Month: February 2021

School children across six hundred of Australia’s rural and regional primary schools will have access to expanded mental health supports through the Morrison Government’s $2.5 million funding for the Smiling Mind evidence-based mindfulness social and emotional learning program.
Half of all mental health issues emerge before the age of 14 years and poor mental health affects learning. Our Government knows that prevention and early intervention – both early in life and in the development of a condition – will minimise the impact of mental illness across a lifetime.
Smiling Mind Regional and Rural Schools Program will benefit thousands of children a year. The online program runs over three school terms each year, involving both school staff training in mindfulness and resources to sustain the program and its benefits for the school.
It will also include assistance for schools to gauge the positive impact the program is having on each school community, as well as ongoing support from psychologists and mindfulness experts.
Australian school students and their families have faced many challenges over the past year as the nation responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Smiling Minds will ensure more children can access mental health supports, which will help keep their education on track.
Smiling Mind is a world leading program, building healthy minds, engaged classrooms and equipping a generation of children with skills they need to thrive in life.
The program will be available in government, Catholic and independent primary schools in rural or regional communities experiencing disadvantage.
Rural and regional schools in South Australia and Queensland joined the program in November 2020, which is now open across the entire country.
Further information on the program is available online at: www.smilingmind.com.au/regional-and-rural-schools-program
Mental health and suicide prevention remains one of our Government’s highest priorities. We have prioritised mental health and suicide prevention services, with record investment in mental health estimated to be $5.9 billion in 2020–21 alone.
Anyone worried about their mental health, loneliness, finances, family, or other circumstances can contact the Beyond Blue Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service for free advice and counselling on 1800 512 348 or online at beyondblue.org.au. Immediate advice and support is also available through Lifeline (13 11 14) or Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800).

The Morrison Government is investing $8 million to support the Children’s Tumour Foundation and research into neurofibromatosis, a devastating condition which can cause cancer, blindness, deafness and chronic pain.
The $7 million Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Neurofibromatosis Research Grant Opportunity will support ground breaking research projects to develop new interventions and improve healthcare and outcomes for people living with neurofibromatosis.
Neurofibromatosis is a genetic condition that can causes tumours to form around nerves, including in the brain and spinal cord. It is more common in children and young adults and while there currently is no cure, treatments can help manage this condition.
There are three types of neurofibromatosis and the most prevalent, neurofibromatosis type 1, affects up to one in every 2,500 Australians.
The 2021 Neurofibromatosis Research Grant Opportunity funding is part of the Emerging Priorities and Consumer Driven Research (EPCDR) Initiative.
The initiative helps to support high quality biomedical, clinical, health services and population health research that improves patient care, find new diagnoses, treatments and cures for those suffering from rare and debilitating conditions and translate new discoveries into clinical practice.
In addition to the MRFF funding, we are providing $1 million over four years to the Children’s Tumour Foundation. This will help the foundation continue its important work in advocacy, research and support for families with children who live with neurofibromatosis.
The MRFF is a long-term, sustainable investment in Australian health and medical research helping to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to the sustainability of the health system. It is also a capital preserved fund, which matured at $20 billion in July 2020.
Further information on the MRFF is available at www.health.gov.au/mrff and on the grant opportunities is at www.grants.gov.au.

The Government has launched the first phase of Australia’s $89.5 million Intergenerational Health and Mental Health Study – the National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing. This comprehensive survey aims to provide an in-depth understanding of the mental health challenges that Australians are facing.
Almost half of Australians experience some form of mental illness at some point in their lifetime. In addition, the 2019 bushfires and the ongoing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic have significantly affected the mental health and wellbeing of many people across the country.
The National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing will provide unrivalled depth to our understanding of these mental health challenges and conditions.
It will capture, among other aspects, new information on self-harm, eating disorders and services used by people at risk of suicide. It will help us better understand how Australians manage their mental health and how they access support, playing a vital role in the planning and delivery of better local services now and in the future.
Up to 17,000 Australians, aged 16 to 85 will take part in the study, with the first results expected by the end of 2021.
The work is the first part of the Intergenerational Health and Mental Health Study, a multi-year study of approximately 60,000 Australians which will run until 2023 and provide the most complete picture ever of our health. It includes four national studies covering mental health, general health, nutrition and physical activity and biomedical health status.
The remaining national studies will begin from 2022 after the next Australian Census.
Mental health and suicide prevention remains one of our Government’s highest priorities. We have prioritised mental health and suicide prevention services, with record investment in mental health estimated to be $5.9 billion in 2020–21 alone.
Anyone worried about their mental health, loneliness, finances, family, or other circumstances can contact the Beyond Blue Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service for free advice and counselling on 1800 512 348 or online at beyondblue.org.au. Immediate advice and support is also available through Lifeline (13 11 14) or Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800).

Labor demands that Scott Morrison intervene to save thousands of jobs in Victoria following the announcement of the closure of ExxonMobil oil refinery at Altona.
This is devastating news for hundreds of local workers and for the future of Australia’s fuel security.
This decision will cost hundreds of direct jobs and impact thousands of workers in downstream industry. This is further proof that the Government has no plan for workers affected by these decisions.
Australia’s petrochemical manufacturers all rely on by-products produced from the ExxonMobil refinery. These manufacturers will likely need assistance, given the year they’ve had through COVID, to ensure they don’t close.
Following just months after the closure of the refinery at Kwinana in Western Australia, the Morrison Government has overseen the closure of half of our domestic refineries in the last six months.
The Government announced a $211 million so-called fuel security package in September last year to keep refineries on line.
Six months later another refinery will close its doors.
Morrison and Angus Taylor said their fuel security plan would ‘create 1,000 new jobs and protect workers in the fuel sector and in fuel-dependent industries’.
Instead, their ‘stewardship’ has seen the loss of 600 jobs at Kwinana, and the imminent loss of 350 direct jobs at Altona, and many thousands more if they continue to sit on their hands.
Another hollow headline and empty promise never delivered by Scott Morrison.
Labor warned then that the package was inadequate and failed to address Australia’s fuel security needs. Today’s announcement clearly shows this Government has no real plan.
Scott Morrison’s policy vacuum has left hundreds of workers without jobs and the nation without a sovereign supply of domestic fuel.