Mr BYRNE (1:38 PM) —I want to discuss how we treat mental health and how we fund the provision of mental health services in our community, particularly with respect to the budget. All of us here would agree that the most disadvantaged amongst us are probably those with mental illness. We see them on the streets. If you look at the statistics you will see that 20 per cent of the population, according to the Australian National Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, experience a mental health problem or illness each year. Three per cent experience serious mental illness, including psychotic disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Of great concern is the fact that 14 per cent of Australian children experience mental illness. That is a concern for the population of the City of Casey, which has 40,000 children aged between zero and 12. Youth Services in that area, and other organisations that provide services to youth, are talking about an epidemic of undiagnosed depression, particularly, and other mental illnesses.

Mental illness makes up 13 per cent of the total disease burden and nearly 30 per cent of the non-disease burden. Worst of all, in 2001 2,454 persons died of suicide—10.6 years of potential life lost. The vast majority of suicides involve persons with untreated mental illness. We spend seven per cent of our health budget on the provision of services to those with mental illness—that is, $2.56 billion a year. Concerningly and very disturbingly, other First World countries spend between 10 and 14 per cent of their health budget on the provision of services for those with mental illness. This is a disgrace. When you consider that 62 per cent of people with mental health disorders do not actually get treatment or utilise health services and that 38 per cent of those with mental illness access services but predominantly access GPs, we have a very worrying situation. That is reflected in my region, with the number of people who approach my office with difficulty in accessing psychiatric services.

One would expect, particularly given the $52 billion that was announced in the budget, that there would be some additional funding to mental health services, but I regret to inform this chamber that not one extra cent of funding has been provided—not one word and not one cent. That was confirmed in a press release put out by SANE on 13 May 2004. My time is short and I want to give other speakers an opportunity. Given the scope of the problem in this community and the concerns that people, including carers, have—the lives lost, the loss of quality of life—the fact that no additional funding has been given to mental health services in this budget is an absolute disgrace.