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Legislative Council - Fifty-Fourth Parliament, First Session (54-1)
2019-07-31 Daily Xml
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Borderline Personality Disorder Support

The Hon. T.J. STEPHENS (15:19): My question is to the Minister for Health and Wellbeing. Will the minister update the council on services designed to reduce ED presentations and support the recovery of South Australians living with borderline personality disorder?

The Hon. S.G. WADE (Minister for Health and Wellbeing) (15:19): I thank the honourable member for his question. It gives me an opportunity to acknowledge the establishment of the Borderline Personality Disorder Collaborative. It was launched last month and from 1 July commenced operating as a service at 100 Greenhill Road, Unley. This much-needed service, referred to as BPD Co, will provide statewide recovery-focused care to people living with borderline personality disorder in South Australia.

BPD Co is the result of a broad-based response to the need for enhanced evidence-based borderline personality disorder service development in South Australia tailored to the needs of consumers, carers and clinicians. I would particularly like to acknowledge the advocacy of the Hon. Tammy Franks and a former member of this place, Ms Kelly Vincent.

The BPD service has been codesigned with people with lived experience, their carers and clinicians, and in consultation with stakeholders, including other government and non-government agencies. The Marshall Liberal government is investing $13.1 million over four years to establish and run the service.

This initiative is being realised through the extraordinary efforts of many dedicated people. In particular, I would like to acknowledge the BPD Co project team, led by Dr Martha Kent and Ms Judy O'Sullivan; the Country Health SA mental health leadership team of Umit Agis and Dr Brian McKenny; and the BPD community of consumers and carers.

In that context, I would specifically like to honour the work of Janne McMahon OAM, who has for more than 10 years united consumers, advocates, carers and clinicians in efforts to highlight to politicians and policymakers at the state and federal level the cost of BPD to the community and the benefit of investing in quality care. Ms McMahon has been awarded an Order of Australia medal and won the national Mental Health Prize in 2008 and again in 2018.

BPD is a common mental illness experienced by up to 68,000 South Australians. Historically, those diagnosed have suffered significant levels of stigma and negative discrimination within the health and mental health systems. Yet, people with BPD can and do recover, particularly when they are provided with appropriate evidence-based treatments.

BPD Co will support clinical services for people with severe and complex borderline personality disorder. In particular, it will provide services for parents who have infants and young children, and also young people at risk of developing BPD or with early signs of BPD. I wish BPD Co all the best in their important venture. To South Australians living with BPD and those who care for them, I trust that BPD Co will help provide better access to the treatment they need for their mental health.

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