PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE NO. 2 - HEALTH Tuesday 3 September 2019 Examination of proposed expenditure for the portfolio areas MENTAL HEALTH, REGIONAL YOUTH AND WOMEN CORRECTED The Committee met at 9:30. MEMBERS The Hon. Greg Donnelly(Chair) The Hon. Lou Amato Ms Cate Faehrmann The Hon. Emma Hurst (Deputy Chair) The Hon. Rose Jackson The Hon. Trevor Khan The Hon. Natasha Maclaren-Jones The Hon. Tara Moriarty The Hon. Walt Secord PRESENT The Hon. Bronnie Taylor, Minister for Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women CORRECTIONS TO TRANSCRIPT OF COMMITTEE PROCEEDINGS Corrections should be marked on a photocopy of the proof and forwarded to: Budget Estimates secretariat Room 812 Parliament House Macquarie Street SYDNEY NSW 2000 Tuesday, 3 September 2019 Legislative Council Page 1 The CHAIR: Welcome to the public hearing for the inquiry into budget estimates 2019-2020. Before I commence I acknowledge the Gadigal people, who are the traditional custodians of this land. I also pay respect to the Elders past and present of the Eora nation and extend that respect to other Aboriginals who may be present now or later today. I welcome Minister Bronnie Taylor to her first budget estimates—I am sure it will be a successful one—and accompanying officials to this hearing. Today the Committee will examine the proposed expenditure for the portfolios of Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women. Today's hearing is open to the public and is being broadcast live via the Parliament's website. In accordance with the broadcasting guidelines, while members of the media may film or record Committee members and witnesses, people in the public gallery should not be the primary focus of any filming or photography. I also remind media representatives that you must take responsibility for what you publish about the Committee's proceedings. The guidelines for the broadcast of proceedings are available from the Committee secretariat. All witnesses in budget estimates have a right to procedural fairness according to the procedural fairness resolution adopted by the House in 2018. There may be some questions that a witness could only answer if they had more time or with certain documents to hand. In these circumstances witnesses are advised that they can take a question on notice and provide an answer within 21 days. Any messages from advisers or members' staff seated in the public gallery should be delivered through the Committee secretariat. Minister, I remind you and the officers accompanying you that you are free to pass notes and refer directly to your advisers seated at the table behind you. Transcripts of this hearing will be available on the web from tomorrow morning. Finally, could everyone please turn their mobile phones to silent for the duration of the hearing. All witnesses from departments, statutory bodies or corporations will be sworn prior to giving evidence. Minister, I remind you that you do not need to be sworn as you have already sworn an oath to your office as a member of Parliament. PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE NO. 2 - HEALTH Tuesday, 3 September 2019 Legislative Council Page 2 ANTHONY BODY, Acting Executive Director, Regional NSW, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, affirmed and examined STEVE ORR, Acting Deputy Secretary, Regional NSW, Department of Planning, Industry and Environment, affirmed and examined PHIL MINNS, Deputy Secretary, People, Culture and Governance, NSW Health, sworn and examined ELIZABETH KOFF, Secretary, NSW Health, sworn and examined NIGEL LYONS, Deputy Secretary, Health System Strategy and Planning, NSW Health, sworn and examined MURRAY WRIGHT, Chief Psychiatrist, NSW Health, sworn and examined SIMONE WALKER, Deputy Secretary, Strategy Policy and Commissioning, Department of Communities and Justice, sworn and examined MELINDA NORTON, Director, Women NSW, Department of Communities and Justice, affirmed and examined The CHAIR: Thank you all for coming along. I declare the proposed expenditure for the portfolios of Mental Health, Regional Youth and Women open for examination. Questioning of this portfolio begins now. All witnesses including the Minister will be questioned in the morning session. After the lunch break we will continue questioning government witnesses. The Minister will not be questioned in the afternoon and evening sessions. Minister, there is no provision for any witnesses to make an opening statement before the Committee commences questioning so we will begin our questioning with the Opposition. The Hon. TARA MORIARTY: Good morning, Minister. Of the current Mental Health budget can you tell us how much is allocated to acute services and how much is allocated to community-based services? The Hon. BRONNIE TAYLOR: As I have said before, the entire Mental Health budget is $2.1 billion for current investment in the 2019-2020 budget for mental health services, which focuses on improving the lives of people living in New South Wales with mental illness by delivering better care in hospital, better care in community-based services for their families, for their carers and in the community. We have got multiple funding initiatives including $103 million in 2019-20 as part of the statewide 10-year mental health reform plan, including $7.7 million to expand specialist community-based older people's mental health services. This investment will help meet the needs of our ageing population and deliver improved mental health care and support. We have also got over $5.2 million to expand mental health residential aged-care partnership services to assist long-stay mental health patients with aged-care needs to transition to the community under stage one of the Pathways to Community Living Initiative. It also includes approximately $2 million for non-government aged-care providers and approximately $3.2 million for specialist clinical mental health services provided by local health districts. We have a really exciting announcement as well in terms of community spend with over $5 million being invested in eating disorder services throughout New South Wales. I think this is a really good announcement and clearly demonstrates that the Government sees this as a priority area. We know that there is a rising incidence in that area, particularly in young women. That has been a really great investment as well. The budget also incorporates $19.7 million for suicide prevention. Over $19 million of that money will be directed into this year's budget into phase one of the Suicide Prevention Plan—another really good initiative demonstrating that the Government sees this as an absolute priority; it is also one of the Premier's Priorities to reduce suicide. In addition to that, there has been $23.5 million over four years to expand the capacity of Lifeline and Kids Helpline. I am really excited about this initiative because I think one of the things that we know with young people is that they are really comfortable with text messaging and phones and screens, and one of the trial parts of this project, of this funding, will be looking at SMS messaging as a means of communicating. I will be really excited to see how that progresses and if that is, in fact, as successful as we are really hopeful that it will be. That is a really great initiative as well. We are also looking at Project Air, which is funded $1.1 million per annum from 2017-18. This is a terrific project that is run currently within a lot of our schools and it looks at young people with multiple personality disorders. That is a really great initiative as well. We have support for peer workers. In the mental health sector it is really impressive, I have found, that they are very, very progressive in terms of using peer workers and in using people with lived experience in their facilities. I think this is a terrific initiative and it is something that we are hearing back from consumers that they are really positive about because they can relate to someone who has had a lived experience. We have provided $2.7 million per annum in the Peer Supported Transfer of Care, which will be really good and will allow us to deliver a framework and support for peer support workers out there. Definitely, as I said, on the ground the results and the anecdotal evidence that I am hearing are PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE NO. 2 - HEALTH Tuesday, 3 September 2019 Legislative Council Page 3 extremely positive in that department. Also, as part of our expenditure, we are investing $700 million in the statewide mental health capital infrastructure program, with $20 million going towards that this year in planning phases. We have some very exciting initiatives coming out of that as well. This is a record spend in Mental Health. It is the most that has ever been spent in terms of capital infrastructure and in terms of ongoing costs. I think that is a really good thing. Those are some of the things we are doing with the Mental Health budget. There is so much more but, yes, I am happy to keep going. The Hon. TARA MORIARTY: No, that is okay. I have plenty more questions about how the money is being spent. As a side question from that, you just mentioned some funding in the aged-care sector regarding mental health. Last night in a news story we were advised that certain members of the public were living in government-provided dementia facilities or aged-care facilities and sharing the facility with murderers who should otherwise be in jail. Are you responsible for that? The Hon. BRONNIE TAYLOR: In 2007, when the Labor Government was in power, it established the Mental Health Review Tribunal to ensure that an independent assessment of mental health clients would be undertaken and ensure the safety of the community and the safety of the patients themselves.