CEO Update: A moment to be celebrated. And a moment to remind us of who we aspire to be.

Speaking frankly...

A moment to be celebrated.
And a moment to remind us of who we aspire to be.

Yesterday we saw a memorable moment at Parliament House. The historic vision of almost all Members of the House of Representatives gathered on the same side of the House to demonstrate support for new law to establish marriage equality.

It took too long, the process was flawed, unnecessary damage was done to the people whose lives were judged in the court of public opinion, but in the end we made it. All Australians will now enjoy equality under our marriage laws. A moment to be celebrated. And a moment to remind us of who we aspire to be.

Because as we know too well, our laws often tell us more about our aspirations as a society, than who we really are.

Laws outlawing robbery, or assault or murder, have not prevented robbery, assault and murder from occurring.

As we have seen with the revelations associated with the #metoo campaign globally, laws that should have protected women from predatory sexual aggression have not been adequate to prevent a tsunami of assaults.

And as we have seen with laws intended to protect vulnerable people from discrimination, including people living with mental illness, laws alone are not enough to prevent practices that we should all rightly be ashamed of.

Changing behaviour sometimes requires a change in the law, but it also requires something much deeper than that.

Some of us will remember the Bank of New Zealand campaign, earlier in the year encouraging same sex couples to "hold on". To continue to hold hands in public spaces where such a simple display of affection would have been unsafe historically.

While those same couples may now chose to marry under Australian law, and while the establishment of that law sends a powerful signal about who we aspire to be, we are still some way from living in a country where all our citizens are not just safe, but validated.

Equality is not a right to be gifted or bestowed by one powerful group to another less powerful group. It is a universal value that must first be recognised by all, and then protected and nurtured by all.

Last night I attended a concert in Canberra and I had the good fortune to be introduced to two women I had not met before. Just minutes after the vote in the House of Representatives yesterday, they announced that they had decided to marry after what they described as a "35 year engagement". It was a moment of exuberance and joy shared by those of us gathered around them.

But I also found myself unsettled by a deep sense of sadness. How could we have made these two fine women wait so long for recognition? How many times have we created environments where their loving hands would quietly drift apart, rather than risk adverse public reaction?

So let's celebrate the milestone represented by the passage of marriage equality legislation, but let’s not abandon the task of ending the discrimination that too many members of our modern, progressive society live with every day.

Warm regards.

Frank Quinlan
Chief Executive Officer

Next Week

Director of Policy and Projects, Josh Fear will be participating in an FSC Life Insurance Code of Practice information session on Monday.

On Tuesday, Josh and I will be participating in a teleconference with the NDIA to discuss the Provider Pathway.

Also on Tuesday, Josh and I will be participating in a meeting with Nous Group, to discuss the monitoring and reporting framework for mental health and suicide prevention.

If I have been good, I am hoping Santa will visit on Wednesday for our office secret Santa.

Parliamentary News

Study reveals gap in life expectancy for people with mental illness

New research from The Australian National University (ANU) has found that men who are diagnosed with a mental health condition in their lifetime can expect to live 10.2 years less than those who aren't, and women 7.3 years. Lead researcher Associate Professor Annette Erlangsen said the study, which analysed medical and hospital data from Denmark over two decades from 1994-2014, also found the 'mortality-gap' had stayed consistent, despite efforts to address the issue. "Ten years of life expectancy are lost for those with mental illness," she said. "It is worrisome that the mortality gap between people with mental disorders and the general population has not decreased over the past decades - despite our efforts to address suicide prevention and other relevant factors."

New collaborative tool to help improve mental and physical health of Western Australians

Mental Health Minister Roger Cook says the McGowan Government has provided a $239,450 Lotterywest grant to Consumers of Mental Health Western Australia (CoMHWA) to help disseminate and implement the My Medicines and Me (M3Q) tool in the community. M3Q is a collaborative communication tool that consumers can use to understand, track, and communicate side-effects of medications with their health care professional. It is aimed at empowering consumers and helping to improve mental and physical health care outcomes for Western Australians with mental health issues.

Court project to help people with a cognitive impairment

The NSW Government has launched a pilot diversion program to help defendants with a cognitive impairment charged with low-level offences access services that address the underlying causes of their offending behaviour. Attorney General Mark Speakman, Minister for Mental Health Tanya Davies and Member for Mulgoa, and Minister for Western Sydney and Member for Penrith Stuart Ayres today announced the Cognitive Impairment Diversion Program will be rolled out at Penrith and Gosford Local Courts.

Reminders

Could your experience of suicide help save someone's life?

Supporting someone who has attempted suicide can be a challenging experience. Help SANE understand the impact of this support. By completing the Better Support Survey you will help us examine the journey of a support person and identify what type of assistance or services help. This 15-20 minute survey is open to people over 18 who've supported someone following a suicide attempt in the last ten years. This research is being conducted by SANE Australia in partnership with the University of New England.

Kids Helpline celebrating 25 years and 7.5 million contacts

Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free, private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25. For 26 years Australia’s kids and young people have been turning to the professional, specialised counsellors, no matter who they are, where they live or what they want to talk about. Over this time, Kids Helpline has responded to over 7.5 million contacts. For some young people, connecting with Kids Helpline has been a life-saving experience, while for others it’s about practical help and emotional support at the critical moment they need someone to listen.

Orygen Special Symposium on ‘New approaches to depression’

Orygen, The National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health is pleased to be hosting a Special Symposium on "New approaches to depression: From basic mechanisms to novel treatments" on Monday 11^th December at the Ian Potter Auditorium, Melbourne Brain Centre.

Depression is one of the most burdensome of all illnesses for Australians. There is an urgent need for new approaches to better understand the mechanisms underlying its onset and progression, and to develop new treatments. The symposium will feature three sessions, reflecting the flow from basic discoveries to new treatments and will feature presentation from national and international experts working on the genetic, molecular, and brain mechanisms of depression; and on the development of new treatments.

Mental Health First Aid instructor training in Melbourne in March

The recently launched Older Person Mental Health First Aid course is now taking applications for Instructor training in March from the 19th-23rd in Melbourne. This intensive 5-day course, conducted by two trainers, accredits successful applicants to conduct the 12-hour Older Person MHFA course.

The aim of our Older Person MHFA Course is to train the community to respond appropriately as early as possible to older people developing mental health problems, rather than wait for a mental health crisis before taking action.