EMMA MCBRIDE, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH: Good morning. It is wonderful to be back here in Western Sydney and in Parramatta for an important announcement about mental health and wellbeing in our communities.
I'd like to begin by acknowledging the Traditional Owners of the land on which we meet, and to pay my respects to Elders, past and present. And I'd also like to acknowledge those with lived or living experience of mental ill health and those who care for them, and recognise your significant contribution to improving support and care for people living with mental ill health right around Australia.
To my colleagues, Minister and local Member for McMahon, Chris Bowen. Having worked with Chris for many years now, I know how committed he is to improving the support and care provided to people in his community and better health services. To New South Wales State Minister for Mental Health, Rose Jackson, can I thank you for your collaboration. It really makes a difference working together, and you can see that evidenced in a place like here in Parramatta today. And to Donna Davis, as the local State Member for Parramatta, to know that you're already being able to refer people, local people to this service and see the real benefit to them. And we have apologies from our federal colleague Andrew Charlton, who couldn't be here today.
The Albanese Government is rolling out 61 Medicare Mental Health Centres across the country, including 22 here in New South Wales. Across the country we're seeing increasing demand for mental health services in the community. COVID-19, natural disasters, the struggles of day-to-day life are placing increasing pressure on people and demand on our services, which is why we're pleased to announce additional four locations in New South Wales. Blacktown here in Western Sydney will be in the Minister for McMahon seat, and Campbelltown in South West Sydney, Broken Hill and Central Darling in Western New South Wales.
These centres, as we've seen here in Parramatta today, provide on the spot support and care for people in distress and ongoing support for those living with more complex or enduring mental ill health. They'll be staffed by social workers, nurses, peer workers and they'll provide wraparound care over extended hours. And importantly, in the recent budget, acknowledging the need to access more specialist services, the Albanese Government has invested a further close to $30 million to boost the clinical capability and make sure that every centre has access to a psychologist and psychiatrist on call.
These services, importantly, are co-funded by the Commonwealth and the state government, and only possible through the strong collaboration and cooperation of the Minns Labor Government and the Albanese Labor Government. We're pleased to be able to be investing $17.1 million in addition to the New South Wales Government's contribution for these additional locations. Already we have centres operating in New South Wales and, in just the 12 months since this service opened in Parramatta, they've provided 3,422 individual sessions of face-to-face care to more than 426 people.
The real difference this is making to individuals and families and to people's lives, and as a former mental health worker myself who worked in acute adult inpatient units, I want to thank the staff here. You are genuinely making a real difference to people and families to know that they can come into a safe place where they'll be treated with empathy and compassion, where they'll then be able to access the right kind of wraparound, multidisciplinary support and care is making a genuine difference, and we're seeing it already.
So, I'm so pleased that in just over 12 months we have seen so many local people benefit here in Parramatta. And we know, across New South Wales, the benefit this will make in the four additional locations. So, thank you again to Minister Rose Jackson for this genuine collaboration, and I know in your other portfolio areas in the intersection, the real difference that this is making, to have housing just across the road here and to know that people who are seeking wraparound support and care will be able to get it on the spot when they need it.
I might now hand over to Minister Jackson, then we'll go to Minister Bowen. And I believe we also have a peer worker who's going to share some of their lived experience as well. Thank you, Rose.
ROSE JACKSON, NSW MINISTER FOR MENTAL HEALTH: Thanks, Emma. Real pleasure to be here.
I'd also like to acknowledge the Traditional Owners and pay respects to Elders past and present, and acknowledge all of those with lived experience of mental illness.
Medicare is an Australian icon and a great Labor legacy. And Medicare stands for free access to Health services for everyone who needs it. And we know that a missing piece in the promise of Medicare to the Australian people is mental health care where, unfortunately, it's still the case that your access to mental health treatment can be a bit dependent on how much money you have and where you live. And I'm so enthusiastic to partner with the Commonwealth government to take that challenge head on.
And these Medicare Mental Health Locals are exactly that - they are free mental health services for everyone who needs it. They are no referral or appointment mental health support for everyone who needs it. You can walk in the door of a Medicare Mental Health Local and connect with a peer worker, connect with a social worker and, through the additional funding of the Commonwealth Government, escalate that to a psychologist or a psychiatrist if you need it. You don't need an appointment. It isn't just 9:00 to 5:00. You don't need to be able to pay for private healthcare.
And that commitment that we have to ensuring that if you are struggling with your mental health, there is a place where you can go walk in a door and receive the kind of beautiful care that I know people receive in a place like this. And that care is available to you for free is really important to the New South Wales Government and I know it's important to the Commonwealth Government as well.
We're thrilled to have a number of these Mental Health Locals already, continue that partnership with the Commonwealth to get to that full 22 right across the state. We know that there is real need in western Sydney. It is a huge growth area. There is a lot of first generation Australians, there are a lot of people who struggle with the transition of arriving to a new country, all of those challenges can absolutely exacerbate people's mental health conditions. They need somewhere that they can go, receive support, receive it for free and receive it when they need it.
And they can do that here in Parramatta now. Soon they'll be able to do that in Blacktown, soon they'll be able to do that in Campbelltown. We're so proud to be delivering these services in communities where they're needed. And shout out to the Broken Hill and Central Darling as well because as the Minister for Water I actually visit that part of New South Wales a lot and, look, absolutely they feel the tyranny of distance. It should not be the case that just because you're in rural and remote New South Wales you can't access services. And really proud to have partnered with the Commonwealth to make sure every single part of the state is touched by this commitment.
Look, Emma said it. You know, there's a lot of kind of blame shifting and finger pointing that can happen between the state and the Commonwealth. We know that both our governments are really determined to put that behind us. It shouldn't matter where you live. It shouldn't matter how much money you have. It shouldn't matter whether you've got established links to clinical services. You should be able to have your mental health cared for. That can only happen through collaboration.
This is the meat on the bones of the collaboration. This is what it looks like. Co-funded services that bridge that gap between primary and secondary healthcare. People with severe mental health issues should be able to have their needs met. And the New South Wales government really wants to keep working on this journey, walking on this journey with you to make sure that we're doing that, and really proud of what we've been able to achieve. Thank you.
CHRIS BOWEN, MEMBER FOR MCMAHON: Well, thank you very much. Of course, I also celebrate the Darug people and pay my respects to their elders, past and present. Well, on behalf of Western Sydney I'm here to very much welcome this announcement on behalf of the two governments. And as the member for McMahon, which now encompasses Blacktown, I'm absolutely delighted that we will host a Medicare Mental Health centre.
This is wonderful part of the world. I grew up here. My kids are growing up here. Millions of us call Western Sydney home. But we're a special place for many reasons, and one of the reasons we're a special place is we are younger, we are more diverse. And with diversity comes opportunity to help people through their multifaceted journey through our country. And whether you have been here all your life or whether you've just arrived here we all, from time-to-time, need a little bit of guidance and assistance through the challenges and vicissitudes of life, and it's appropriate that a government leans in and helps, helps more and more.
And, you know, when Bob Hawke and Paul Keating and Neal Blewett were setting up Medicare, they wouldn’t have been expected to be dealing with mental health. It wasn't discussed. It wasn't regarded as part of the health system in 1983. It should have been but it wasn’t, just wasn't the world we lived in.
But here we are, all these years later, rejuvenating and refreshing and updating Medicare to deal with what we now know is part of a holistic health service on behalf of the country. And it's right and appropriate that Medicare plays this role and it’s right and appropriate that it plays it here in Western Sydney, which is home to so many millions of people. And millions of people find their way through the world is complicated, increasingly complicated difficult world of social media with so much to navigate, and sometimes people just need a little bit of assistance to get through that.
So, I'm absolutely pleased to thank Emma and Rose for your investment and your faith in Western Sydney. I look forward to coming to the opening mid-next year of the new centre in Blacktown. It'll be a good day for Western Sydney, as is today. So, thank you so much. And thank you to the frontline workers who are here in Parramatta and elsewhere. And I know some of you, no doubt, will end up in Blacktown and your peers, and I look forward to seeing you there and visiting the work that you do. So, thank you.
GILL ABADINES, MEDICARE MENTAL HEALTH CENTRE PEER WORKER: As a young person growing up in Western Sydney, facing mental health challenges, it was difficult to navigate the health system to receive adequate mental health support. Navigating the mental health system 10 years ago was difficult to do on your own, where a lot of my supports were fragmented and siloed. Ten years on, as an adult working in the mental health space as a peer worker, it gives me great hope for the future to hear the announcement of more Medicare Mental Health Centres opening throughout New South Wales, where a more collaborative approach to the care of consumers is being utilised.
Through the integrated approach that Medicare Mental Health Centres utilise, mental health clinicians and peer support workers can work alongside one another. By drawing on my lived experience of mental ill health and recovery, I provide an authentic point of connection and engagement for the consumers. Through the rapport built on collaboration and mutuality, consumers can voice what they want to get out of their journey when they come into one of our centres, providing autonomy back to consumers.
The support and care provided through these centres are not just about addressing immediate mental health needs, but also about empowering individuals to take control of the recovery journey The holistic and person centred approach ensures that every consumer feels heard, valued and supported.