PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES (HANSARD) - PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA - LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY FIFTY-NINTH PARLIAMENT FIRST SESSION TUESDAY, 2 MARCH 2021
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PARLIAMENT OF VICTORIA
PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES
(HANSARD)
LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
FIFTY-NINTH PARLIAMENT
FIRST SESSION
TUESDAY, 2 MARCH 2021
Internet: www.parliament.vic.gov.au/downloadhansard
By authority of the Victorian Government PrinterThe Governor
The Honourable LINDA DESSAU, AC
The Lieutenant-Governor
The Honourable KEN LAY, AO, APM
The ministry
Premier . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. DM Andrews, MP
Deputy Premier, Minister for Education and Minister for Mental Health The Hon. JA Merlino, MP
Attorney-General and Minister for Resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. J Symes, MLC
Minister for Transport Infrastructure and Minister for the Suburban Rail
Loop . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. JM Allan, MP
Minister for Training and Skills, and Minister for Higher Education . . . . The Hon. GA Tierney, MLC
Treasurer, Minister for Economic Development and Minister for
Industrial Relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. TH Pallas, MP
Minister for Public Transport and Minister for Roads and Road Safety . . The Hon. BA Carroll, MP
Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change, and Minister for
Solar Homes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. L D’Ambrosio, MP
Minister for Child Protection and Minister for Disability, Ageing and
Carers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. LA Donnellan, MP
Minister for Health, Minister for Ambulance Services and Minister for
Equality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. MP Foley, MP
Minister for Ports and Freight, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Gaming
and Liquor Regulation, and Minister for Fishing and Boating . . . . . . . The Hon. MM Horne, MP
Minister for Crime Prevention, Minister for Corrections, Minister for
Youth Justice and Minister for Victim Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. NM Hutchins, MP
Minister for Local Government, Minister for Suburban Development and
Minister for Veterans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. SL Leane, MLC
Minister for Water and Minister for Police and Emergency Services . . . . The Hon. LM Neville, MP
Minister for Industry Support and Recovery, Minister for Trade, Minister
for Business Precincts, Minister for Tourism, Sport and Major Events,
and Minister for Racing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. MP Pakula, MP
Assistant Treasurer, Minister for Regulatory Reform, Minister for
Government Services and Minister for Creative Industries . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. DJ Pearson, MP
Minister for Employment, Minister for Innovation, Medical Research
and the Digital Economy, and Minister for Small Business . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. JL Pulford, MLC
Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Community Sport and
Minister for Youth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. RL Spence, MP
Minister for Workplace Safety and Minister for Early Childhood . . . . . . . The Hon. I Stitt, MLC
Minister for Agriculture and Minister for Regional Development . . . . . . . The Hon. M Thomas, MP
Minister for Prevention of Family Violence, Minister for Women and
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. G Williams, MP
Minister for Planning and Minister for Housing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The Hon. RW Wynne, MP
Cabinet Secretary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Ms S Kilkenny, MPOFFICE-HOLDERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
FIFTY-NINTH PARLIAMENT—FIRST SESSION
Speaker
The Hon. CW BROOKS
Deputy Speaker
Ms JM EDWARDS
Acting Speakers
Ms Blandthorn, Mr J Bull, Mr Carbines, Ms Connolly, Ms Couzens, Ms Crugnale, Mr Dimopoulos, Mr Edbrooke,
Ms Halfpenny, Ms Kilkenny, Mr McGuire, Ms Richards, Mr Richardson, Ms Settle, Ms Suleyman, Mr Taylor and
Ms Ward
Leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party and Premier
The Hon. DM ANDREWS
Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Labor Party and Deputy Premier
The Hon. JA MERLINO
Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party and Leader of the Opposition
The Hon. MA O’BRIEN
Deputy Leader of the Parliamentary Liberal Party
The Hon. LG McLEISH
Leader of The Nationals and Deputy Leader of the Opposition
The Hon. PL WALSH
Deputy Leader of The Nationals
Ms SM RYAN
Leader of the House
Ms JM ALLAN
Manager of Opposition Business
Mr KA WELLS
Heads of parliamentary departments
Assembly: Clerk of the Legislative Assembly: Ms B Noonan
Council: Clerk of the Parliaments and Clerk of the Legislative Council: Mr A Young
Parliamentary Services: Secretary: Mr P LochertMEMBERS OF THE LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY
FIFTY-NINTH PARLIAMENT—FIRST SESSION
Member District Party Member District Party
Addison, Ms Juliana Wendouree ALP Maas, Mr Gary Narre Warren South ALP
Allan, Ms Jacinta Marie Bendigo East ALP McCurdy, Mr Timothy Logan Ovens Valley Nats
Andrews, Mr Daniel Michael Mulgrave ALP McGhie, Mr Stephen John Melton ALP
Angus, Mr Neil Andrew Warwick Forest Hill LP McGuire, Mr Frank Broadmeadows ALP
Battin, Mr Bradley William Gembrook LP McLeish, Ms Lucinda Gaye Eildon LP
Blackwood, Mr Gary John Narracan LP Merlino, Mr James Anthony Monbulk ALP
Blandthorn, Ms Elizabeth Anne Pascoe Vale ALP Morris, Mr David Charles Mornington LP
Brayne, Mr Chris Nepean ALP Neville, Ms Lisa Mary Bellarine ALP
Britnell, Ms Roma South-West Coast LP Newbury, Mr James Brighton LP
Brooks, Mr Colin William Bundoora ALP Northe, Mr Russell John Morwell Ind
Bull, Mr Joshua Michael Sunbury ALP O’Brien, Mr Daniel David Gippsland South Nats
Bull, Mr Timothy Owen Gippsland East Nats O’Brien, Mr Michael Anthony Malvern LP
Burgess, Mr Neale Ronald Hastings LP Pakula, Mr Martin Philip Keysborough ALP
Carbines, Mr Anthony Richard Ivanhoe ALP Pallas, Mr Timothy Hugh Werribee ALP
Carroll, Mr Benjamin Alan Niddrie ALP Pearson, Mr Daniel James Essendon ALP
Cheeseman, Mr Darren Leicester South Barwon ALP Read, Dr Tim Brunswick Greens
Connolly, Ms Sarah Tarneit ALP Richards, Ms Pauline Cranbourne ALP
Couzens, Ms Christine Anne Geelong ALP Richardson, Mr Timothy Noel Mordialloc ALP
Crugnale, Ms Jordan Alessandra Bass ALP Riordan, Mr Richard Vincent Polwarth LP
Cupper, Ms Ali Mildura Ind Rowswell, Mr Brad Sandringham LP
D’Ambrosio, Ms Liliana Mill Park ALP Ryan, Stephanie Maureen Euroa Nats
Dimopoulos, Mr Stephen Oakleigh ALP Sandell, Ms Ellen Melbourne Greens
Donnellan, Mr Luke Anthony Narre Warren North ALP Scott, Mr Robin David Preston ALP
Edbrooke, Mr Paul Andrew Frankston ALP Settle, Ms Michaela Buninyong ALP
Edwards, Ms Janice Maree Bendigo West ALP Sheed, Ms Suzanna Shepparton Ind
Eren, Mr John Hamdi Lara ALP Smith, Mr Ryan Warrandyte LP
Foley, Mr Martin Peter Albert Park ALP Smith, Mr Timothy Colin Kew LP
Fowles, Mr Will Burwood ALP Southwick, Mr David James Caulfield LP
Fregon, Mr Matt Mount Waverley ALP Spence, Ms Rosalind Louise Yuroke ALP
Green, Ms Danielle Louise Yan Yean ALP Staikos, Mr Nicholas Bentleigh ALP
Guy, Mr Matthew Jason Bulleen LP Staley, Ms Louise Eileen Ripon LP
Halfpenny, Ms Bronwyn Thomastown ALP Suleyman, Ms Natalie St Albans ALP
Hall, Ms Katie Footscray ALP Tak, Mr Meng Heang Clarinda ALP
Halse, Mr Dustin Ringwood ALP Taylor, Mr Jackson Bayswater ALP
Hamer, Mr Paul Box Hill ALP Theophanous, Ms Katerina Northcote ALP
Hennessy, Ms Jill Altona ALP Thomas, Ms Mary-Anne Macedon ALP
Hibbins, Mr Samuel Peter Prahran Greens Tilley, Mr William John Benambra LP
Hodgett, Mr David John Croydon LP Vallence, Ms Bridget Evelyn LP
Horne, Ms Melissa Margaret Williamstown ALP Wakeling, Mr Nicholas Ferntree Gully LP
Hutchins, Ms Natalie Maree Sykes Sydenham ALP Walsh, Mr Peter Lindsay Murray Plains Nats
Kairouz, Ms Marlene Kororoit ALP Ward, Ms Vicki Eltham ALP
Kealy, Ms Emma Jayne Lowan Nats Wells, Mr Kimberley Arthur Rowville LP
Kennedy, Mr John Ormond Hawthorn ALP Williams, Ms Gabrielle Dandenong ALP
Kilkenny, Ms Sonya Carrum ALP Wynne, Mr Richard William Richmond ALP
PARTY ABBREVIATIONS
ALP—Labor Party; Greens—The Greens;
Ind—Independent; LP—Liberal Party; Nats—The Nationals.Legislative Assembly committees
Economy and Infrastructure Standing Committee
Ms Addison, Mr Blackwood, Ms Couzens, Mr Eren, Ms Ryan, Ms Theophanous and Mr Wakeling.
Environment and Planning Standing Committee
Ms Connolly, Mr Fowles, Ms Green, Mr Hamer, Mr McCurdy, Mr Morris and Ms Vallence.
Legal and Social Issues Standing Committee
Mr Battin, Ms Couzens, Ms Kealy, Ms Settle, Mr Southwick, Ms Suleyman and Mr Tak.
Privileges Committee
Ms Allan, Mr Carroll, Mr Guy, Ms Hennessy, Mr McGuire, Mr Morris, Mr Pakula, Ms Ryan and Mr Wells.
Standing Orders Committee
The Speaker, Ms Allan, Mr Cheeseman, Ms Edwards, Mr Fregon, Ms McLeish, Ms Sheed, Ms Staley and Mr Walsh.
Joint committees
Dispute Resolution Committee
Assembly: Ms Allan, Ms Hennessy, Mr Merlino, Mr Pakula, Mr R Smith, Mr Walsh and Mr Wells.
Council: Mr Bourman, Ms Crozier, Mr Davis, Ms Mikakos, Ms Symes and Ms Wooldridge.
Electoral Matters Committee
Assembly: Mr Guy, Ms Hall and Dr Read.
Council: Mr Erdogan, Mrs McArthur, Mr Meddick, Mr Melhem, Ms Lovell, Mr Quilty and Mr Tarlamis.
House Committee
Assembly: The Speaker (ex officio), Mr T Bull, Ms Crugnale, Ms Edwards, Mr Fregon, Ms Sandell and Ms Staley.
Council: The President (ex officio), Mr Bourman, Mr Davis, Mr Leane, Ms Lovell and Ms Stitt.
Integrity and Oversight Committee
Assembly: Mr Halse, Ms Hennessy, Mr Rowswell, Mr Taylor and Mr Wells.
Council: Mr Grimley and Ms Shing.
Public Accounts and Estimates Committee
Assembly: Ms Blandthorn, Mr Hibbins, Mr Maas, Mr Newbury, Mr D O’Brien, Ms Richards, Mr Richardson and Mr Riordan.
Council: Mr Limbrick and Ms Taylor.
Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee
Assembly: Mr Burgess, Ms Connolly and Mr R Smith.
Council: Mr Gepp, Ms Patten and Ms Watt.CONTENTS
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Acknowledgement of country ...................................................................................................................................... 651
Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System ....................................................................................... 651
DOCUMENTS
Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System ....................................................................................... 651
Final Report............................................................................................................................................................... 651
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Standing and sessional orders....................................................................................................................................... 668
MEMBERS
Minister for Water ......................................................................................................................................................... 669
Absence ..................................................................................................................................................................... 669
QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE AND MINISTERS STATEMENTS
Ministerial conduct ........................................................................................................................................................ 670
Ministers statements: Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System .................................................. 671
Ministerial conduct ........................................................................................................................................................ 671
Ministers statements: Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System .................................................. 672
Mental health services ................................................................................................................................................... 672
Ministers statements: Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System .................................................. 675
Gas imports .................................................................................................................................................................... 675
Ministers statements: Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System .................................................. 676
Royal Commission into Crown Melbourne ................................................................................................................ 676
Ministers statements: mental health reform ................................................................................................................ 677
CONSTITUENCY QUESTIONS
Rowville electorate ........................................................................................................................................................ 677
Box Hill electorate ......................................................................................................................................................... 678
Ovens Valley electorate ................................................................................................................................................ 678
Burwood electorate........................................................................................................................................................ 678
Forest Hill electorate ..................................................................................................................................................... 678
Hawthorn electorate ...................................................................................................................................................... 679
Mildura electorate.......................................................................................................................................................... 679
Broadmeadows electorate............................................................................................................................................. 679
Polwarth electorate ........................................................................................................................................................ 679
Lara electorate................................................................................................................................................................ 680
BILLS
Cemeteries and Crematoria Amendment Bill 2021 ................................................................................................... 680
Introduction and first reading .................................................................................................................................. 680
Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Arbitration) Bill 2021................................... 681
Introduction and first reading .................................................................................................................................. 681
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Notices of motion .......................................................................................................................................................... 681
COMMITTEES
Scrutiny of Acts and Regulations Committee ............................................................................................................ 681
Alert Digest No. 3..................................................................................................................................................... 681
DOCUMENTS
Documents ..................................................................................................................................................................... 682
BILLS
Summary Offences Amendment (Decriminalisation of Public Drunkenness) Bill 2020 ...................................... 682
Council’s agreement................................................................................................................................................. 682
Owners Corporations and Other Acts Amendment Bill 2019 .................................................................................. 682
Summary Offences Amendment (Decriminalisation of Public Drunkenness) Bill 2020 ...................................... 682
Workplace Injury Rehabilitation and Compensation Amendment (Provisional Payments) Bill 2020 ................ 682
Royal assent .............................................................................................................................................................. 682
Industrial Relations Legislation Amendment Bill 2021 ............................................................................................ 683
Appropriation ............................................................................................................................................................ 683
BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE
Program .......................................................................................................................................................................... 683
MEMBERS STATEMENTS
Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System ....................................................................................... 687
COVID-19...................................................................................................................................................................... 687
Live at the Bowl............................................................................................................................................................. 687
International Women’s Day ......................................................................................................................................... 688Mental health.................................................................................................................................................................. 688
Wangaratta Cup ............................................................................................................................................................. 688
Cambodia ....................................................................................................................................................................... 688
Berwick College ............................................................................................................................................................ 689
Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System ....................................................................................... 689
Horace Petty estate ........................................................................................................................................................ 689
Box Hill transit interchange .......................................................................................................................................... 690
Salvation Army Box Hill Corps ................................................................................................................................... 690
Surrey Hills Music Festival .......................................................................................................................................... 690
Surrey Hills and Canterbury cricket clubs .................................................................................................................. 690
Small business support .................................................................................................................................................. 690
Sunbury electorate sports facilities .............................................................................................................................. 691
COVID-19...................................................................................................................................................................... 691
Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System ....................................................................................... 691
COVID-19...................................................................................................................................................................... 692
Sunshine private hospital .............................................................................................................................................. 692
Bayswater electorate sporting clubs ............................................................................................................................ 692
Bayswater education plan ............................................................................................................................................. 693
TAFE funding ................................................................................................................................................................ 693
Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System ....................................................................................... 693
Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System ....................................................................................... 693
Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System ....................................................................................... 694
Pascoe Vale South Primary School ............................................................................................................................. 694
BILLS
Planning and Environment Amendment Bill 2021 .................................................................................................... 694
Second reading.......................................................................................................................................................... 694
ADJOURNMENT
Dunolly independent living units ................................................................................................................................. 731
Plastic bag ban ............................................................................................................................................................... 731
Gippsland East events ................................................................................................................................................... 732
Glenroy College............................................................................................................................................................. 732
Port Fairy emergency services ..................................................................................................................................... 733
Burwood electorate mental health round table ........................................................................................................... 733
Greater Shepparton Secondary College ...................................................................................................................... 734
International Women’s Day ......................................................................................................................................... 734
Office of the Conservation Regulator .......................................................................................................................... 735
Graffiti prevention grants.............................................................................................................................................. 736
Responses ....................................................................................................................................................................... 736ANNOUNCEMENTS
Tuesday, 2 March 2021 Legislative Assembly 651
Tuesday, 2 March 2021
Honourable members met in Royal Exhibition Building at 10.00 am for a special sitting of
Parliament in accordance with resolution of house of 19 February and a proclamation of the
Governor of 25 February.
The SPEAKER (Hon. Colin Brooks) took the chair at 10.02 am and read the prayer.
Announcements
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
The SPEAKER (10:03): We acknowledge the traditional Aboriginal owners of the land upon
which we are meeting. We pay our respects to them, their culture, their elders past, present and future,
and elders from other communities who may be here today.
ROYAL COMMISSION INTO VICTORIA’S MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM
The SPEAKER (10:03): Honourable members; the Premier; the Leader of the Opposition; the
Minister for Mental Health; the Shadow Minister for Mental Health; the President of the Legislative
Council; members of the Council; royal commissioners Penny Armytage, AM, Professor Allan Fels,
AO, Dr Alex Cockram and Professor Bernadette McSherry; and most importantly the many guests here
today who have lived experience in or with or who work in the mental health sector, I want to warmly
welcome you all to this special sitting of the Legislative Assembly along with members of the Council.
In a few moments the Clerk of the Assembly will officially table the report of the Royal Commission
into Victoria’s Mental Health System. We will then hear from Penny Armytage, AM, chair of the royal
commission; Patrick McGorry, AO, chair of the commission’s expert advisory committee; Ms Amelia
Morris and Mr Alistair Gabb, both lived experience advocates; the Premier; the Leader of the
Opposition; the Minister for Mental Health; and the Shadow Minister for Mental Health.
We understand that it may be difficult for those here and watching at home given the discussion about
mental health conditions and lived experience, including suicide. You may find some of the content
of today’s event difficult, distressing or challenging. Please reach out if you require assistance. We
have professional support services located here on site to the sides of where people are sitting. I might
just ask those support workers to raise their hands so people can see them. Thank you.
For those watching the broadcast, if you need help, please do not hesitate to reach out. Details of
support, including 24/7 hotlines, are available on the live stream’s webpage.
The Legislative Assembly chose to meet here today, in this grand building where our nation’s
Parliament first met nearly 120 years ago, so that all MPs could be together with many of you who
truly understand how important a strong and supportive mental health system is. We will now move
through some of the processes.
Firstly, I inform the members of the Assembly that the Governor has issued a proclamation fixing the
places for the dispatch of business of the Legislative Assembly.
Now we move to the tabling of the report.
Documents
ROYAL COMMISSION INTO VICTORIA’S MENTAL HEALTH SYSTEM
Final Report
The CLERK: Under the Inquiries Act 2014, I table the final report of the Royal Commission into
Victoria’s Mental Health System.
Ordered to be published.DOCUMENTS
652 Legislative Assembly Tuesday, 2 March 2021
The SPEAKER: The report will be emailed to members now, and a summary booklet will be made
available at the conclusion of this morning’s proceedings to everybody.
It is now my pleasure to invite Penny Armytage, AM, chair of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s
Mental Health System, to address the house.
Ms Penny ARMYTAGE, AM (10:06): Thank you, Speaker. I acknowledge the traditional owners
of the land on which we meet, the people of the Kulin nation. I pay respects to elders past, present and
emerging and any elders here today.
I am joined by fellow commissioners, Dr Alex Cockram, Professor Allan Fels and Professor
Bernadette McSherry. I am privileged to stand before you here today This commission was established
in February 2019 because the mental health system was failing. Since this time, people have engaged
with us openly, collaboratively and with enormous strength and courage, and in a hope of shaping a
better future. Today I will share just a small selection of the inputs we received to emphasise the
observations I am making. These inputs, combined with a vast array of data, analysis, research and
evidence gathered during two years of intense work, inform the conclusions and recommendations of
our 3000-page, five-volume report.
The power of human experience united and strengthened our resolve. We take great pride in the fact
that this royal commission engaged broadly and received more than 12 500 contributions from
individuals and organisations from across Victoria and beyond. By any measure, this is a historic level
of engagement with any royal commission.
Our inquiry focused very deliberately on the impact of a broken system on people as well as the great
opportunities that come with a chance to reform. The contributions we received left us in no doubt that
the system had indeed failed and had been failing for decades. Honor Eastly, a witness before the
commission, shared:
It wasn’t until I started working in advocacy … that I started to understand that a big part of what I was …
struggling with was a broken and traumatic system. I had, up until that point, thought that what was happening
was because I was a broken and ill person.
The mental health system has catastrophically failed to live up to expectations and is woefully
unprepared for current and future challenges. The 2019–20 severe bushfire season and the COVID-19
pandemic have shone further light on the pressures on the system. Personally I was shocked by what
I heard and what I saw during the course of this commission. The system was not compromised in
part: its foundations were broken. Despite many members of the mental health workforce doing their
best, demand has outstripped supply, the system reacts to mental health crises rather than preventing
them and the preferences of consumers are often ignored. The views of families are too often dismissed
and their needs inadequately supported.
These are not glib statements. These are people’s true and confronting experiences. And yet this is a
problem that affects us all and belongs to us all. Most of us or someone we love or care for will
experience poor mental health in their lifetime. We must be able to depend on a responsive and
compassionate mental health and wellbeing system. There is, however, much cause for hope. We have
been heartened by the increased focus on mental health and wellbeing by all levels of government and
in the public domain. We are buoyed by this hope and believe that the environment for reform is now.
There is an urgent and critical case for change. Victoria’s mental health system is under-resourced;
there has simply never been enough investment in it. The implications for consumers and families are
stark. People cannot access enough treatment, care and support, or any at all. Typically this means that
the system offers too little, too late. Last year the system responded to less than one-third of the
estimated demand for community-based mental health services. Surprisingly, for those who were seen
by a consultant psychiatrist, the average total service hours is estimated to be just 2 hours per person
per year. This is incredibly compromising for everyone—consumers, families and the workforce alike.
A lack of resources has forced services to raise the threshold for whom they can see. Again and againDOCUMENTS
Tuesday, 2 March 2021 Legislative Assembly 653
we heard from people and their families, at times in harrowing detail, about the negative impact of
being told that they were not sick enough or not suicidal enough to access services, and the sometimes
tragic consequences of this. As one person described:
Reaching out for help … is hard enough … But … to then be turned away from treatment makes the anxiety
about reaching out even worse for fear of being told you aren’t worthy of treatment.
It is unacceptable that people are being turned away from service, often in their darkest hour. Those in
the workforce find themselves trying to do their best in a system that constrains them. For a workforce
driven by empathy and motivated to make a difference, this is particularly distressing. As the Royal
Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists explained:
Psychiatrists and other mental health workers, are facing moral distress: a desire and knowledge to do the
right thing, but system constraints make it impossible to do so.
Serious workforce shortages mean that people may feel overwhelmed and under-resourced. One
member of the workforce told us:
In my workplace … the team is very burnt out and mentally exhausted … and people keep turning up to work,
because of not letting the team down.
We must acknowledge that as a broader community we have allowed the system’s failings to go almost
unnoticed for too long. The failings of our community to demand a mental health system as strong as
the rest of our health system says much about the stigma and discrimination against people living with
mental illness. This in part explains why public investment in mental health has remained so low, why
complacency and meagre expectations have stifled reform and why the mental health system has been
relegated to the shadows.
The blunt differences between the mental health system and the broader health system were
highlighted by one parent, who reflected, ‘I have a son who has leukaemia and now a daughter with a
mental health challenge. When my son was diagnosed with leukaemia we were immediately
connected into an incredible amount of support and services, including those outside the hospital. Our
experience when my daughter’s mental illness was diagnosed was completely the opposite’. These
disparities are shameful and must stop. The mental health system must never again be neglected like
this. It matters too much to too many.
We must address the fact that the mental health system is imbalanced. Under-resourcing has led to an
over-reliance on medication, and too little is offered by way of therapeutic and recovery-oriented
services. And we know that this is not how the workforce wants to work. There is not enough focus
on promotion of mental health and wellbeing despite the clear economic and social benefits. There is
much to be gained from greater investment in the system. These opportunities relate mainly to
relieving the profound human toll that a failing system has on individuals and families.
There are, however, also benefits for the economy and the wider community that accrue from investing
in improved mental health. Our analysis suggests that a 15 per cent reduction in the level of need
achieved through earlier and expanded access to services would deliver $1.1 billion in additional
economic activity in Victoria. Critically, we are failing to safeguard the good mental health and
wellbeing of our future generations. Many opportunities to support people early in life are lost. This
undermines the ability of children and young people to experience their best mental health and
wellbeing both now and into adulthood. At the other end of the spectrum there is a large service gap
for older Victorians.
Suicide continues to have a profound effect on our community. In 2019 there were 718 deaths by
suicide in Victoria. That is more than double the road toll. While suicide is not always associated with
mental illness, suicide of people who have not been able to get the help and treatment they need from
mental illness are indicative of a failing mental health system. Inequities, including those that relate to
how people access mental health services, need to be tackled. While poor mental health does notDOCUMENTS
654 Legislative Assembly Tuesday, 2 March 2021
discriminate, some people, including Aboriginal people, LGBTIQ+ people, refugees, people from
culturally diverse backgrounds and people living with disabilities, experience additional barriers.
Where people live can detrimentally impact services they can access. This situation can be worse for
people in rural and regional areas. Additionally, the abandonment of carers and young carers, some
just kids, by multiple service systems has been appalling. As one witness has told us:
My caring role for mum was always my first priority growing up … I dropped out of year 12 as the caring
responsibilities and my own mental health … all got too much to be able to manage the workload. I feel like
it has set me back in life.
For some young people, meeting other young carers at a commission consultation was the first time
they had made a connection and felt supported.
Many people who access the services are not treated with dignity and respect, and people are not
supported to make decisions. Sadly, inpatient units too often feel frightening and unsafe. The
prevalence of interpersonal and sexual violence, particularly towards women, is entrenched and
unacceptable. Consumers have their human rights breached through the use of compulsory treatment,
seclusion and restraint. The rates of compulsory treatment used in Victoria are increasing and remain
high across all age groups, with a significant proportion of people subject to compulsory treatment for
extended periods of time. Safeguards have not produced the reductions desired, and we are not
convinced that compulsory treatment is used as a last resort. The following reflection from a consumer
explains how a reformed system may change this:
I reflect on these three compulsory admissions with sadness. I wonder how my mental health trajectory could
have been different if the GP I’d seen in the lead up to my first episode had organised an urgent psychiatric
referral and I’d been supported to sleep; if the [Crisis Assessment and Treatment Team] had come the first
time I’d called them and helped prevent my second episode; if the private hospital had treated me adequately
rather than discharging me and prevented my third episode.
The mental health system should be set up to support people, not to compound distress and trauma.
These themes are just a snapshot at what it means to have a broken system. For too long the profound
human, societal and economic toll of a failing system has been ignored.
We know that a collection of discrete reforms to an antiquated system is not viable. We have
recommended a fundamental redesign. The words of a participant in a community consultation speak
to what is needed. They said:
… [w]e don’t want to fill in the pot holes, we want a new road.
Our inquiry has shone a light on a failed system. We cannot change the past. We can, however, demand
a new way forward.
Today time does not allow a detailed explanation of our findings nor the rationale behind each of our
recommendations. This is detailed in our final report, which puts 65 recommendations and builds on
the nine recommendations from our interim report. Together they address our letters patent and
recommend large-scale transformational change. The transformation we have recommended involves
the full continuum of effort from prevention and promotion of mental health through to how the system
assists people who require ongoing and intensive support. Importantly, our recommendations establish
a new mental health and wellbeing system that is built on compassion. Many people spoke about the
difference compassionate care, kindness and connection made to their lives. This has resonated with
us as commissioners.
Now I will briefly speak to some of our reforms that exemplify these themes of compassion and
connection. First, we must acknowledge that respect for the inherent dignity of people living with
mental illness or psychological distress and ensuring their full and effective participation in society are
fundamental tenets of a compassionate system. To see this, we must see fundamental cultural change
and a future system in which power must be redistributed so that consumers can lead and influence
decisions on an equal basis to others. In a compassionate system, services will be delivered based onDOCUMENTS Tuesday, 2 March 2021 Legislative Assembly 655 a philosophy of ‘How can we help?’. People will be able to access a range of services that respond to their needs and preferences and that are delivered by a multidisciplinary workforce. A balanced future system with a careful mix of hospital- and community-based services will mean that most care is provided close to people’s homes and in their local communities. Through new and innovative ways of working there will be a broad range of services, including bed-based services in the community. With the primary care system, this will go a long way to addressing the services gap experienced by people, including those in the missing middle. Our reforms also look beyond the system, recognising that other social services such as housing, education, the justice system and the places we live, work, learn and connect shape our mental health and wellbeing. In recommending a holistic approach we have drawn on the knowledge long held by Aboriginal people and other diverse communities that connection to land, culture, spirituality, family and community all influence mental health and wellbeing. Good mental health and wellbeing are closely tied to our connections to each other. Families and communities are where people have the relationships and the resources they can draw on to help manage distress and move towards recovery. In this sense, we all have a role to play. The centrality of community is also emphasised through our reforms for expanded community-based mental health and wellbeing services. For example, 50 to 60 new local mental health and wellbeing services for adults and older adults will be established. This will shift the focal point of the system away from emergency departments of hospitals. For those in crisis, police and ambulance call-outs and emergency departments will no longer be the only options. New consumer-led safe places will be available for people experiencing distress. Substantial investment in and reform of the community-based mental health system is needed. Historic underinvestment and demand pressures mean that the system is overwhelmed. Last year the gap between what the service provided by the way of community-based services and what was required was around 3.3 million hours. This measure of unmet demand underscores a substantial gap in treatment, care and support that needs to be urgently addressed. We have also made a range of recommendations to ensure the system is attuned to promoting inclusion and overcoming inequities. Aboriginal people told us that embedding healing practices is critical to supporting resilience, healing and recovery. Building on our interim report we have recommended the delivery of healing centres to complement social and emotional wellbeing services delivered by Aboriginal community controlled health organisations. New expectations on services will mean the needs of Victoria’s diverse communities will be recognised and responded to. Support for LGBTIQ+ people will be strengthened, including support to navigate and access the system and the establishment of a tailored after-care service for those experiencing suicidal behaviour. Disparities in service access and mental health and wellbeing outcomes across rural and regional communities will also be resolved, with the cost of rural service delivery acknowledged, services expanded and strategies established to attract and retain more mental health workers. Stable housing is a key pillar to our agenda of overcoming inequities. We have ensured that people living with mental illness will be recognised as a priority population for housing, and supported housing places will be provided for young people. We have made several recommendations to get the system’s foundations right. Consumers, families and carers will lead and partner with others in reform. A new consumer-led agency will be established to support the development of organisations and services led by and for consumers. The role of families will be properly recognised and new family- and carer-led centres established across the state to support them. A new, independent Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission will hold the Victorian government to account for the performance of the system as well as the implementation of
DOCUMENTS 656 Legislative Assembly Tuesday, 2 March 2021 these reforms. There will be sustained focus on radically reducing compulsory treatment and eliminating restrictive practices, as well as tackling the unacceptable rate of gender-based violence. The commission has called for a fundamental modernisation of the system. Adaptable service delivery is crucial to improving people’s experiences. The Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing recommended in our interim report will be pivotal to the translation of evidence into practice. The future system will be enabled through appropriate and accessible digital platforms, improving access, information sharing and continuity of care. And, importantly, our reforms cannot be delivered without the workforce, the beating heart of the system. Our reforms will support a workforce that is skilled and diverse. There will be increased support for workforce wellbeing as well as for practice and professional development activities. Collectively these and our other reforms create a future system where people will have access to high-quality services that are compassionate, responsive and respectful. We have moved beyond filling in the potholes; we have created an entirely new road. Implementation of the commission’s recommendations will not be easy. These recommendations are, however, pragmatic and achievable. They have been informed by careful analysis and significant input. The transformation recommended will not come cheaply, but the costs of inaction are too great. This report is truly a collective effort. Showing exceptional determination, people have shared their deeply personal stories and analysis of the system to shape a better future. We are forever indebted to their openness and collaboration. Their experiences and ideas have shaped our reforms. A glimpse of the generosity displayed by the community is available via the personal stories in our reports and witness statements on our website. This generosity will also be exemplified by what you will hear from Al Gabb and Amelia Morris shortly. Thank you to all who have contributed, and thank you to my fellow commissioners for bringing their expertise and commitment to this task. Thank you also to our hardworking and talented commission staff, notably our skilful CEO, Jodie Geissler. The commission has been ably assisted by its expert advisory committee, chaired by Professor Pat McGorry, and our specialist advisers, including lived experience advisers and counsel assisting. It is imperative that the shared commitment, the ambition and collaborative efforts displayed throughout this inquiry continue across government, both federal and state, service providers and the community. The importance of good mental health and wellbeing cannot be sidelined any longer and implementation should not be delayed. This is not someone else’s problem; this is about all of us. Good mental health and wellbeing are responsibilities shared by government and the community. The Victorian community’s optimism and desire for change provides an opportunity to create reform that will last. Political and cross-party interest at the highest level is important if longstanding pleas for reform are to be acted on. This requires strong leadership to ensure change endures. A clear path for reform has been set and the momentum for change cannot be lost. The hopes of so many Victorians rest on the implementation of the commission’s report. Our inquiry is over. It is time for action. The SPEAKER: Thank you, Ms Armytage. I now invite Patrick McGorry, AO, to address the house. Professor Patrick McGORRY, AO (10:29): Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to start by echoing Penny Armytage’s acknowledgement of the traditional owners of the land on which we gather today and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging as well, but I would also like to acknowledge everyone around the world who has suffered from mental illness and their families and pay my respects and our respects to their suffering and their resilience as well. This is not just a historic day for Victoria, but it is an intensely moving one, and I fully expect it will prove to be historic for the rest of Australia and the global community as well. We are at a watershed, as Penny just illustrated. Mental illness has been seriously neglected within our society and health systems. We—I—have seen many false dawns. Twenty-five years ago in Victoria we uprooted mental health care from the 19th-century asylums in which I trained and entrusted it to the mainstream healthcare system, closing thousands of beds with a solemn promise that new community services
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Tuesday, 2 March 2021 Legislative Assembly 657
would mean that people could mostly avoid long hospital stays and stigma would fade away. This was
a promise broken not just in Victoria but all around the developed world, and it has resulted in what
our Premier has called a broken system—the first politician in the world honest enough to openly
admit to this inexcusable but worldwide policy failure. This failure is fundamentally a human rights
issue. As the director of the Castan Centre, Professor Kevin Bell, told the commission:
In human rights terms, this is a matter of obligation, not policy. Victoria—
and I could add Australia—
is not like a developing nation where lack of resources is an explanation for under-investment in health.
And by the way, when I was asked over the years which Australian state was doing best on mental
health care I was forced to answer, ‘It’s like comparing Botswana to Mozambique’. So that echoes
what Kevin actually said, too. This global and local failure has led to a profound human toll and many
thousands of preventable deaths, blighted lives and suffering immeasurable. I want to quote an Italian
political theorist here, Antonio Gramsci, who said:
The crisis consists precisely in the fact that the old is dying and the new cannot be born …
I had that feeling in the 1990s when the old mental hospital system was in its death throes. However,
the child born at that time had neglectful parents. Today our new parents have decided to give the child
a second chance. Victorians will be deeply grateful to the Premier and his government, with the
support of the opposition, for realising the only way to create the authorising environment for the scale
of reform required was a royal commission. And Victoria has responded, as Penny said, magnificently
to this opportunity—absolutely magnificently. I am proud to be a Victorian.
The commission has produced a report of unique and unprecedented value. I have seen 50 of these
reports surface and gather dust—not this time. So I would like to pay tribute to the wave of personal
testimonies that have been a north star for our commission’s work. I would also like to thank the expert
advisory committee, which I had the privilege of chairing, as well as the commissioners. These stories
bring to life the damning statistics which show the system has failed to provide compassionate and
expert care to two out of three people who needed it and locked out nearly 100 000 Victorians every
year. This is in large part responsible for the deaths of the 718 people who died from suicide in 2019.
Many of them were reaching out for care.
Yesterday Sean Kelly wrote in the Age about how trauma and suffering can catalyse major reform. In
fact it is one of the main ways reform actually does occur. Racism, child sexual abuse and family
violence are classic examples, and mental illness is another. Not only has trauma been a strong theme
within the commission, as Penny said, but I can go back to the late 1980s when one of my first pieces
of research revealed that people in recovery from psychosis experienced post-traumatic stress
symptoms such as nightmares and intrusive memories of their illness episode. These derived in part
from an often terrifying experience that people have during the eye of a psychotic storm but also from
the devastating experiences of seclusion and restraint, which the commission has actually tackled. A
broken system which only allows people into care when they are in a desperately ill state means that
these practices become commonplace. No-one wants to react in that way, but people are placed in
impossible situations on a daily basis. So the recommendation to reduce and ultimately eliminate these
practices is not only welcome but long overdue.
A major part of this solution is to offer expert care much earlier. My colleagues and I at the Early
Psychosis Prevention and Intervention Centre and now Orygen have spent most of the last 30 years
creating and exporting evidence-based models of early intervention which not only transform the
experience of patients and families but actually improve outcomes and save money. Early intervention
saves lives and futures. In the treatment of cancer the top priority is to detect and treat the person in
the very earliest stage of illness, not to wait until it has advanced to a late stage or treatment is
ineffective or too late. It is exactly the same with all the non-communicable diseases. We would not
dream of turning away two out of three people with chest pain or an early breast lump and dismissDOCUMENTS 658 Legislative Assembly Tuesday, 2 March 2021 them with the notion that their illness is not serious enough to deserve care. So it was a real breakthrough to see the value of early intervention boldly asserted in recommendation 1 in the report. Intervening early means a special focus on young people, who bear the major burden of the onset for mental disorders, a burden that is increasing for them year by year. And they have been most heavily impacted by COVID, as we all know. Yet we turn away even more young people than adults. Currently three out of four young people are turned away every single day. One of the most overdue and far-reaching recommendations that the royal commission makes is to shift the upper boundary for specialist youth mental health care to the 26th birthday to align not only with Headspace but with all the scientific evidence that we have. We need to make youth mental health the strongest part of the system. Heavy investment during this stage of life in early intervention is the best buy in mental health care. It will pay for itself and steadily shrink the flow of people into longer term care within the adult mental health system. The commission’s changes here are absolutely transformational. I especially welcome the strong recommendations for genuine support for families and carers. Like most Australians, several people in my own family have experienced mental illness, and we have felt the impact that mental distress has on loved ones ourselves. We have not only been unsupported by the system but marginalised by poor work practices and, sad to say, prejudice against families as well. For young people, while not always the case, families form the vital scaffolding essential for recovery and a productive and fulfilling life. Families often form the only safety net protecting someone with a mental illness from sinking into poverty, homelessness, incarceration or premature death. Most of us live in families and, until proven otherwise, families must be included across the life span wherever possible. The principal focus of the commission and here today has been quite rightly on lived experience. However, I also want to highlight the lived experience of dedicated clinicians and other service providers who have struggled to help people, as Penny said, with mental illness and their families. They have suffered moral injury by being forced to turn away seriously ill people and by having to provide care that they know falls well short of what is possible. Too many clinicians have been harmed too through the neglect of mental health care, including being placed in harm’s way. At the same time, under harsh conditions, they have helped many people and saved many lives, and a substantial minority of clinicians too have lived experience with mental illness. There is no more ‘us and them’. The report avoids another classic false dichotomy between bed-based services and community mental health services that has plagued mental health policy for three decades. A suite of options for new beds is recommended, with further growth in numbers. However, the commission has recognised that the centre of gravity for mental health care must be located in the community and in local communities as far as possible. This means that the governance and financing of mental health care must be transformed. Mental health care will be empowered by the measures that Penny mentioned and protected within the health system for the first time through major changes to governance, financing and transparency. No more will we see precious mental health dollars diverted to areas perceived as more worthy by cash-poor, hospital-centric CEOs. The establishment of eight regional boards, which will ultimately assume the role of commissioning mental health care, will shift the centre of gravity away from large hospitals, which inevitably struggle to value and support community mental health care. The missing middle will no longer be marooned in a no-man’s-land. The commission has emphasised that the implementation of this historic blueprint is now our challenge. They warn against those responsible repeating the work of the commission or revisiting the decisions. This warning must be heeded by government. Gough Whitlam understood this. He said once a compromise was made, once the spirit and pace of reform slackened, it was quite likely lost forever. Reform is hard, and there are always those who have something to lose. I spent my whole working life seeking to engineer reform, and I know firsthand that vested interests and naysayers who operate as merchants of doubt will seek to delay and derail even the changes that are long overdue and have public support. However, I have never before witnessed an authorising environment so strong as that created by this government and this process.
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