Thursday, 9 September 2021

 Ms KEALY (Lowan) (14:49): My question is to the Minister for Mental Health. Does the government support the Australian Counselling Association’s calls to change the definition of a mental health practitioner under the Mental Health Act 2014 to ensure the right mental health support is available in every Victorian school?

 Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:49): I thank the member for Lowan for her question, an important question about mental health and support within our school system. It is important what you actually do in response to a broken mental health system, and the most significant commitment in terms of social policy reform of the last election—that is, a mental health royal commission—is implementing every single recommendation of the mental health royal commission. I remind members it was opposed by those opposite, to the shame of the Leader of the Opposition. So the most significant social policy reform of our generation, exacerbated by the impacts of COVID not only in Victoria but across the country and indeed across the globe, needs to see real change and real investment.

In terms of the definition of mental health practitioners, the approach that we have in our schools is that the full suite of supports be available for our kids. From social workers, youth workers and psychologists to GPs in schools, we are rolling out the full suite of opportunity right now. Every single government secondary school has a mental health practitioner; every single specialist school has a mental health practitioner. In our primary schools—

Ms Kealy: On a point of order, Speaker, the Australian Counselling Association have been calling for a long time to be classified under the—

The SPEAKER: Order! I need to know what the point of order is.

Ms Kealy: On relevance, sorry, Speaker. I ask you to direct the minister to refer to the question that was put around counsellors within schools to provide additional support to kids who are really struggling.

The SPEAKER: Order! I do not uphold the point of order. The Deputy Premier is being relevant to the question that has been asked.

Mr MERLINO: I was speaking, as you say, Speaker, directly to the question that the member was asking in terms of definitions of practitioners, and I was saying the full suite of professionals is the best way to support our kids. On top of a mental health practitioner in every single government school we have expanded that to every single specialist school. As I mentioned earlier this week, in our primary schools we have got an exciting and nation-leading partnership with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in regard to what more we can do in our primary schools. We are training 1500 staff. And this is the important thing: when it comes to the approach of our wellbeing teams in our schools, schools understand that this is a whole-of-school approach. We need teachers who understand and are trained in terms of early identification and support for young people and then a professional team of dedicated workers. Whether they are psychologists, GPs, school nurses, counsellors, social workers or youth workers, all of those are part of a team within our schools. In addition to that and in direct response to a recommendation of the royal commission we have got a $200 million fund, the first of its kind in Australia, which will be rolled out first to schools in rural and regional Victoria—all primary and all secondary schools in rural and regional Victoria—and then to metro schools, where schools will have that additional support.

 Ms KEALY (Lowan) (14:53): Why would the government at this critical time for so many children’s mental health oppose the policy of simply changing legal definitions to bring in up to 2000 extra professionals to help with the mental health crisis in our schools?

 Mr MERLINO (Monbulk—Minister for Education, Minister for Mental Health) (14:54): I thank the member for Lowan for her supplementary question. The problem with the opposition is they never have a plan B. Their supplementary questions are always the ones that they wrote before question time. They never, ever, ever listen to the substantive answer—

Ms Kealy: On a point of order, Speaker, question time is not an opportunity for the minister to attack the opposition. This is around the mental health of children. I ask the minister to respond to the question and make sure we have got the right people in place to support our kids.

The SPEAKER: I uphold the point of order. The Deputy Premier to come back to answering the question.

Mr MERLINO: Thanks, Speaker. What we are doing was, again, voted against by those opposite. When we had a bill in this place to fund our mental health reforms and deliver on a key recommendation of the royal commission, they voted against it. That is their record. $3.8 billion: the first year of a 10-year reform. $3.8 billion: that is equivalent to around 3000 additional workers in our mental health system. That is what we are delivering, and that is what you have opposed.

Ms Kealy: On a point of order, Speaker, on relevance, my question is directly around an immediate supply of 2000 counsellors if they are defined as mental health practitioners to support kids in schools. It is not about anything else.

The SPEAKER: Order! The supplementary question was a broader question than the substantive question. The minister is being relevant to the question that has been asked.

Mr MERLINO: Our investment is delivering immediate support, whether it is in our schools, whether it is in a blitz to support the waiting list in the federally funded and federally responsible Headspace program, hundreds of millions of dollars supported by this side, opposed by those opposite.