Albanese Labor Government fails to provide mental health relief as suicide rates rise in…
Melissa McIntosh MP, Federal Member for
Lindsay, is concerned the Albanese Labor Government has failed to take serious
action on tackling Australia’s mental health crisis, as suicide rates rose by
an alarming 7% in 2022 in the nation’s most populous states of New South Wales
and Victoria.
Ahead of World
Suicide Prevention Day on 10 September, peak body Suicide Prevention Australia
published its annual State of the Nation report and quarterly Community
Tracker.
According to the
organisation, the relief measures provided by the Albanese Labor Government in
the last Federal Budget have done little for Australian families struggling
with the rise in cost of living.
The data from
Suicide Prevention Australia paints a concerning picture of the risks of
increasing suicide rates, due to distress caused by cost of living and personal
debt, housing access and affordability, and social isolation.
The report raises
the alarm that for the first time more than half of Australian families (56%)
are reporting unprecedented levels of cost of living distress, with nearly half
of those surveyed (46%) stating that ‘cost of living and personal debt’ was their
highest causes of distress, for the fifth quarter in a row.
Further, the report
which surveys organisations working towards suicide prevention notes they are
experiencing a 77% increase in demand for services over the last 12 months and
81% require more funding to meet this need. Alarmingly, more than 8 in 10 respondents
anticipate a rise in suicide rates over the next year.
Mrs McIntosh said,
“In a cost of living crisis, we need more affordable mental health support to
assist Australians in need. This is why a Coalition government will restore the
full 20 Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions which were slashed to 10 under
the Albanese Labor Government.”
“The Albanese Labor
Government has been ineffectual in addressing the economic challenges impacting
families’ hip-pockets and their mental health.
“Today’s report has
called for an urgent whole-of-government response and accelerated
implementation of targeted economic policy to give Australians the relief they
urgently need.
“We are seeing
Australians increasingly becoming at risk of suicide as the bills mount up,
with mortgage and rents rising exponentially and daily grocery essentials
priced out of people’s budgets.
“I have heard some
shocking stories from people across Australia, and they are telling me they do
not believe the Government is doing enough to help them or see relief on the
horizon.