Tuesday, 12 August 2025

Parentline

Nick McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:17): (1820) Here we go again – sadly, a walk down memory lane. In 2022 in this place, albeit the other chamber, Minister Brooks stepped in at the last moment to save Parentline. He did the right thing, but fast-forward three years and, as we have heard in this place today, right across the parties, with the exception of the government, the government now intend to close the vital Parentline, which provides counselling by experts from 6 am to midnight. As we have heard in this chamber today during question time, no-one and nothing will replace that. For any children from five right up to 18 and their parents, importantly, those parents reach out because they need help. They need advice in respect to their children. It could be to do with antisocial behaviour. It might be to do with suicidal ideation. It might have something to do with claims or concerns about sexual abuse. It could be concerns with regard to digital exclusion or screen addiction. It does not matter what problem is faced by the parent, the stark reality today is that on 1 October Parentline will close, and there is no explanation for that. There is no elaboration on the review that was ordered back in 2022 and which in fact had the government at the time do a complete reversal of its policy. Here we are three years later going down the same mistaken pathway.

But worse than that, there is no plan to put any other service in its place. What we were told in this place today was that we should call either the maternal health line, which is specifically for zero- to five-year-olds and is not for five- to 18-year-olds, or other services like Lifeline, who are not experts in parental advice – we know that already – and neither is Beyond Blue. Neither is Orange Door – and Orange Door is a service, let us remind the public, that operates from Monday to Friday. It is not available online, as this critical service is from 6 am to midnight every day of the week. It is a service –

David Davis interjected.

Nick McGOWAN: It is a mean cut, Mr Davis; I will take you up on that. It is a service that actually costs very little – $1.3 million – to operate, and in addition to that it services 17,800 telephone calls from concerned and worried parents. When we are having a very fine and appropriate, urgently needed focus on child care in this state, it is precisely the wrong time to be making these kinds of cuts to critical services for parents. So I ask the minister: Minister, please urgently review this decision before the expected cut to this service on 1 October and save Parentline. For the second time, we implore you, as do many in our community.