Ms THEOPHANOUS (Northcote): My community needs more mental health services, and ever since I was elected in 2018 it is something I have been raising consistently in Parliament and in government and with our departments. We know that statewide there simply has not been a robust system there to support people when they need it most. We know the sector has been overburdened, convoluted and in some cases non-existent. It is why our government put in place a royal commission and has committed $3.8 billion to rebuild Victoria’s mental health system from the ground up.

As the member for Northcote I am pushing for critical investment into mental health services in the inner north. The serious gap in public services in the inner north is consistently raised with me by locals and organisations right across my community, and the gap has impact. I have heard from mums struggling alone with perinatal depression. I have heard from desperate parents trying to get help for teenagers with eating disorders. I have heard from older people who have suffered for years with a mental illness and had nowhere to turn. My community needs support close to home. We need a local public mental health service that has an open door for the people who need it. We need somewhere we can provide tailored, age-appropriate quality clinical care and psychosocial supports. We need our mental health system to be there for Northcote. I will not stop fighting for this. I will not stop working with our Labor government to deliver it. It is too important.