ANNE URQUHART: Okay, so thanks very much for being here. Look, it's fantastic to be here with the wonderful Emma McBride, the Assistant Minister for Mental Health. We're here today and we have just opened this fantastic facility, the Medicare Mental Health Centre here in Devonport. It is a walk-in clinic. You don't have to pay, you don't need an appointment. You walk in, it's open between 10.00 and 6.00, and I'll hand over to Emma to tell you a little bit more about it. But I’m very excited that this is the first one in Tasmania that we've opened, that's right, and I'm just hoping that people find out about this to be able to come along and get the help they need when they need it.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Thank you so much, Anne, and I want to acknowledge Anne as the member for Braddon for your powerful advocacy. Through the advocacy of Anne, we've been able to secure $4.5 million to set up and run this new Medicare Mental Health Centre right here in Devonport. As Anne has said, we are bringing mental health care closer to home for so many people and for free. You don't need an appointment, you don't need a referral, and you don't need to pay. And we know that there is so much need in North West Tasmania, and this is part of a rollout of five in Tasmania, 91 across the country to make sure that wherever you live, you'll be able to get mental health support and care closer to home and sooner. And this will make such a big difference to people in Devonport and the surrounds, and there'll be one opening in Burnie soon, and in the future Glenorchy and Brighton too. A big investment from the Commonwealth in mental health support and care in the North West of Tasmania, across the state and across the country to make sure that people in our communities get the support that they need, the care that they deserve.
And I also wanted to say that a vital part of the centres is peer work. People like Tony who we've just met here today, bringing their own lived experience to walk alongside people, helping to break down stigma, helping to improve access to care, and making sure that it is person-centred, that it's tailored to the individual. This is bringing together lived experience and clinical support, a new open door for mental health in your community.
JOURNALIST: Not having to book in or have a referral, does that remove any roadblocks for people that otherwise wouldn't come in?
MCBRIDE: It does. We know that across the country, and particularly in Devonport and North West of Tasmania, it's taken too long for people to get the support they need, in which case distress can then become heightened to crisis. And what these centres will do will bring that earlier support to people, closer at home by removing of those barriers. They won't need to get a referral from a GP. They won't need to make an appointment. They can just walk in and they won't need to pay.
JOURNALIST: What kind of services do you have on offer here?
MCBRIDE: So here someone will be able to get peer support and also clinical support as well. This centre has got peer workers, social workers, and importantly these centres are networked across the country to a virtual support service of more specialist psychologists and psychiatrists. So if somebody does need that more expert care, they'll also be able to access it through here and for free.
JOURNALIST: Beyond the benefit to patients, are there any kind of upgraded facilities here that staff will benefit from?
MCBRIDE: Absolutely, and I've seen in these centres across the country, these are places that people want to work. I worked in mental health inpatient units for many years myself, and these are the kind of places that people want to work because it's providing the support that people need in a way that is tailored to individuals. And I've also seen through these centres people be able to have their own career development. I was talking to a peer worker yesterday in Penrith who's now a qualified social worker. So there's a benefit in also building the capacity of the local workforce and upskilling the local community.
JOURNALIST: How much funding went into this?
MCBRIDE: This centre, $4.5 million from the Commonwealth secured through your local member and the member for Braddon to be able to set up and run these centres. This is permanent and ongoing funding to make sure that people in your community know with certainty that when they need help, it will be here.
JOURNALIST: Great stuff. It's everything from me.
MCBRIDE: Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Anything else? Back to you, Anne.
JOURNALIST: I wanted to ask from a local perspective. Someone up on the North Coast, do they have much access to mental health services before this centre came up?
URQUHART: No, and that's the beauty of this centre is that people were finding it really difficult to get help. They would reach out mainly to their GP or in fact the emergency departments at our two hospitals here. So having a centre like this will hopefully take some of the pressure off the emergency departments, and hopefully will also provide people with that care that they need right at the early stages rather than waiting until they get to a crisis point.
JOURNALIST: How does it feel to have played a critical role in getting this centre up and running?
URQUHART: It's so exciting. And as I said, without Emma at the helm, I think she is an amazing advocate within the government for the mental health areas that we're working in. But it's just incredible to have this facility here. And as Emma said, we're going to have one in Burnie. It's just amazing to think that we're going to have two of these centres in Braddon for people right across the electorate to be able to access. And I've already spoken to Emma about hopefully getting some more, so I'm looking forward to having those concrete discussions further on. But I think it's just really great that we've got the first one open and hopefully the second one in the not too distant future.