Radio interview with Assistant Minister McBride, ABC Radio Canberra Breakfast – 30 June 2026

Media event date: 30 June 2026 Date published: 30 June 2026 Media type: General public ROSS SOLLY, HOST: So good news today that the opening of the new walk-in mental health clinic for young people is nearly upon us. This has been in the pipeline for some time. It's planned in Tuggeranong.

It's called a Kids Hub. And today, there'll be some more efforts made to get the doors open. This is the Medicare Mental Health Kids Hub in Tuggeranong.

Emma McBride is the Minister, the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, and joins us in the ABC Canberra studio. Emma McBride, thanks for coming in. ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Good to be with you, Ross.

And thank you for coming down from the hill to visit us. Very pleased to be here in the studio. What do you think of our surrounds?

It's quite nice, isn't it? It is. It really is.

Yep. We could always do with some more money, though, if you want to pass it on to the people who control the purse strings. There's already a couple of walk-in mental health clinics in Canberra for older Canberrans.

Why is this- I mean, it's a bit distressing, I guess, that we need something like this for younger people, but it's a fact of life now, isn't it? It really is. We know that about one in seven children experience mental health struggles and that by adolescence, about half of mental health conditions have emerged.

So what we're really focused on is that earlier intervention and that wraparound support. And importantly, these services are also available to parents and caregivers who need additional support as well while supporting their young person, so a multidisciplinary team is there to provide holistic care, including for the family. So these are for kids zero to 12, I understand.

It's what the service will be for? That's right. And what can they actually access there?

I mean, obviously, they're not going in there to be diagnosed or anything like that, are they? Are they looking for- are they getting support? What happens in there?

These are part of a national rollout of 17 Kids Hubs around the country that sit under our National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement. And in visiting centres in other parts of the country, families can go in when a young person is struggling – they might be finding it difficult adjusting to school, they might have problems with their emotional wellbeing, their socialisation – and what it will mean is that they'll be able to get that support sooner.

It might be working with a counsellor or a social worker or a psychologist. So clinical support, as well as family and relational support to make sure that whatever that young person's needs are, that they’re supported and that the parents have more tools to be able to equip them to support that young person. So do they actually get that sort of treatment or that sort of support there?

Or are they then referred to- I'm just trying to get my head around how this works. Or are they then then referred to a new centre for …? So how it works is that a parent or a caregiver can contact the Kids Hub where they'll be able to be provided support within the centre.

And in the case in Canberra, there'll be three established providers, Marymead CatholicCare, Grand Pacific Health and also a Child and Family Aboriginal Corporation. So three experienced providers are able to provide clinical support, family and relational support, or whatever that young person needs. If they do need something beyond that, then the intention is that a warm handover will be provided so the family aren't having to retell their story, so there's better continuity of care.

And importantly, this is all free because we know what a big barrier out-of-pocket costs have been to families in being able to access care and the long delays that that's led to. So where we've seen them introduced elsewhere, it's meaning that families are able to walk in to get support when they need it and, importantly, free under Medicare. The figures are pretty damning.

They're quite horrific, actually. Do you think, Emma McBride, it's because we've become better at diagnosing or recognising kids when they're struggling with mental health, or are there just more instances now of kids struggling with mental health? We're trying to understand this better… There are lots of studies, but what we're also doing is boosting in our national centre for children's mental health to an institute so that we can better understand in Australia today what is driving this distress, how we can boost protective factors and to make sure that whatever programs or interventions that we introduce that they're evidence-based.

There is, from my understanding, both an increase in prevalence but also an increase in diagnosis. So both of those, but we do need to understand this better and what is driving that distress, which is why we're also investing in the research so that we can have the most up-to-date evidence to support the programs and the support that we're providing. I know I'm going to sound like an old man shouting at clouds again because I always go on about this, but social media has got to be a contributing factor, doesn't it?

It's a horrible, horrible thing that kids are getting on way too young. And I know the government's got plans and they've got laws in place now, but the system seems to be suggesting that it hasn't sort of cut through. There's still 85 per cent of kids under 16 are still on social media.

I mean, this has got to be a big factor, doesn't it? We know that big tech has to be responsible for social harm through social media. Predatory algorithms like metrics that are putting content in front of vulnerable people, including young people.

I've heard from parent advocates who've experienced the most tragic consequences of online harms, which is why we're strengthening our legislation. The amendments were introduced to the House yesterday to double the fines to big tech to $99 million. These are tech giants.

And to also strengthen the powers of the eSafety Commissioner including in being able to gather evidence from third parties. We know that 5 million social media accounts have been deactivated since we introduced this world-leading legislation, but we also know that accounts can be reactivated or new accounts can be set up. And this is the responsibility of big tech.

They have to be accountable for this social harm. This is why we are doubling the fines and also increasing the powers of the eSafety Commissioner. The eSafety Commissioner is currently investigating five tech platforms.

This is sending a very strong signal to social media companies that we are serious about this and that they need to be responsible, Ross. They need to be responsible to the parents and to the young people themselves for the harm that they're causing. 18 minutes to 8 on the show. We're chatting with Emma McBride who's the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.

Everyone's still waiting to see the final guidelines of how the new NDIS might look and what the responsibilities will be of territory and state governments, etc. There are a lot of people out there who currently are on NDIS who are very, very nervous that they're going to end up- now, we talk about providing support for mental health, et cetera. Yet then we are putting a lot of people through torment at the moment because they don't know where they're going to fall once the new laws come into place.

Can you reassure people, Emma McBride, that nobody's going to be left without assistance, that nobody's going to be left without help if they need it? Yeah, I can. I've seen in my own community and in my role across the country so many people and families where the NDIS in its introduction has been life changing, where people for the first time have had choice and control, where older parents of adult children my age with disability now feel comfort and reassurance.

And I want to reassure your listeners in the Territory and around the country that that is the priority for our government to make sure that people have support, that they have choice and control, that they do have agency, and to do it in a way that makes the NDIS sustainable for the future. That's really the strong focus of any of the reforms that we're making.

And under our plans, Ross, for your listeners, the NDIS will still continue to grow each year. And we take pride in the fact that Labor built the NDIS and this was part of a movement across a country of every Australian counts of people with disability themselves and advocates and allies. And that is so important to us as a government, to me being responsible for mental health and wellbeing.

And a particular focus I have is on psychosocial disability. So the impact of people's mental health challenges in that disability space and a very strong focus on that, working alongside Minister Jenny McAllister and our Senior Minister Mark Butler. Is gambling addiction a mental health issue?

There are risks associated with gambling and we have seen the risks associated- Would you say it's a mental health issue? I would say that gambling could be described as something where there is dependency and addictive patterns. So there are some people that gamble safely within their limits, but there are other people where it does then have an impact on their life and their wellbeing, including their finances.

The reason I ask that, Emma McBride, is that this week your government's going to introduce the new gambling laws, anti-gambling laws. A lot of advocates out there for safer laws and for anti-gambling campaigners say you're going nowhere near far enough. Why are you squibbing this?

The Prime Minister has said that we have taken, of any federal government, the most action to protect people from the harms of gambling. And the government is introducing legislation which is going to ban online ads under certain ages to cap the times that people are exposed to those ads. This is significant reform.

And it will have a real impact. But it's not that significant, is it, though? Because Peta Murphy, who put a lot of time into this, she had a report which had cross-party support on it.

She had 31 recommendations in there. You know how many your government's adopting of those 31? What I would like to say is taking a step back - Four.

In fact, less than four of that 3.1. This is something that is a priority for our government, that the Prime Minister has committed to, that the Communications Minister is leading. This is important reform.

And there are significant changes that will reduce harm and protect people, particularly those people who are vulnerable online. It's very hard, though, Emma McBride, to find any experts who think that your government's going anywhere near far enough to get on top of problem gambling. And when you are an addict, it does have mental health.

And as the Assistant Minister for Mental Health, you must be concerned about this, surely. It is something that I take seriously as I do the other drivers of distress. We've just spoken about social media, climate change.

There are many drivers of distress in our society. And I think as a government, we have to take a whole of government approach to make sure that whatever we do across any portfolio considers people's mental health and wellbeing. But critics like David Pocock and others say you're in the pocket of the big gambling companies.

You're too scared to take them on. That's why only less than four of the Peta Murphy recommendations have been embraced. I mean, Senator Pocock can say what Senator Pocock will.

A lot of experts agree with him. Well, advocates, of course, will push the government to go further. And from my perspective, this is significant reform.

There are important changes and it will help to reduce risk and boost protective factors. All right. Emma McBride, thanks for coming and chatting with us, especially about the opening of the new walk-in facility.

It's sad, as I said, that we need it, but obviously it's the way it is these days. Thank you for coming in this morning. Good to be with you.

That's Emma McBride, who is the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and the Minister for Rural and Regional Health on ABC Canberra The Hon Emma McBride MP Mental health and suicide prevention Children's health Accessibility We acknowledge the Traditional Owners and Custodians of Country throughout Australia, and their continuing connection to land, sea and community.

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