Wednesday, 29 July 2026

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (19:01): (2643) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Mental Health. The action I seek is for the minister to establish a Headspace youth mental health service in Rochester. During the winter break I had the pleasure of hearing a wonderful presentation from a group of Rochester Secondary College students, who had carried out a youth takeover research project in collaboration with Rochester and Elmore District Health Service and the Campaspe Cohuna Local Learning and Employment Network. Rochester students used their initiative to conduct a community survey asking local residents about their experiences with health services in the town. They collected real data on the quality and availability of services and gained insight into what services locals expect and require for their medical needs. They found that a quarter of respondents used a health service weekly or monthly and around half used a health service just a few times a year. Just over a quarter said that someone in their household needed emergency and urgent care in the last 12 months.

The students discovered that many struggled to get to their appointments, with 32 per cent saying that they knew someone who needed support with transport to access health care. GP services had the highest level of engagement, with 86 per cent of respondents using a GP. Seventy-five per cent of respondents expected their need for medical services to increase over the next decade, and 42 per cent identified mental health treatment as the service that will be most needed in the future. When asked about the challenges facing health care in the Rochester community, respondents listed a number of issues facing the community, including the small number of GPs and the long wait times to be seen by a doctor. Respondents also noted that specialist services are far away, and there is a lack of transport options to connect Rochester residents with the services they need in regional cities or Melbourne.

Young people in particular said that their number one and most important priority is better mental health services. Rochester was hit hard by the 2022 floods, and the damage to homes, sports clubs and the town pool significantly disrupted the social connections that the young people depend on in those gathering places. It was made more difficult because of the lack of them. The students told me that what they identified young people liked and valued most in the town was the Rochester Football Netball Club – go Tigers. However, the Rochester college students said that their study revealed young people’s greatest need was a Headspace clinic to provide accessible mental health services. It is now four years since the floods, and many assume that the recovery is finished. It is not. Many houses are still waiting to be rebuilt, and young people are still working through the after-effects of seeing their homes and lives drowned in the deluge. I urge the minister to invest in a Headspace to improve mental health services for young people in Rochester.