Fw: Your mental health petition in Parliament House tomorrow!
Lyn Jones
Dear Lyn,
Exciting news! Tomorrow, Australian of the Year, Prof.
Patrick McGorry, will deliver your mental health petition at Parliament House.
Prof. McGorry, will hold a press conference with your petition at
Parliament House, and he is also seeking an audience with the Prime Minister -
but this will only happen with a groundswell of public support.
In the
last 24 hours, over 50,000 people have joined the petition - but we're aiming
to reach 80,000 signatures before the press conference tomorrow.
Can you forward this email to your friends and family to ask them to
join? They can add their names at:
www.getup.org.au/campaign/MentalHealth
Just days ago, the Government's chief advisor on mental health, Prof.
John Mendoza, resigned. Now Prof. Mendoza is writing to GetUp members, calling
for public support for your petition. In his letter, attached below, Prof.
Mendoza says "I've come to the regrettable conclusion that my advice was not
getting through - only public pressure will spur politicians into
action".
That's where you come in. You've already added your name
- now can you forward Prof. Mendoza's message to friends and family and ask them
to put their name alongside yours? You may even want to share a story of
your own, to explain why this movement is so important.
Thank you for
caring and acting,
The GetUp Team
PS - Don't forget to post this
on Facebook and Twitter! Let's do everything we can to reach 80,000
signatures by tomorrow.
---John Mendoza's Email---
"I lost my
beautiful youngest daughter to suicide 3 years ago... She was not referred on to
an appropriate service after suffering post-natal depression... She had 3
children whom she adored, and she had so much to live for. She said to me not
long before she died, 'Mum, I wish I had cancer, then people would be more
understanding and caring'. We need improved and increased specialised services
NOW." --Mary, a GetUp member who shared her story.
No parent
should have to experience this. Please sign this petition today before it's
delivered to Parliament House on Thursday:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/MentalHealth
--- A message to
you from Prof John Mendoza ---
Dear Lyn,
On Friday I resigned my
position as the head advisor to the Rudd Government on mental health. And it's
because of stories like Mary's and my frustration over the Government's failure
to do more to prevent them.
So, today I'm taking the unusual step of
writing to you through GetUp to ask you to sign this petition, because I've come
to the regrettable conclusion that my advice was not getting through - only
public pressure will spur politicians into action.
Every day 330
Australians with serious mental illnesses are turned away from Emergency
Departments, and 1,200 Australians are refused admission to a public or private
psychiatric unit.
Every day more than 7 people die as a result of
suicide, and more than a third of those have been discharged too early or
without care from hospitals. For each of those 7 Australians, there are 7
families who mourn them, 7 groups of friends who ask themselves, 'why?'
And every day our political leaders fail to take action, this crisis
worsens. This petition will be presented at Parliament House on Thursday -
please add your name now through the GetUp website below:
www.getup.org.au/campaign/MentalHealth
On Thursday, I and over 60 mental health organisations from across
Australia intend to present a letter to Kevin Rudd with a plan of action for
mental health. But so far, the Prime Minister has declined to receive it, and so
too has the Health Minister, Nicola Roxon.
If 60,000 Australians get
behind those 60 organisations by signing this petition, perhaps the Government
will stand up and take notice. Please join us by adding your name through
the GetUp website below:
www.getup.org.au/campaign/MentalHealth
There are programs on the ground right now, proven to be effective - but
we need real leadership and new investment to roll them out nationally. The
Headspace youth mental health centres and psychosis intervention services
pioneered by Professor McGorry are excellent and can reach hundreds of thousands
of young Australians, if we make an additional investment of $250 million a
year. The lack of spending right now means that tens of thousands of young
Australians have no access to care.
We also need to expand programs for
child mental health, so that the parents of every child with a learning or
developmental disorder can access effective services. We must also provide more
support for the 63,000 homeless Australians suffering from mental illness, and
invest in e-health services that can reach hundreds of thousands of sufferers
cost effectively.
Lastly, we owe it to our children, and their peers, to
implement a national suicide prevention service. Suicide is the number 1
cause of death for men 16-44 and women 16-34 years. But across Australia,
life-saving suicide prevention services are starved for funds. $100 million
would expand these crucial services and concentrate on suicide hot spots like
'The Gap' in Sydney, where just last week the Federal and NSW Governments passed
up on the opportunity to fund an effective suicide prevention project.
www.getup.org.au/campaign/MentalHealth
For too long, successive Governments have failed to take mental
health seriously. It's now the leading cause of disability for all
Australians and the leading killer of those under 44. On Friday, the Prime
Minister restated his commitment "to do more on mental health" and that the next
cab off the rank was mental health." They've been saying that for six months,
but if they're serious, these sensible investments can start saving lives and
alleviate suffering today.
The concerted efforts of mental health
campaigners, including GetUp members, have been effective in securing small
pledges from the Government this year - but we need an investment of at least
$500 million to start turning this health crisis around. It's within our
grasp. A poll commissioned by GetUp this weekend found that 83% of Australians
would be in favour of investing $500 million in mental health immediately.
The policies are there, the public support is there and million of
Australians are waiting for help - now we need the public political pressure to
make it happen. Please join the call by adding your name at:
http://www.getup.org.au/campaign/MentalHealth
Thanks,
Prof.
John Mendoza
*Mary is a GetUp member who shared her family's story with
other GetUp members when we launched the mental health campaign. Her name has
been changed in respect for her privacy.
---This message was sent
through GetUp and your personal details have not been shared with Mr. Mendoza or
anyone else.---
__________________________
GetUp is an independent, not-for-profit community campaigning group. We use new technology to empower Australians to have their say on important national issues. We receive no political party or government funding, and every campaign we run is entirely supported by voluntary donations. If you'd like to contribute to help fund GetUp's work, please donate now! If you have trouble with any links in this email, please go directly to www.getup.org.au. To unsubscribe from GetUp, please click here.
Authorised by Simon Sheikh,
Level 5, 116 Kippax St, Surry Hills NSW 2010
