STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Ms COFFEY (Griffith) (13:50): The mental health of young people is an issue very close to my heart. Prior to entering parliament, I served as the CEO of a national youth mental health charity, and I saw every day how early intervention and prevention, alongside expert care, can change a young person's life. But I also saw gaps in our care system for young people with more complex needs.

That's why I'm so proud to serve in an Albanese Labor government that is investing more than $149 million to upgrade 30 headspace centres to the headspace Plus Model of Care to respond directly to that need. I was delighted to be joined again by the Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, Minister McBride, at Griffith's headspace in Woolloongabba, which will be among the first in the country to transition to the new headspace Plus model.

Funding for our Woolloongabba headspace will roughly triple, meaning more psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, peer workers and counsellors providing coordinated care close to home. I've spoken with many young people in our community who have told me that headspace Woolloongabba has been a lifeline when they needed it most. This upgrade will strengthen our local mental health service and will provide more comprehensive, coordinated and wraparound support closer to home for young people with more complex needs, keeping them connected with local community.

The Albanese Labor government is proud to invest in the mental health of our young people and proud to give them the support to build a healthy future. That is what Labor governments deliver—free, accessible mental health care and support in our own communities.