DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER RICHARD MARLES: Well, welcome here to Geelong Headspace. It's fantastic to be here with Emma McBride who is our Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. This is a fantastic service. This is one of the very first headspaces that was established in Australia. I think today there's 175 headspaces around Australia. 1500 people every year are able to use the services here at the Geelong headspace and it is over the period from 2007 when it was first opened, a service that has become very much relied upon, I think much loved actually, and a place that young people are coming to and getting much needed assistance for a range of services and supports across the challenges that people are having with mental health.
And it's in that context that we are really excited that one of the 30 headspace Plus announcements that we'll be doing around the country, we're doing right here in Geelong, and I'm obviously going to allow Emma to do that. But we're very excited to see this headspace be elevated to a headspace Plus. And with that, I'll hand over to Emma.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Thank you so much, DPM. It's wonderful to be here in Geelong today in the headspace. As the Deputy Prime Minister said, this headspace was established in 2007. In 2007, one in five young people experience mental health concerns in any year. That has now doubled, which is why I'm proud to be part of a government that at the last election committed $1.1 billion to improve the mental health and wellbeing of all Australians, and a significant portion of that more than $700 million towards youth mental health.
We know, as Richard had said, that more than 1500 local young people come to headspace here in Geelong each year and that providing more than 7000 occasions of care, Headspace provides support for mental health, for physical health, for sexual health, for alcohol and other drug support. And it is a service that in this community is in much demand with growing need, which is why we're really proud to announce today that headspace Geelong will become a headspace Plus. One of 30 across the country and one of the first 10 to become a headspace Plus. Work will start on the establishment of the headspace Plus here next month and we expect that it will be finished and uplifted to a headspace Plus within about 12 months.
And what headspace Plus means is more staff, more services and more support for the growing needs of young Australians today. As I said, this is part of a more than $1.1 billion investment in mental health and suicide prevention, the largest investment by a Commonwealth in mental health and wellbeing, and the largest portion of that directed to support children and young people.
We also know that most mental health conditions develop in adolescence, so we need to provide more support to young Australians today. headspace provides that support to young people aged 12 to 25 in 175 centres across the country. We're also expanding that network to more than 200 across the country. And as I mentioned, uplifting 30 of those headspaces and this one right here in Geelong to a headspace Plus. It'll make such a big difference to young people, to their families and to the local community.
And as a former mental health worker myself who worked in acute inpatient services for many years, I want to thank the staff here at headspace for the work that they do each day supporting young people in this community. And a special shout out to the youth reference group, the young people who give from their own lived experience to make sure that headspaces continue to evolve to meet the changing needs of young people today. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Assistant Minister, how many more staff and how many- and what sort of services are we talking about?
MCBRIDE: In the headspace like this centre in Geelong, there’s about sort of 20 staff. We expect that staff will increase significantly to make sure that we have the capacity to meet the needs of young people today and also the type of support that they need. The needs of young people have become much more complex since the headspace model was first developed. This headspace here has GPs, has counsellors. We want to strengthen the clinical support and also expand the support of peer workers building on or using their own personal lived experience to support young people today. So more staff, more wraparound support, and support sooner for young people including here in Geelong.
JOURNALIST: There's been observations perhaps in the last 12 months of perhaps people that are mentally unwell and needing that support through the Geelong region and it's creating some safety issues for other residents and people in Geelong. How will pushing this to a headspace Plus improve that and get those people the help they need?
MCBRIDE: We know that people living with mental health concerns are more at risk for their own safety, but what we also know that is when services are provided that meet people's needs that the whole of the community benefits. So, a safe place and a trusted place for young people to be able to seek support and to seek it sooner.
JOURNALIST: Thank you.
MARLES: Have you got questions for me?
JOURNALIST: Yes, I do.
JOURNALIST: I've got one that's connected to the health [indistinct] unless you want to go first?
JOURNALIST: No, you go first.
MARLES: It relates to this?
JOURNALIST: Yes, loosely, yes. Kind of jumps off the back of what Emma just said with the safety and things, that people are feeling unsafe in Geelong. I'm sure you've seen recently reports of healthcare workers being assaulted on their way to work at a university hospital just up the road. Do you think that there should be a shuttle bus? Do you think there should be something put in place for those staff members?
MARLES: Well, I think, firstly, the safety of those working in our health services is absolutely paramount. And I know that Barwon Health goes a long way in terms of thinking and providing for the safety of its staff, and that's absolutely critical. I mean, this is a matter that will be worked through, I'm sure, by them. But, I mean, we all need to be mindful about- thinking about the way in which we interact with those health professionals but very much- including across the board in our health services, nurses, everyone. They're providing a critical community service, and it's not okay to be engaging in a way which puts their sense of safety in question, puts them in a state of fear. But again, this is something I know that Barwon Health is very mindful of and working with staff about.
JOURNALIST: Thank you.
JOURNALIST: I've got three from Canberra. You announced changes to the AUKUS pathway about a week ago. Do you acknowledge the communication has been a bit messy since then?
MARLES: I don't accept that. I think- we announced this out of the AUKUS Defence Ministers' Meeting in Singapore, which I participated in on Saturday. I mean, what's really clear about AUKUS is that it is happening. The key milestone- the key first milestone or next milestone in relation to AUKUS is the readiness of the Submarine Rotation Force-West at HMAS Stirling south of Perth from the end of next year, and that is on track. We are building the submarine construction yard at the Osborne Naval Shipyard in Adelaide. We're building the Skills and Training Academy in Adelaide. This is all happening.
Now, we announced that of the eight submarines that we will ultimately operate, we being the Royal Australian Navy, that one of those, the third, goes from being a new Virginia to an in-service Virginia. It's actually something which is a good outcome from our point of view. It gives consistency across the Virginia fleet. There's a whole lot of benefits in terms of the way in which we operate the submarines, interchangeability of the crews and the like, which will be much better as a result. And it's a financially better deal. It's actually what we wanted from the start, and we're happy that this is the outcome.
JOURNALIST: The 2026 IIP-flagged investment in medium-range, ground-based air defence this year, what options are you looking at and when can we expect a decision?
MARLES: Well, all of those have been worked through, but the Integrated Investment Program is clear in terms of the allocation in respect of those systems and we will make those decisions in due course.
JOURNALIST: Last one, do you want to see a reduction in house prices as a result of your negative gearing and CGT changes?
MARLES: Housing is an important investment, and people owning their own home are obviously keen to ensure that the value of their home continues to rise. But this is about, over the longer term, making housing more competitive. I mean the fundamental point here is that what we've seen over the last couple of decades is that housing prices have risen much more dramatically relative to incomes, to wages. And so, the relative ability to purchase a house today is much harder than it was 20 years ago. That's what we are seeking to address. It's not a simplistic thing in relation to housing prices over the coming days. We are looking at it over that period.
But it's important to understand that this is having a benefit right now. What's being reported since the moment that we have announced the changes that we have in the Budget is that first-home buyers are finding themselves in a much more competitive position right now on this day in terms of options. And that has literally been reported in the last few weeks since the Budget was announced, and that's what we are trying to do. We need to be setting this on a different trajectory. There needs to be a sense of generational fairness in relation to this. And this is a really important step that we are taking, which is going to allow younger Australians, first-home buyers, to get into the housing market and to realise what has been the Australian dream for a very long period of time. The next generation have just the same rights as someone of my age has to aspire to home ownership and getting a roof over their head, and we're really proud that the changes that we've made in the Budget allows that to occur.