Tuesday, 3 March 2020

Suicide prevention

Mr FOLEY (Albert Park—Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Equality, Minister for Creative Industries) (13:20): I think all honourable members and the Victorian community appreciate that suicide prevention needs to be a major focus of all of our community efforts. That is why we have a $27 million rollout of the Hospital Outreach Post-suicidal Engagement (HOPE) program underway across 12 different communities around our state.

I recently had the privilege of visiting and seeing how these programs are going in Shepparton, Mildura and East Gippsland in particular. The fact is that our regional communities are some 40 per cent over-represented in suicide and suicide attempts than their city cousins. This situation is a significant matter before those communities. I want to thank the HOPE program and all the mental health professionals who shared their time in Shepparton, Mildura and East Gippsland with me, taking me through that work.

I want to also particularly acknowledge the work of the national mental health commissioner, the federal health minister and the possibility of extending the partnership between the states and the commonwealth through the public health networks, through the HOPE program, to embed the target the Victorian government is seeking over the next six to seven years—that is, halving our suicide rate in this state.