Mr L'Estrange asks about the evaluation and future funding of the 'Suicide Prevention 2020' strategy. The Minister assures that suicide prevention is a key priority but avoids direct commitment on funding, deferring to the budget announcement.

AnsweredQoN 322Legislative Assembly
Asked
7 May 2019
Portfolio
Health

QuestionView source ↗

SUICIDE PREVENTION
STRATEGY
322. Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE to the Minister for Health:
I have a real question for the
Minister for Health.
Ms S. Winton interjected.
The
SPEAKER : Member for Wanneroo, I call
you to order for the second time. Start again with no preamble please.
Mr S.K. L'ESTRANGE : I
refer to the suicide prevention strategy, ''Suicide Prevention 2020'',
the funding for which is due to cease on 30 June 2019.
(1) Can the
minister provide an update on the evaluation of the strategy and on any
amendments that have been identified as needed to ensure the ongoing success of
the strategy?
(2) Can the minister provide a commitment
that the strategy will continue to be funded after 30 June 2019?

AnswerView source ↗

(1)–(2) I
will not make any comments about what is and is not in the budget; there is a bloke
to my right who is responsible for those things and he will do a bang-up job on
Thursday as he presents the budget on behalf of the McGowan government. I can
assure the member that suicide prevention remains a key priority for the
McGowan government. This is written not more so than in the Kimberley, where we
had to respond to the coroner's report into the suicide deaths of 13
unfortunate young people in that region. That comes on top of the message stick
report, which was provided to this chamber in late 2016. Suicide prevention is
an important aspect of our work and the reason that we have a strategy. We will
continue to make sure that the resources are in place so that we can put
downward pressure on incidents and suicide in our community. Suicide prevention
is an incredibly complex area. For every suicide there is an infinite range of
risk factors and reasons that led to that person making that dreadful decision.
We will obviously respond to the coroner's report in due course—we
are looking forward to doing so—and we will continue to make suicide
prevention a central theme of our mental health policies.

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