Mental health
James NEWBURY (Brighton) (09:53): As the experts predicted, the sting would be in the mental health tail after Victoria’s COVID lockdowns. The coroner’s annual report shows 10.5 per cent of deaths last year were caused by suicide: 784 deaths, up from 701 previously and 672 the year prior. The coroner has described it as troubling. Mental health was not taken seriously enough during COVID, and these increases are not being taken seriously enough now.