Senator WRIGHT (South Australia) (13:25):  Several weeks ago, on 5 October, I attended a special lunch in Adelaide to commemorate the first national Borderline Personality Awareness Day in Australia. In an era when many conditions and challenges are now recognised by their own day or week, this condition has remained unacknowledged and shrouded in shame for far too long. This is an illness which is much stigmatised but little understood. 'The Cinderella of mental illnesses' is how it was described that day by people who know the condition intimately—sufferers, carers and mental health professionals who have devoted their careers to help bring it into the light. That suggests only too well how devastating the condition can be when we consider that mental illness itself is hardly a glamorous condition. To describe a particular condition as 'Cinderella' shows, I think, the devastation that this condition can bring about. It is vital that this situation changes, and the first national awareness day is an excellent start.

The Senate today agreed that former lawyer and current Greens' Spokesperson for Legal Affairs, Senator Penny Wright, would become chair of the Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committee.

Senator WRIGHT (South Australia) (18:25):  As the Greens' spokesperson for mental health I am pleased to rise to speak in relation to the tabling of the Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Commonwealth Funding and Administration of Mental Health Services report, and I thank Senator Moore for her generosity in sharing her time with me.

The Australian Greens welcomed the government's commitment of increased funding for mental health in the May budget. The budget also introduced some substantial and far-reaching initiatives which the Greens have been consistently calling for, in particular a focus on children, youth services, early intervention and case management, and the establishment of a dedicated Mental Health Commission. However, it is fair to say that there were also implications from the budget decisions which were of concern to the Greens and certainly received mixed reactions from various sectors.

The Australian Greens have recommended that the Federal Government postpones changes to the Better Access program to ensure the ongoing delivery of services to patients.

Senator Rachel Siewert, Chair of the Senate Community Affairs References Committee Inquiry into Commonwealth Funding and Administration of Mental Health Services has made a series of recommendations in her additional comments to the Committee's majority report.

Transcript after the break