The Hon. T.A. FRANKS (15:54): I rise to speak about Mental Health Week and to note that last week we saw in South Australia, and across the world, events which highlighted awareness of mental health and mental illness. We all have mental health, and some of us will be unfortunate enough to have mental illness. In fact, one in five of us in any year may in fact be suffering, and almost half of us in a lifetime will have some form of mental illnesses, and we are certain to know and possibly love somebody who has such a condition.

Mental health has long been the Cinderella of health. It has not been invited to the ball and it has not been allowed out of the house. I am very pleased to see events such as Mental Health Week not only highlighting awareness of mental health but also celebrating good mental health and encouraging those who battle with mental illness to seek help without fear of stigma or social shame.

I participated in quite a few events. Having previously worked for the Mental Health Coalition, I always find Mental Health Week a very busy one. I was delighted to be asked to open one of the art exhibitions that was part of the Big Circle Arts Collective, which is an arts and mental health project currently underway. I opened the one at the Bakehouse Theatre, but there was an exhibition as part of the Big Circle Arts Collective at the Adelaide Town Hall; at SA Water; at UniSA; at the Box Factory; and at St Francis Xavier Cathedral.

There were also exhibitions at the Writers' Centre; the Mental Health Coalition offices on King William Street; at City Soul; the Royal Adelaide Hospital; the Santos Conservation Centre at the Zoo; the Women's and Children's Hospital; the RAH; the Parks Community Centre; the ABC Studios; various libraries, including Charles Sturt library; the Living Kaurna Cultural Centre; the SA Folk Federation; Semaphore library; the Robin Hood Hotel; the Hope Inn Hotel; community centres, such as North Adelaide and Reedbeds; and various other locations across South Australia.

The rise and acceptance of having the Mental Health Week art exhibition in so many places across South Australia can only do good in terms of alleviating the stigma. I participated in the mental health walk in Rundle Mall last Thursday, and I also played a game of scrabble, which was actually fantastic for relieving my stress for the first 20 minutes and terrible for the last 20 minutes as I boxed myself into a corner. It was just one example of things South Australians can do at little or no cost that are a great social outlet and a wonderful initiative. There were the clown doctors, of course, as well as an enormous amount of information.

Mental Health Week is a really rare event, when somebody in their local shopping centre, Rundle Mall or local library can go up to someone and say, 'I'm a little bit worried about this issue,' or 'I've been feeling this way. Can you give me some information or tell me somebody I could perhaps take this issue up with?' The amount of information that is asked for, it is like you were giving out free show bags at the Royal Show. The stalls in Rundle Mall are staffed by the wonderful people who work across the community sector in mental health, but they were run off their feet from 10 to 4pm on that day in Rundle Mall, in the local shopping centres to the south, in the rural areas and in the northern suburbs.

The final part of Mental Health Week which I want to pay particular attention to, and which has been a new initiative this year, is something called Mindshare. I attended the launch, and the Minister for Mental Health and Substance Abuse, John Hill, was there, as was the shadow minister for mental health, Dr McFetridge. I commend the work of Mindshare and suggest that members look at its amazing website, which is quite diverse. It has films, videos and blogs from some people you may know and some you will certainly get to know better. One particular film, Sean's Story, I would recommend to anyone who has ever had any sympathy for those who suffer from the stigma of being a transgender person. I congratulate Mindshare and the Mental Health Coalition on a fantastic week.

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