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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2016-05-17 Daily Xml
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Eating Disorders Association of South Australia

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT (14:42): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking questions of the minister representing the Minister for Health regarding support and treatment for people with eating disorders.

Leave granted.

The Hon. K.L. VINCENT: It has come to my attention, and the attention of other members, I would assume, in recent days that changes are afoot regarding telephone and internet support services for people in crisis with a range of issues and/or mental illness, following the National Mental Health Commission's recommendation that the national digital triage gateway be established. There have been reports that the Butterfly Foundation, a national organisation providing support to Australians with eating disorders, will no longer be funded come July 2017 to provide phone helpline support once the triage phone line is established.

While the federal Minister for Health has since clarified that individual organisations with specialist helplines will continue to receive direct phone calls and emails and be funded to do so, the exact structure and funding arrangements for all digital support services in this space remain somewhat unclear. Meanwhile, the Eating Disorders Association of South Australia (ADASA) support services ceased to operate at the end of November because after three years of not receiving any support or funding from the South Australian state government and SA Health it has become a necessary economic decision.

The South Australian state government is aware of ADASA's services and the fact that they do not receive any funding, as I understand it. My questions to the minister are:

1. Is the minister aware that anorexia nervosa has the highest death rate of any mental illness?

2. Why does the minister not provide any funding to ADASA for the essential services that they provide South Australians with eating disorders and their families?

3. Is the minister aware of any changes at a national level in relation to telephone helplines, web services and email support in relation to mental health and more specifically eating disorders?

The Hon. I.K. HUNTER (Minister for Sustainability, Environment and Conservation, Minister for Water and the River Murray, Minister for Climate Change) (14:44): I thank the honourable member for her most important question. I will take that question to the Minister for Health in another place and seek a response on her behalf.

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