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Private Members' Statement - Northern Beaches Youth Mental Health Services

I acknowledge and reflect on the need for youth mental health services on the northern beaches. Over recent years, this has been a topic of considerable concern locally. It has been raised with me by many distressed parents of struggling kids and adolescents. Some parents have been at their wits' end in the middle of a crisis. Some have suffered the unimaginable loss of a child to suicide, and some are on the other side of a crisis, reflecting on how services could have been better. These are deeply personal stories.

Any parent knows the feeling of everything else fading to insignificance when the wellbeing of their child is at stake. When a young person is in severe and prolonged distress, the anguish experienced by them and those who love them is obviously profound, whether it is a mental health emergency such as a suicide attempt, or a chronic mental health condition such as depression, anxiety or eating disorders. The intangible nature of those conditions can make the problems even more confounding. Unfortunately, they can also be surrounded by social stigma. I thank all who have shared their experiences and stories with my office.

Those individual stories point to a structural problem that we desperately need to better understand and address. Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics in October last year found that in the previous 12 months, more than one-third of young Australians had experienced a mental health disorder and that mental health problems among young people have increased by almost 50 per cent in the past 15 years. The Premier is right to highlight the relationship between the increase in social media use in young people and that concerning trend. Prevention is always better than cure. I am encouraged by the consensus and policy options that are emerging to better regulate access to social media for kids.

In relation to youth mental health on the Northern Beaches, in June 2022 the former Government announced $11.4 million for enhanced services following some tragic and high-profile incidents. The funding was allocated to provide additional acute paediatric specialist mental health beds at Northern Beaches Hospital and more community-based services. Soon after I was elected, I began asking questions about the status of that funding, including in this Chamber. I quickly learnt that funding for the beds had not been spent and that the private Northern Beaches Hospital had not taken any steps to deliver them. Unfortunately, that was a case of policy by press release by the former Government. The initial proposal was not based on robust feasibility studies, and the cost of creating additional dedicated beds exceeded the allocated funding.

I thank Minister Jackson and her staff for working with me, my office and local Federal MPs on the issue and on how to use the remaining funds to best effect. A round table was held in May this year, and in September a stakeholder meeting was held at Northern Beaches Hospital. I support their evidence-based approach to investing more funding into community-based mental health youth services, including establishing the Brookvale Safe Haven, which is now open. Comparatively, the Northern Beaches is well resourced. We are very grateful for that. However, I still have serious concerns about the situation for youth mental health patients at Northern Beaches Hospital. I want to see a decision made about the remaining $4.5 million capital expenditure as soon as possible, because it has been over two years since the initial announcement and we need to get that money out the door.

I support using the funds to create an integrated, co-located hub for the State and for not-for-profit youth mental health service providers in Brookvale so there is a one-stop shop for young people seeking help. We must keep working to improve services for youth mental health patients at Northern Beaches Hospital. We must investigate potential solutions to separate vulnerable young people from adults with mental health conditions in the mental health short stay unit. We must also make sure that all young people who are admitted have a dedicated nurse-special with them at all times. Those who present but are not admitted must have clear guidance and be supported to connect with services outside the hospital. We need improved communication about the full suite of enhanced community‑based youth mental health services on the Northern Beaches, including a visual map.

We need ongoing monitoring, evaluation and communication about how community and hospital‑based services are meeting the youth mental health needs of the community. We also need a dedicated stakeholder briefing in 12 months. Many State and Federal service providers and not‑for‑profits at the round table did not know of each other, including those from our region. They said, "You do what? You do the same thing? My goodness, we need to talk." That was in front of me, Minister Jackson and other Federal MPs. It was also said in front of victims whose stories were just horrific, to say the least. To them, I say thank you. We must keep going and find a solution because it may affect everyone in our State, across all regions. We all wish that every young person is filled with a joyful sense of possibility and a zest for life. To see young people robbed of that, whether it is partly or wholly due to factors outside their control, is a tragedy in every single circumstance. We must do more. I will stay on the case.

18 October 2024, 13:58.

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