❓ Mr. Taylor asks about Brain Injury Awareness Week. The Minister for Health responds, highlighting the importance of awareness, prevention, and support services, before digressing into a criticism of cage fighting.
AnsweredQoN 511Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
BRAIN INJURY AWARENESS WEEK
511. Mr M.H. TAYLOR to the Minister for
Health:
I understand this week is Brain Injury Awareness Week. Can the minister
please update the house on this important awareness campaign?
511. Mr M.H. TAYLOR to the Minister for
Health:
I understand this week is Brain Injury Awareness Week. Can the minister
please update the house on this important awareness campaign?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for the question. The member is correct that this
week is Brain Injury Awareness Week, which is an important national campaign
with the intention of increasing awareness in the community about brain injury
and the consequences of it, and doing whatever we can to reduce the incidence
of an injury that can have very debilitating effects on people in the
community. It is estimated that over 600 000 Australians live with an acquired
brain injury and, sadly, more than two out of three of those people acquire
their brain injury before they turn 25—so it can have a very
significant impact for a long time—and three out of every four people
with acquired brain injury are men.
I was very pleased to attend Headwest's launch of Brain Injury
Awareness Week in Western Australia on Monday. Headwest is an important
not-for-profit organisation that provides important services to people with
acquired brain injury and their families, and it also runs very important
education campaigns to try to ensure that people, particularly young people in
the community, including high school students, recognise potential
injury-producing situations to try to avoid brain injuries occurring and to
minimise risky behaviour that is more likely to cause that.
Acquired brain injuries are caused by a range of events. Motor vehicle
accidents are, of course, a very notable cause, as well as bicycle accidents,
concussion and strokes. On Monday, I met a young person, a 31-year-old, who had
his first stroke—the first of four—at the age of 22, caused
largely by drug abuse, I understand. He is an impressive individual in that he
is now out there communicating with young people, high school students
particularly, through a program that Royal Perth Hospital runs to try to ensure
that young people make sound choices about their lives. Acquired brain injuries
are also caused by tumours, violence and trauma. Brain injuries can and do
change lives in an instant. The effects can be temporary or permanent and can
include a large range of physical, cognitive and emotional effects. It is often
called the invisible disability because there is often no outward physical sign
of a disability. Usually people retain their intellectual abilities but have
difficulty controlling or coordinating their thoughts and action. People with
acquired brain injuries are more likely to experience poorer general health,
mental health issues, relationship breakdowns and even homelessness.
I commend the staff and the volunteers at Headwest and similar
organisations in other states of Australia for the work that they do in trying
to educate the community about prevention of acquired brain injuries. The work
that they do, I must say, is in marked contrast to the messages we have had
from the Leader of the Opposition in recent times on cage fighting, an activity
—
Several members interjected.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : It is an important issue.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Through the Chair, please, quickly.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt interjected.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : I reckon the member for Victoria Park is
better than that, too! I find cage fighting—what I have seen of it, and
I have never attended an event and I have absolutely no desire to—from
the images I have seen, an extremely concerning activity, to put it mildly.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Victoria Park, member for Warnbro, I want 30 seconds.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : It is an activity that celebrates and
encourages violence and is certainly not the sort of thing that we should be
encouraging in Western Australia. I would be interested to know which other
members of the opposition actually support the Leader of the Opposition's
position on this issue. We do not want cage fighting in Western Australia. It
is something —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Ten seconds!
Mr J.H.D. DAY : I find this sort of activity absolutely
abhorrent, frankly, whether it is in a cage or not, but putting it in a cage
makes it even worse, and it would encourage those activities happening here and
the Ultimate Fighting Championship organisation, in particular, as it has been
reported. If the Labor Party's policy was put into effect, it would
enable those UFC events in cages to happen here in Western Australia. That is
the last thing that we should be encouraging here.
week is Brain Injury Awareness Week, which is an important national campaign
with the intention of increasing awareness in the community about brain injury
and the consequences of it, and doing whatever we can to reduce the incidence
of an injury that can have very debilitating effects on people in the
community. It is estimated that over 600 000 Australians live with an acquired
brain injury and, sadly, more than two out of three of those people acquire
their brain injury before they turn 25—so it can have a very
significant impact for a long time—and three out of every four people
with acquired brain injury are men.
I was very pleased to attend Headwest's launch of Brain Injury
Awareness Week in Western Australia on Monday. Headwest is an important
not-for-profit organisation that provides important services to people with
acquired brain injury and their families, and it also runs very important
education campaigns to try to ensure that people, particularly young people in
the community, including high school students, recognise potential
injury-producing situations to try to avoid brain injuries occurring and to
minimise risky behaviour that is more likely to cause that.
Acquired brain injuries are caused by a range of events. Motor vehicle
accidents are, of course, a very notable cause, as well as bicycle accidents,
concussion and strokes. On Monday, I met a young person, a 31-year-old, who had
his first stroke—the first of four—at the age of 22, caused
largely by drug abuse, I understand. He is an impressive individual in that he
is now out there communicating with young people, high school students
particularly, through a program that Royal Perth Hospital runs to try to ensure
that young people make sound choices about their lives. Acquired brain injuries
are also caused by tumours, violence and trauma. Brain injuries can and do
change lives in an instant. The effects can be temporary or permanent and can
include a large range of physical, cognitive and emotional effects. It is often
called the invisible disability because there is often no outward physical sign
of a disability. Usually people retain their intellectual abilities but have
difficulty controlling or coordinating their thoughts and action. People with
acquired brain injuries are more likely to experience poorer general health,
mental health issues, relationship breakdowns and even homelessness.
I commend the staff and the volunteers at Headwest and similar
organisations in other states of Australia for the work that they do in trying
to educate the community about prevention of acquired brain injuries. The work
that they do, I must say, is in marked contrast to the messages we have had
from the Leader of the Opposition in recent times on cage fighting, an activity
—
Several members interjected.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : It is an important issue.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Members! Through the Chair, please, quickly.
Mr
B.S. Wyatt interjected.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : I reckon the member for Victoria Park is
better than that, too! I find cage fighting—what I have seen of it, and
I have never attended an event and I have absolutely no desire to—from
the images I have seen, an extremely concerning activity, to put it mildly.
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Member for Victoria Park, member for Warnbro, I want 30 seconds.
Mr J.H.D. DAY : It is an activity that celebrates and
encourages violence and is certainly not the sort of thing that we should be
encouraging in Western Australia. I would be interested to know which other
members of the opposition actually support the Leader of the Opposition's
position on this issue. We do not want cage fighting in Western Australia. It
is something —
Several members interjected.
The SPEAKER : Ten seconds!
Mr J.H.D. DAY : I find this sort of activity absolutely
abhorrent, frankly, whether it is in a cage or not, but putting it in a cage
makes it even worse, and it would encourage those activities happening here and
the Ultimate Fighting Championship organisation, in particular, as it has been
reported. If the Labor Party's policy was put into effect, it would
enable those UFC events in cages to happen here in Western Australia. That is
the last thing that we should be encouraging here.
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