DOM KNIGHT, HOST: The Federal Government has announced a plan to invest just over $42 million in immediate mental health support for those impacted. Emma McBride is the Federal Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. Emma McBride, thanks for joining us.
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Thanks for having me, Dom.
KNIGHT: $42 million is the budget. How's that going to be spent?
MCBRIDE: We're making sure that there is dedicated funding to support the Jewish community, the broader Bondi community, first responders and children and young people, to make sure that the support is available to them quickly and the right kind of support to meet their needs.
KNIGHT: And what does that look like?
MCBRIDE: For the Jewish community there will be targeted mental health support through trusted Jewish providers, that is community-led and that'll be $14.2 million. And also a further $4.5 million provided through Primary Health Networks, providing funding through to the Sydney region and broader communities with significant Jewish populations who have been impacted to provide additional psychological therapies.
KNIGHT: And if people are listening and thinking, that's great, I probably need some of that, where would they go?
MCBRIDE: At the moment, the New South Wales Government has got mental health workers on ground, both in Bondi and Coogee in high vests from 8:00am until 8:00pm, provide immediate access to mental health support. We're also supporting headspace at Bondi with a boost in funding of more than $2 million. Having spoken to headspace National today, we have seen an increase in demand for headspace support, particularly from older young people. And this funding will help to increase their operating hours so they can see more young people sooner.
KNIGHT: That's really good to hear that there are people on the ground, Assistant Minister, actually helping people and that there are vests already in place. But it sounds like this is a bit of a longer-term initiative. Is that right?
MCBRIDE: This is our intention. Because we know as much immediate support is vital, the long-term impact of this on individuals and communities will be significant. And we want to make sure that we have the immediate support now, but also longer-term support. We'll be also establishing a Medicare Mental Health Centre temporarily in the Bondi area, with a particular focus on trauma.
And so those of your listeners who are yet to visit a Medicare Mental Health Centre, they're a place where you can walk in, where you don't need to wait for a diagnosis, where you don't need a referral, and when you can receive mental health support and care for free. So that'll be happening. It's already currently underway, the planning for it, but it should commence operations early in the New Year.
KNIGHT: Yeah, I wasn't familiar those centres, so I'm glad to hear that. Because traditionally – and, I mean, this is a great thing in and of itself, it wasn't always the case - but you did need the GP referral and the mental health plan to access that sort of care. Sounds as though you can just turn up and it will be available on site.
MCBRIDE: We want to make sure that we remove any barriers to people being able to access care. So yes, as I mentioned, you won't need to get a diagnosis or a referral from a GP, you'll just be able to walk in and it's for free. And also, in the meantime, there has been a big surge - and I know that you had the CEO of Lifeline on the ABC earlier this week - but there's been a big surge in calls to crisis lines, so we're also boosting funding to the national crisis lines of $7.6 million to be able to scale up their capacity.
And I was talking earlier this afternoon to the CEO of Kids Helpline, and interestingly, they've had an uptick in parents seeking guidance on how to support their young people. So just to let your listeners know that Kids Helpline is also available to parents and is available 24-7 online and phone counselling service.
KNIGHT: Emma McBride is Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in the Federal Government. That's 4.15 here on 702 ABC Radio Sydney. Thank you, Assistant Minister, for telling us about all these things. I mean, we know that the trauma from these sorts of events is often measured in months or even years. It's just the start of a long road.
MCBRIDE: It is. And we also want to make sure that first responders - and I know so many of your listeners would’ve seen footage of the lifeguards running towards danger and other community members who witnessed the attack and tried to help others. So, we're working with the Black Dog Institute and their National Emergency Workers Support Service to expand that service to be available to other first responders to make sure that they can get free psychological sessions. Because we know that post-traumatic stress disorder can have a long-term impact on people, but with the right intervention quickly they're able to heal and recover.
KNIGHT: Yeah, if you do need Lifeline, and we’ve just heard that they're getting some additional funding and there's been a surge in calls, but 13 11 14 is the number, 13 11 14. Just hearing this discussion may cause concern to some. Understandably, a lot of people listening and in in our community will have been through an enormous amount in recent times. The kids helpline that the Assistant Minister mentions as well is 1800 551 800, 1800 551 800. What kind of response have you got, Emma McBride, to the announcement?
MCBRIDE: It has been very welcome. I had the opportunity to host a briefing with key mental health stakeholders yesterday, and the support has been very welcome. We're working very closely with the New South Wales Government, and I want to acknowledge Minister Ryan Park and Rose Jackson and the close collaboration. Because we're doing this in an integrated way to make sure that support reaches the people most impacted as quickly as possible.
And I also wanted to mention, Dom, many of your listeners might have been affected by trauma or torture in other parts of the world that they came from before they lived in Australia, and we're also supporting the Witness to War Multilingual support line. It's going to get a boost of $3.6 million to support Australians who are affected by war-related conflict. Because we know the terrorist attack at Bondi is likely to trigger many of those people and we want to make sure that the support that is appropriate for them in language is available.
KNIGHT: Yeah, that's great to hear. I mean, I guess we’re only just coming to terms with what this all means. This is an event, the scale of which and the shocking nature of which, I think we haven't really seen in Australia before. It's a violation of our home and our precious beach. It's a violation of our beloved Jewish community. And it's a violation of a really important community in Bondi. So we're just coming to terms with what it all means, I guess. It's early days.
I should also just ask you, Emma McBride, while we've got you, I wasn't familiar with the Medicare Mental Health Centres, I must say. I probably should have known about them, but I didn't. And looking at the website here, medicarementalhealth.gov.au, it looks like there's quite a lot of them and indeed quite a few of them in Greater Sydney and the Central Coast, where we're broadcasting to today.
MCBRIDE: There are. We've opened 50 Medicare Mental Health Centres across the country, and I'm really pleased to see that, already with these centres being open, that more people are being able to walk in and access care close to home and for free. It's really making a big difference to people being able to access the support and care they need.
And a feature of the Medicare Mental Health Centres is peer workers or lived experience. As a mental health worker myself, I know the value of being able to be greeted by someone who's walked in your shoes, or someone who's had a similar experience. So all of the Medicare Mental Health Centres also are staffed by peer workers working side by side with clinicians to make sure that people can get the wraparound support and care they need. And they're also linked to a national network of more specialist psychologists and psychiatrists. So if someone was to walk into a centre on the Central Coast or in Sydney and they need that more specialised support, that will also be available to them and for free.
KNIGHT: Okay. So it sounds as though you have firsthand experience of working in the sector, which I wasn't aware of.
MCBRIDE: Yeah. I'm a pharmacist by background and trained in public health and worked in mental health, both in the NHS and in my local hospital for nearly 10 years. And it's one of the reasons that I do this job, and also for me to be able to see real change and the direct- the difference that people being able to access care they need close to home and soon. I saw too many people in distress end up in crisis and brought in by ambulance or police in my previous role, and I know that supporting the community earlier and for free makes such a big difference to so many people and families.
KNIGHT: There's quite a lot of people in the Federal Parliament at the moment who have first-hand healthcare experience. It's really interesting to hear about how that's influenced the job that you do now.
Just a couple of more details before you go, Assistant Minister, of this funding package. I know a lot of our listeners are concerned about first responders, lifeguards, and other community members - those who ran towards danger on Sunday night - and there's a particular program with the Black Dog Institute which looks after people in those professions.
MCBRIDE: Yes. That program, for your listeners, is called the National Emergency Worker Support Service or NEWSS. It's a leading global program. It's evidence based. And through our psychological support, in a very targeted way, first responders are able to recover from PTSD. The difference that makes for the individual is profound. The difference it makes for our support services and the communities that they protect is significant.
So, we're so pleased to be working closely with the Black Dog Institute, and they have in-person clinics - the depression clinic at the University of New South Wales and also the traumatic stress clinic for people with more severe symptoms. So, a big boost in funding of $5.6 million. And also, as I mentioned, an expansion of the definition of a first responder to include lifeguards or others to make sure that more people can benefit from that specialist psychological support and care.
KNIGHT: Emma McBride, thank you very much for your time this afternoon.
MCBRIDE: Thanks, Dom. Thanks for having me.
KNIGHT: That's Emma McBride there, Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. She's the Member for Dobell on the Central Coast.