Tuesday, 31 March 2026

 Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (12:38): (1292) My question is for the Minister for Mental Health. Minister, the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System made multiple –

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: If we could set reset the clock, it is just hard to hear.

Sarah MANSFIELD: My question is for the Minister for Mental Health. The royal commission into the Victorian mental health system made multiple recommendations regarding Aboriginal mental health and wellbeing. For example, recommendation 33(1) of the royal commission calls for the government to:

build on the interim report’s recommendation 4 to support Aboriginal social and emotional wellbeing, and resource the Social and Emotional Wellbeing Centre to establish two co-designed healing centres.

These centres are yet to receive funding, despite also being consistent with Closing the Gap targets 1 to 14, the Yoorrook Justice Commission’s recommendation 8(c) and the clear evidence for the need for and potential benefit of these services. In the upcoming budget will your government commit the $36.2 million required initially to fund the healing centres?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Prevention of Family Violence) (12:39): I thank Dr Mansfield for her question. These are important issues, and of course we are seeing disproportionate impacts when it comes to Aboriginal Victorians’ mental health and suicide rates, which I know everyone in this chamber would surely agree is something that we all have a collective responsibility to try to address. I know that these issues are also relevant when it comes to the Closing the Gap efforts across our nation. We have been really proud to work with our ACCOs and with VACCHO on making sure that we are supporting social and emotional wellbeing teams right across the state, and that is work that has been consistently funded through my department and also as a direct result of the recommendations of the royal commission.

Just last week I and my colleagues Minister Thomas and Minister Horne attended the Aboriginal health partnership forum, which is a regular interaction between our ACCOs and our Aboriginal mental health and health services and the government and which really is embedded in the principles of self-determination and that Aboriginal communities have the answers that will be relevant to their own situation. I will continue to support those measures, including through our budget processes that are centred around what Aboriginal communities are calling for.

I cannot pre-empt the decisions of the budget that is being deliberated on as we speak. The Treasurer will have more to say about the budget on budget day, but I am absolutely committed to continuing to work both through the Aboriginal health partnership forum and the agreements between the government and that governance group but also in progressing our royal commission recommendations when it comes to trying to change that trajectory for Aboriginal Victorians so that the unacceptable situation where Aboriginal Victorians are three times more likely than the general population to attempt suicide or to have mental health challenges – we all have work to do to continue to try to drive down those terrible statistics and to make a real difference for Aboriginal communities. I would say that our government, whether it is in health or any other policy area, are absolutely committed to doing that in a way that is consistent with our commitments to treaty.

 Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (12:42): Thank you, Minister, for that response, and I look forward to hearing the outcomes of those budget discussions. Another example is recommendation 33(4) of the royal commission, which calls for the government, in collaboration with VACCHO, to resource a culturally appropriate, family-oriented service for infants and children who require intensive social and emotional wellbeing supports. The Nest is VACCHO’s proposal to fulfil this recommendation and would require just under $55 million in initial state funding to develop. Appreciating that you cannot pre-empt the decisions of Treasury, are you putting forward a bid for the Nest in the upcoming budget?

 Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Mental Health, Minister for Ageing, Minister for Multicultural Affairs, Minister for Prevention of Family Violence) (12:43): I thank Dr Mansfield for her question, and again I will not be tempted – there is a budget process and there is a well-understood timeframe for the budget to be announced in detail by the Treasurer, so that is appropriate. I meet with both VACCHO and ACCOs really regularly about what their priorities are, and I know that both the healing centres and the Nest are key priorities for them. I am proud of the fact that the health department was one of the first departments to actually facilitate and support self-determined budget bids. That is important in the context of treaty and in the context of recognising that Aboriginal communities hold the answers to these complex issues when it comes to mental health and wellbeing, and they have a unique insight into what will work in those communities.