STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator STEELE-JOHN (Western Australia) (13:53): I'm reading this speech on behalf of Alexis, who is 15 years old and submitted this speech as part of the Raise Our Voice in Parliament campaign. This speech discusses suicide of young people. For anyone watching online, I'll be speaking about this for the next two minutes or so if you'd like to tune out.

This is what Alexis says: As a teenager, living regionally, in the next 10 years, I'm at a high risk of committing suicide. 74% of Australians, aged 15—25, experience at least one mental health issue. Yet seeking help. I expose an ineffective system. … … … The average waiting time for someone from Medicare is 100 days.

For a specialist, it's 130 days in metropolitan areas. Living regionally my waiting time increases to 250 days but I can't always access the help that I need. Because of my postcode, I'm at further risk due to isolation, lack of resources, poor funding and even privacy from social stigma. … … … There's access to telehealth helplines but in many parts of regional Australia reception is limited, making these calls impractical.

Medicare subsidises 10 sessions. Once used, I'm back to drowning. For many regional people, private care is unattainable.

These systematic failures explain why in regional areas suicide rates are 62% higher than metropolitan areas. As well as why self harm hospitalisation is 24% higher. … … … Our federal government needs to subsidize more hours of therapy through Medicare, and it needs to invest in youth workers and mental health specialists all over our country, not just our major cities.

We're not just statistics. We cannot be left behind.