ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: I'm pleased to be back here in Townsville outside of the Medicare Mental Health Centre. This is one of one of the first five to open across the country, and we're celebrating a significant milestone with more than 12,000 visits here. With Medicare Mental Health Centres, we're expanding and strengthening the network across the country. This will be one of 24 in Queensland and 91 across the country as part of our $ 1.1 billion investment in mental health funding at the last election. And what is really important about Medicare Mental Health Centres is that you walk in, you don't need an appointment, you don't need a diagnosis and you don't need to pay. And what we're seeing is here at the Medicare Mental Health Centre in Townsville, more than six people a day walk in to get free support and care, and often they'll be greeted by a peer worker. A peer worker is someone with their own lived experience, which is often the best start to someone seeking mental health and support. And those peer workers are working side by side with really experienced and highly trained clinicians, including social workers, OTs, psychologists, a consultant psychiatrist, a registered nurse, and a GP. So fully wraparound support and care for anybody to walk in.
I'm also here today with Michelle, the clinical services manager. We'll be able to share with you more about what this centre does and the real difference it's made to people in the Townsville community, the services it has provided so far and what it's going to do in the future. But I also wanted to make another mental health announcement today. Today, I can announce that the Albanese Labor Government is committing $13 million to grow our network of perinatal mental health centres to 20 across the country, including one right here in Townsville. This is in partnership with the Gidget Foundation, where someone will be able to have free access to psychological support in that really vital perinatal period. We know that about one in five expectant or new mothers and one in 10 expectant or new fathers are likely to experience perinatal anxiety or depression. That's up to 100,000 Australians each year. And we also know in Townsville and the surrounding area that there are higher levels of psychological distress, and traditionally there's been less access to services. So in partnership with the Gidget Foundation, in the coming months there'll be a new perinatal mental health centre right here in Townsville. The location will be decided working with the Primary Health Network and Queensland Health to make sure it's accessible and convenient. I've opened one in Rockhampton which was in Stockland shopping centre, one in Greenslopes which was part of the hospital. So the location, as I said, will be decided with the support of Queensland Health and the Primary Health Network to make sure that it's accessible. But really important news for expecting new parents in Townsville that there will be a free perinatal mental health and support in the coming months. I might hand over now to Michelle to talk more about this incredible centre here in Townsville and the work that they're doing supporting so many people and families, and then after that I'll be able to take questions.
MICHELLE RAMM: Hi. So as Emma said, we're a free mental health service. We're open seven days and extended hours. So you don't need an appointment. You can just walk in, there's no wait times, no wait lists, no referrals needed. We're open 10.00 am to 8.30pm Monday to Friday, and 12.00 pm to 8.30pm on weekends and public holidays. There's no day that we close.
JOURNALIST: And what sort of demand are you seeing for the service? Sorry, I'll just get you to move a little.
JOURNALIST: Yeah, thanks.
RAMM: We're seeing a real increased demand at the moment, which is really exciting because obviously all of the media and it's really getting out to the community. We've been able to successfully divert approximately 24 per cent of people from going to ED into the centre. So that's taken strain off our public health system as well and the ED, which we're very proud of.
JOURNALIST: What are some of the roles of people that are here? What are some of the positions that you have?
RAMM: Yeah. So we have about a 50 per cent lived experience workforce. So we have peer workers and we also have peer practice lead, and then we have the clinical roles. So like Emma mentioned, multi-disciplinary clinical team, yeah.
JOURNALIST: You know that regional areas like Townsville have higher suicide rates. Where can you still see some of his service having gaps in this region?
RAMM: I guess it's tricky. Like, one of the purposes of this centre is to meet a gap in the community and mental health services. We have a [audio skip] door approach. So anybody experiencing any kind of mental health concerns or suicidal distress can present here. So I guess even though it can be difficult sometimes to find alternative services to refer on, anybody can present here and we can help them in the immediate- in their immediate life.
JOURNALIST: What would be your message to someone who perhaps doesn't know about this or encouraging people to come to this space if they need help?
RAMM: So I guess this is a really warm, welcoming space. It's tricky to gauge what it's like from the outside, and often we get the feedback that we're just not quite sure what's behind these doors. It's always really reassuring and lovely to hear when people do walk in the doors. They're like, oh my gosh, this place is so lovely and I just feel so welcome. And that's also backed up by the guest feedback that we've received. So people that do access the centre provide overwhelmingly positive feedback, which is really heart-warming to see. So the experience that they've received from the staff, the staff are all very compassionate and caring and meet people where they're at.
JOURNALIST: Do these centres have- does your centre have a waitlist at the moment for people? Or …
RAMM: Our centre never has a waitlist. We're designed to be available immediately to anybody that walks in. So we have booked appointments and walk in availability. You don't need a referral, you just walk in. So we have trained mental health professionals if people are seeking that. And then once they access us and we work through their immediate needs, then we can- as a referral on to a psychology service or whatever service that they- would best meet their needs.
JOURNALIST: Perfect.
MCBRIDE: I might just add to that if I can, and congratulate Michelle and her team for the incredible work that they do. And we're now linking Medicare Mental Health Centres to a virtual network of specialist psychologists and psychiatrists. So that if someone does walk into a centre and need an appointment, that can also be arranged for them and for free. Because we want to make sure that we remove any barriers for people to be accessing support, including out of pocket costs. Any more questions? Oh, sure.
JOURNALIST: I guess, can you explain in more detail why was Townsville specifically chosen as one of the first places for this service?
MCBRIDE: When we're looking at the need across the country, and it is large and growing everywhere, we wanted to make sure that communities which had really high need were able to access services quickly. So it's why Townsville was one of the first centres that was chosen to be open. There'll also be in the near future new services opening both in Mackay and Cairns. As I mentioned before, a network of 91 across the country, growing to 24 in Queensland, to make sure that wherever people are, particularly in the outer suburbs or more regional and remote Australia, that they can get the support and care that they need are close to home, for free.
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible]
MCBRIDE: As Michelle mentioned and from the local data here that they've captured, about 24 per cent of the presentations here would otherwise have gone to the local hospital emergency departments. And having worked in acute mental health and patient services myself, I know the staff there are incredibly dedicated but the demand continues to grow, which is one of the reasons why we've worked with the states and territories to enter into the national mental suicide prevention [indistinct] to make sure that we can provide- working in partnership with the states and territories, provide the support that people need, particularly in the community
JOURNALIST: And up until now, new parents have obviously been able to come to this centre. So is it going to lighten the load by sharing across and then freeing up space here for people with other issues?
MCBRIDE: So, yeah, expectant or new parents will still be able to come to a centre like this if that is their- if that's more convenient to them or if that's their preference. But we also acknowledge that there is a particular type of support and care in that perinatal period, and being able to partner with the Gidget Foundation which has such expertise and experience will mean that we can provide that more specialist care for those expectant or new parents. And as I mentioned, we know that one in five expectant or new mothers and one in 10 expected or new fathers experience or at risk of perinatal depression and anxiety. If someone's had a previous experience of perinatal depression or anxiety, they're much more likely to experience in the perinatal period, including if they've had a complicated pregnancy or a difficult birth. So we wanted to make sure that alongside a service like the Medicare Mental Health Centre, which is open to everybody, that we do have services for particular needs, including for example in your community headspace in Townsville, which we'll be visiting later this morning. And I'm also pleased to let your listeners know that headspace Townsville will be one of the first headspaces in Australia to be uplifted to a headspace Plus, a new model of care recognising that the needs of young people are becoming more complex and young people are presenting with more severe presentations than they were when headspace was designed 20 years ago. So really important news for young people and families for people aged 12 to 25 that in addition to the Medicare Mental Health Centre and the new perinatal mental health centre that there will be an uplift to headspace here as well. So we're trying to make sure that whatever age you are and whatever you're experiencing, that there will be a walk-in free service that meets your needs.
JOURNALIST: Do you have any projections as to how many people this will support?
MCBRIDE: From the data that we have across the country, they expect more than 700 parents to be able to use the centre in any year. Given the higher psychological distress in this community, I expect that it may be around that or perhaps higher, but we've- it's got the right funding and the right workforce to be able to meet those needs.
JOURNALIST: Is that 700 parents?
MCBRIDE: Yes. So of the centres that the Commonwealth has helped fund so far, as I said, this would be another eight to take it to 20, but typically they meet the needs of about 700 or 780 parents each year.
JOURNALIST: And just a similar question as for why Townsville for the perinatal centre, and I guess off the back of what you sort of just mentioned there, the stress that's involved with or can be involved with I guess that time of life.
MCBRIDE: Yeah, we wanted to make sure, and looking at a community like Townsville and the surrounding areas, there is a higher psychological distress that exists in this community compared to perhaps some other urban areas. So working with the Queensland Health and the Primary Health Network, Townsville was then identified as a community that would need more support. And I'm really pleased that we've been able to secure that funding and that Townsville will have a dedicated perinatal mental health service soon. And for as I said that one in five new mums or one in 10 new dads that are at risk, to be able to get that early support for free, that's so important for them and also for their new family.
JOURNALIST: Do we have a potential timeline?
MCBRIDE: It should be in the coming months. And as I said, the location will be chosen including proper consultation to make sure that it's convenient. As I mentioned, the one in Rockhampton is in a Stockland shopping centre, the one in Greenslopes is in hospital, making sure that they're places that are convenient and accessible for new parents.
JOURNALIST: And what kind of jobs will be available at the centre? Will some of the staff be pulled from here to go over there, or is there going to be some new roles created?
MCBRIDE: So, we're working in partnership with the Gidget Foundation, and the roles within um Gidget Houses are for clinical psychologists. So there is the scope as part of this national footprint for more psychologists with a particular expertise in that perinatal care. But again, boosting availability and access to mental health clinicians here. To think that somebody could walk into this Medicare Mental Health Centre and be have access to psychologists, social workers, psychiatrists, registered nurses, GPs, the difference it makes having that wraparound multi-disciplinary care to individuals and families is really having an impact as we've seen by the 12,000 visits.
JOURNALIST: Thank you.
MCBRIDE: Thank you everybody.