MEMBER FOR BOOTHBY, LOUISE MILLER-FROST: Hi everyone. I'm Louise Miller-Frost, I'm the federal member for Boothby, and it's my absolute pleasure to welcome you here to the Repat Hospital in the centre of Boothby. I always love being here with Minister Picton and Minister Butler making lots of great announcements. Labor is the party that looks after health, the party of Medicare. We started Medicare and we look after it. The work that we've done in this area has absolutely warmed my heart. Having worked in the sector for a couple of decades, to be able to say that we've tripled the bulk billing incentive, which has been a 4 per cent increase in bulk billing across South Australia. We've made medicines cheaper. We've opened 46 extra beds between Flinders and Repat. We have our Urgent Care Clinic, which has seen over 12,000 people. That's 12,000 people who had a bulk billed appointment and didn't have to turn up to Flinders ED. And of course, our endometriosis clinic down at Glenelg, which is helping women who have lived with chronic, severe, disabling pelvic pain to manage their symptoms and move on with their lives. I'm always really happy to be here for any health announcement, and I'll hand over to the Minister.
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND AGED CARE, MARK BUTLER: Thank you, Louise. Louise is such a terrific member of our government and our caucus, bringing a really strong public health background to all of our discussions about strengthening Medicare, and has been a really strong advocate for some of the investments she just outlined in the southern suburbs here in Adelaide. I'm really delighted not just to be joined by Louise, but also Minister Picton, my South Australian colleague, a range of clinicians from the Statewide Eating Disorder Service here in South Australia, and particularly pleased that Lauren has joined us and will be talking about her lived experience with an eating disorder as well.
Eating disorders are incredibly widespread in Australia. We think as many as more than 1 million Australians experience an eating disorder at any one time. They are highly dangerous. They are particularly difficult to treat, and have one of the highest mortality rates of any diagnosable mental illness. We think as many as 650 Australians every year lose their life to an eating disorder, about 450 to anorexia nervosa, and around 200 to bulimia. We've been working very hard as a Commonwealth Government to find new ways to support Australians who are living with an eating disorder and their families. This is often very much a family experience, because often eating disorders strike a person when they're still relatively young, perhaps even still in their teens. Providing wraparound services for not just the patient, but for families, is a particular focus of our government. We've got new arrangements in place in Medicare to support patients such as these. We've rolled out about $20 million of new community-based services as well. These are innovative services that are finding new ways to treat this very difficult and very stubborn range of conditions.
Back in 2019 the former government announced a range of funds to different state governments to support the creation of residential treatment centres. There was $5 million allocated to South Australia. When we came to government, at about the same time the Malinauskas Government came to government, and Minister Picton was appointed Health Minister, it became clear to us, three years after that announcement of funding, that nothing really had been done around the implementation of that commitment. We've been working since then, particularly Minister Picton has been working hard with his clinicians to work out how we can deliver that promise to the people of South Australia, the patients like Lauren and so many others like her around this state. It became clear that that funding commitment from the former government was pretty grossly inadequate. Minister Picton wrote to me in September this year with a clear indication that in order to deliver this commitment to the people of South Australia, we would need to double that funding from $5 million to $10 million and very importantly, and to their credit, that the Malinauskas Government was willing to split the difference in that additional $5 million. I'm really pleased to announce today that in yesterday's mid-year economic and fiscal outlook delivered by Treasurer Chalmers and Minister Gallagher, that an additional $2.5 million was allocated by the Commonwealth Government to this really important project, matching the $2.5 million that Minister Picton has told me South Australia has committed as well. Now there is $10 million on the table, finally to deliver this project with $7.5 million being contributed by the Commonwealth, and $2.5 million being contributed by Minister Picton and the South Australian Government. I want to thank Minister Picton and all of his officials and clinicians at the SEDS, the Statewide Eating Disorder Service, for continuing to find ways in which we can make this promise a reality to the people of South Australia.
Before I hand to Minister Picton, I also want to talk about another really exciting project that we're working on together, and that is the redevelopment of significant parts of the Flinders Medical Centre just up the hill. Louise has been a terrific advocate for this project, as has, of course, Minister Picton, the Premier and many of Minister Picton's southern suburbs colleagues as well. The largest capital commitment that the Albanese Government made at the last election anywhere in the country in the health portfolio was for that project at FMC, which committed $200 million to that project, the largest capital commitment that we made in health. Again, it's been clear because of cost escalation and other reasons, I'm sure Minister Picton can expand upon, that the $400 million that was committed at that time back in 2022 is not going to deliver the entirety of the ambition that Minister Picton, Louise and the Premier have. I'm also delighted to announce that yesterday, I wrote to Minister Picton again, confirming that we would provide an additional $49 million taking our total commitment to $249 million to ensure that that entire project was able to be delivered in full to the people of South Australia, but particularly the people of the southern suburbs.
MINISTER FOR HEALTH AND WELLBEING SOUTH AUSTRALIA, CHRIS PICTON: I've had the privilege of meeting a number of people who have been afflicted by eating disorders, and also their families, including some families who have lost their children to eating disorders. It is such a heartbreaking condition for families across South Australia. The sad reality is that the number of people with eating disorders is increasing. The number of young people who are having eating disorders is on the rise, and that is of concern to everybody. That's why we need to take further action in terms of making sure that we can support and help to treat appropriately these eating disorders. We're taking action as a country, initially led here in South Australia. Credit to Mark and Louise and the Federal Government for taking action in relation to social media. I think we can see the impact in eating disorders of the way in which social media impacts on young people and that prevention is always better. What we're seeing is a big increase in terms of teenagers in particular, affected by eating disorders, so we need to take action.
As Mark has outlined, we've looked at how we could use that original $5 million every which way to be able to deliver this centre. We've been working very closely with John Mannion and the Breakthrough Foundation, and it just wasn't going to work with just that limited amount of money. We've had to make a decision between the state government and the Federal government to increase that funding allocation, as well as $2 million coming from the Breakthrough Foundation. We will now be able to deliver this centre properly for the first time, to be able to get it right for families who need this help. This is really exciting to be able to get this project finally underway, finally delivered with certainty that it's going to be done right the first time. It's going to have the beds that we need for that 24-hour care. It's going to have the facilities that we need for day services. It's going to have the ability for our researchers to have the facilities that they need to be able to look at helping prevent and also cure eating disorders as well. This is going to be an Australian leading centre based here at the Repat site. We're so appreciative of Mark and Louise for their support and an additional $2.5 million dollars from the Federal government, with another $2.5 million coming from the state government, and also over $2 million coming from the Breakthrough Foundation. This is going to leave an incredible legacy, which is going to help many South Australians facing these terrible diseases.
JOHN MANNION, BREAKTHROUGH CEO: Thank you very much to both Minister Butler and Minister Picton, and especially for the new investments in eating disorders. Breakthrough Mental Health Research Foundation is a for purpose foundation. We invest into targeted mental health research across eating disorders, young people, depression and indigenous mental health. Eating disorders hits across all four of those pipeline areas. The work we've been doing has been around the advocacy that sits behind action. We've wanted to drive a change here for eating disorders, for South Australia, to bring a fully integrated eating disorder service together. To do that we're listening to the voice of the lived experience, listening to their families. This impacts a great many people. We're listening to clinicians also and then embedding that in with our research connectivity.
Our aim and objective is to have an environment in which we're able to provide evidence-based interventions that drive massive changes for families. What we're now looking at is a new building that will be fully integrated. The building behind us is Daw House. Daw House is a very historic building here on site. It will take on new life as a new residential building. It will be five bedded individual en-suite rooms with a home like environment. It will be connected to clinical services in a brand new building that will sit next to it and wrap around it. That wrap around building will provide the support then for the day program, family based therapy, the outpatients, and also that one on one support that needs to take place. Our aim and objective then was to embed the research team within that team. We're looking here around research that looks at predisposition to anorexia, looking at genetic analysis, looking as the Minister has said, around the negative impacts of social media. Also wanting to measure the impact of the models we put into place, so that if we do need to make changes and adaptations, we can do that in real time. Our passion has always been to drive this project. We've had a number of stumbling blocks. The stumbling blocks are a bit around trying to get it right. Our aim was always around having a fully integrated service. This further investment from the governments makes that happen. And we do this because the lives that get impacted by eating disorders have this massive impact across a wider community group, and that's really important.
Eating disorders is often one of the forgotten areas in our mental health area. We know we have a range of competing mental health challenges, and our passion has been to make sure that this maintains and the narrative for eating disorders maintains here in South Australia. One of the things we have here is some incredible services. We've got incredible researchers, led by Tracy Wade. One of the things we're not very good at in South Australia is telling our narrative and telling our story. We have got beautiful stories to tell, and we want to carry on doing that. We'll be able to do that through this building. We've worked very closely with Cheeseman's Architects. We've had a range of consultation sessions across the lived experience community, across carers, across clinicians and across research. We will have an environment that we should be very proud of here in South Australia. Our aim and objective is to appoint our builder by middle of next year, and the timeline for the project is a 12 to 18 months project. By the end of 2026 it'll be lovely to be standing here, taking you all for a walk through the buildings. Thank you for the ongoing commitment from the state and federal governments. We really appreciate it.
JOURNALIST: John, has the site been handed over to Breakthrough from SA Health?
MANNION: We're just going through the final parts at the moment, so that's all the sort of the contract arrangements. We're just finalising some of the design concepts now. The design for the residential has all been completed and been consulted, and we're now just finalising parts of the clinical component that will sit next door. So the aim of that will be a constant wraparound. The final cost of that will be completed in the first quarter of next year, which means we go out to our builders contracts.
JOURNALIST: So who has control of the site at the moment?
MANNION: It's a shared contract at the moment. The site will always be owned by SA Health, and then as a project it gets handed over to us.
JOURNALIST: And how confident are you that the now $10 million plus $2.1 million from you will be enough?
MANNION: We're confident. We know we'll need a little bit more than that. We've actually got a number of philanthropic supports who've been waiting for this announcement to then drive further with us. We've got a number of builders who are waiting to actually look at giving their philanthropic support back into a building. So we're very confident that we'll be standing here with you in 18 months, showing you around this building.
JOURNALIST: How much more do you think?
MANNION: I'd be guessing on that at the moment. I couldn't tell you until we've done the full costings.
JOURNALIST: Will it be Breakthrough that funds the ongoing operation of the centre?
MANNION: The operational side of the building sits with SA Health and will be managed by Southern Adelaide Local Health Network. Dr Randall Long will be able to tell you more about that. From a residential perspective, there'll be a non-government organisation that will be partnering and will have clinical oversight from the clinical team at SEDS.
JOURNALIST: Seeing as those agreements have held this up in the past, how confident are you that you will reach an agreement now?
MANNION: We're very confident.
JOURNALIST: When do you expect construction will start?
MANNION: In the early new year.
JOURNALIST: What month next year will construction start?
MANNION: From the architects discussions I had yesterday, they're saying by the middle of next year we'll have a builder in position, and then you've got a 12-18 month build on that.
JOURNALIST: So 2026 roughly?
MANNION: Christmas 2026 where that projection is probably looking at, yes.
DR RANDALL LONG, STATEWIDE EATING DISORDER SERVICE HEAD OF UNIT: I'm just so pleased to be here today. It's so wonderful that the Australian Government, the South Australian Government, and Breakthrough Mental Health Service, can come together to deliver this new Eating Disorder Centre. This will allow SA Health, through Statewide Eating Disorder Service, to deliver world class treatment to more patients needing help to recover from an eating disorder. This centre, with its level of integration of clinical research and integration with families and patients, will really lead the way in giving our patients more help and the best help to recover from this devastating disorder.
JOURNALIST: Can you tell us what your experience has been like, and what it was like finding treatment?
LAUREN SKUSE, PATIENT: I was 12 years old and I was diagnosed with anorexia nervosa, and unfortunately, I was 26 when I was able to find specialised help through the Statewide Eating Disorder Services. It was about a two-year-old service at the time. Before that, there was really nowhere for my family or I to turn to. It was something I battled with alone for a long time, and it wasn't until my first born son was about a year old that it got to a point where I let an eating disorder ruin my life, or I had to find something. Thankfully the Statewide Eating Disorder Service was there and available and without it, I probably would not be standing here today.
JOURNALIST: And just how frustrating was it to navigate that system?
SKUSE: It was probably more frustrating for my parents. Because I was so young when I was diagnosed I didn't really understand what help I needed, what support I needed. Through my teenage years, that frustration was felt by my parents unfortunately. Since becoming an adult and having a child myself and obviously wanting to be a healthy, functioning mother, it was incredibly frustrating not knowing where to turn, who to ask. There aren't the services in South Australia to support eating disorder patients and their families and I feel so grateful to have come across the Statewide Eating Disorder Service. Although at the time it was frustrating that that was the first time I heard about it, and it's frustrating there wasn't anything before that, because I feel like I lost 14 years of my life, and they're very important teenage years. But I'm grateful, because not everybody ends up having their life. Unfortunately, eating disorders take a number of lives in South Australia and around the world. For me to see this new build just means everything to me.
JOURNALIST: How do you think this would help patients?
SKUSE: Firstly, it's one of the biggest steps that South Australia has ever taken in the field of eating disorders. Like John mentioned, eating disorders always have gone under the radar. We're getting better at talking about mental health. But eating disorders is still lacking and it is a really positive step forward to know that everyone that has been struggling for so long and their families, people do care and people are aware, and hopefully this is the first step of more and bigger and better things to come, so that 12-year-olds don't have to wait 14 years; don't have to wait till they become a mum and are choosing between their life or trying to find support. This offers hope. It offers support that just hasn't been there in previous stages.
JOURNALIST: And just on that, the bigger and better things to hopefully come, what would you like to see in the space?
SKUSE: So much more awareness around eating disorders. More facilities. We're so far behind in my mind and we've got a lot of room to move forward. I myself now work in mental health, not specifically eating disorders, but even in that field I'm constantly frustrated by the lack of awareness still around eating disorders and the lack of support. So any step forward is a good step, because unfortunately, we just haven't had it.
JOURNALIST: What do you make of the time that it's taken to get this build underway? I mean, it was obviously promised back in 2019, we're standing here five years later, and it's still not built. What do you make of that?
SKUSE: It's been frustrating. I would have loved to have seen it built immediately but at the same time, like I said, the majority of my life with an eating disorder there was absolutely nothing. So I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'm willing to wait, and hold onto that. I'm really, really excited that we're here today, and hopefully during next year, we'll start to start to see it all come together. I'm just grateful that we're here.
JOURNALIST: Do you think it's a telling sign of the emphasis that is placed on eating disorders, though, that other projects can get done in a quicker, faster time, and this has been so delayed.
SKUSE: Yeah, again, I think the awareness around eating disorders, for whatever reason, we tend to talk a lot more now about depression and anxiety, those sorts of illnesses. Perhaps because of the stigma around eating disorders, we're not as open to talking about them, and I think there's fewer people grieving and fighting for it. But people are working extremely hard to get this underway away so hopefully more people can get support.
JOURNALIST: You've got a lot of experience, what would your message be to people out there suffering?
SKUSE: Don't be embarrassed. Don't be ashamed. Reach out for help. It can be frustrating for families, particularly with younger teenagers or 12-year-olds getting diagnosed. It can be a really scary process, but there are people out there to help and support you so keep looking for that and reach out for it. It's not an illness that you can solve on your own. You need your family. You need specialised care. It takes a team.
JOURNALIST: Minister, can you just outline what's happened in the five years that's meant that this centre hasn't been built? Was it the case that when the funding was initially announced back in 2019 it wasn't enough then? Or is it just because construction costs have escalated that it had to increase funding?
PICTON: I can't speak to what happened in the previous government. But I think it was a bucket of money that was devised as an announcement, without the planning work done in terms of what it would cost. As Minister Butler said, when we came to office, both federal and state, the work hadn't been done. It hadn't been able to fit the puzzle of, how do you get the Centre built for $5 million.
We did a huge amount of work with Breakthrough, with all the infrastructure teams trying to work out how this could be possibly done. But the truth is that it couldn't. Either we could build a centre which would be about half as big, that wouldn't meet the needs for people with eating disorders, or we do what we've announced today, and chipped in additional money from state and federal Budgets to make sure that we can get this done properly the first time and that's going to be a much better outcome for people with eating disorders in South Australia.
JOURNALIST: You were pushing for this when you were in Opposition, you've been in government for nearly three years. Why does it take three years to figure out that you need an extra $5 million?
PICTON: Because we were looking at every possible way that we could get this project delivered, working very closely with John and the Breakthrough team, working with our infrastructure teams, working with the Statewide Eating Disorder Service to see every possible way in which we could deliver this project.
But the truth is, going back to 2019, there wasn't enough money, so we've made this decision to invest further and get this project done. That's going to leave a lasting legacy and be a project that we can look back on, that meet the needs, not just now, but into the future as well.
JOURNALIST: New costings were only done a couple months ago. What happened in that time period up to September this year? Why didn't we get new costings earlier?
PICTON: I don't agree with the presumption in your question. There has been work that's been happening over the past couple of years, when I've been the Minister, working with Breakthrough, trying to find every possible way in which we could look at the scope of the project, look at what was being delivered, look at the location, the layout, the architecture, to see if there was a way that we could meet the funding commitment that was made by the previous Liberal government. We've reached the conclusion that that wasn't able to happen. We needed to add additional money. And that's what we're announcing today.
JOURNALIST: At what point exactly did you come to the conclusion that there wasn't enough funding, given in 2022, SA Health made claims that construction would be underway by 2023?
PICTON: As Minister Butler has said, we made that final proposition to the federal government over the past couple of months, with the additional funding that we wanted to see from both state and federal, and that happened following the work that's been happening with Breakthrough to try to get an outcome.
JOURNALIST: How long did these leasing disagreements continue between SA Health and Breakthrough?
PICTON: I'm not sure of the leasing issue being an issue. It has really been about the funding. There's a strong commitment from SA Health, a strong commitment from Breakthrough, a strong commitment from the federal government to see this project being delivered and the leasing will absolutely happen. There's a real willingness from everyone now to get this project done as soon as possible.
JOURNALIST: Whenever it's been brought up in Parliament, on Hansard, on the record, there's no mention from you asking for more funding or saying that there needs to be more funding. Why all of a sudden is it about funding?
PICTON: Because we have been working with Breakthrough, as I said, over the past couple of years, to try to find the solution to be able to meet this project. We have looked at every possible option. We have concluded in the past few months that additional funding was required. We've made that request to the Federal Government and put a proposition to them of doing it on a 50:50 basis, and in both the state and federal Budget updates in the past couple of days, we have achieved that money and announced that today.
JOURNALIST: Given we've heard more funding will be required. Is it fair to say that it won't be finished by Christmas 2026, given the delays already experienced?
PICTON: No, it's not fair to say that.
JOURNALIST: Is it fair to say that, or would you say this project is a priority for the State Government? Since you become since you've entered government, we've seen multiple new hospitals announced, we've seen multiple ambulance stations built while this project has just sat here. Why hasn't this been a priority?
PICTON: It has been, and I think very early on, when I became the Minister two and a half years ago, I sat down with John Mannion and Breakthrough and we wanted to see this project delivered as soon as possible. You asked about the leasing arrangements and things like that. From SA Health's perspective, we want to push on and deliver it. It was never a state government funded commitment project. It was always going to be the state government was going to do the operations of it, so the capital works were being funded by the federal government, and through that federal grant that happened back in 2019. It just has turned out that that was insufficient to be able to deliver this project.
JOURNALIST: How much will it cost the state government to run the centre once it's open?
PICTON: Look, that'll be part of our operating budget. Part of that operating budget fits with services that were already running through Flinders Medical Centre and the centre at Brighton as well that will move here. As we get closer to the opening of the Centre in two years' time, we'll obviously look at the fine specifics in terms of the fine operation of that budget as well, but that's part of our operating budget, which sits within the Southern Adelaide Local Health Network.
JOURNALIST: You assume that this will require more funding, more of a budget to operate yeah?
PICTON: Yes.
JOURNALIST: If you're an eating disorder patient today in South Australia, what's the wait time for you to get a bed within a specialist eating disorder service?
PICTON: These are specialist services. It's not similar to say a waiting list for a knee operation. The doctors and clinicians involved in our Statewide Eating Disorders Service have to make judgments in terms of the priority of patients, and that will be done on an individual basis, rather than approved measure of the waiting list.
JOURNALIST: The amount of patients using the Statewide Eating Disorder Service has increased since 2019 quite markedly. Has funding been going up at the same time to match that?
PICTON: As per all of our health services, we see increasing demand. We have an activity-based funding arrangement that happens between the state governments and the federal government across the country, and where there's additional demand the there's a formula where funding can grow. But we're also constrained by capacity, and so this new site will give us the capacity to grow into the future as well, so we can meet more of that increased demand in this new Centre.
JOURNALIST: Have any groundwork started here?
PICTON: No, I think there's been some preliminary works in terms of the decommissioned Daw House, but we haven't started the works on the new Centre yet.
JOURNALIST: Who will be in charge of those initial ground works. Is that SA Health?
PICTON: Yeah, SA Health have been managing the Repat site. Recently, just a few months ago, we've opened up a new ward that was commissioned, as Minister Butler was saying, with new federal and state government funding. There's been other works happening on the Repat side as well, the new ambulance station around the corner from where we are at the moment, but this is one of the last pieces of puzzle in terms of the new Repat site to get developed, and we'll be working in partnership between SA Health and Breakthrough in terms of delivering that.
JOURNALIST: When will SA Health finish investigating the 18 staff who are accused of inappropriately accessing Charlie Stevens' medical records?
PICTON: That's obviously being treated very seriously. I don't have an update for you today, but I think that SA Health committed to you in your request that you made to get an update to as soon as that is finalised.
JOURNALIST: They said it would be this year. Is that still the case?
PICTON: I'd have to check but I'll check what you've been told.
JOURNALIST: We've seen a bit of a rise in COVID-19 cases as we get into Christmas next week. What's your message for families?
PICTON: The message is to be particularly careful around vulnerable people and think of all the same public health precautions. If you're sick, to make sure that you are taking precautions around people who are more vulnerable. Of course, we want everyone to see their loved ones this Christmas season as always, but particularly if you are sick, to think about what that might mean for somebody who's more vulnerable than you. Minister Butler would certainly want us to highlight that there's a new vaccine coming onto the market for COVID-19 as well so people who are more vulnerable in particular, to make sure that they're updated with their vaccination for COVID-19, it is readily available through pharmacies and also GPs.
JOURNALIST: Flu cases are also on the rise, is there anything to explain this, it is quite an unusual time of the year for flu cases to be spiking.
PICTON: What we've seen with flu the past couple of years, we've really seen a continuation of flu cases in South Australia, whereas otherwise we would see peaks and then a drop down to almost zero. And so flu continues to be an issue which people need to be mindful of. Whether it's COVID-19 or flu or RSV or other viruses, there are viruses that circulate in our community and the more sensible precautions that people can take, particularly around vulnerable people, the better for everyone.
BUTLER: I had a briefing from the interim Centre for Disease Control on COVID-19 cases yesterday. Minister Picton is right, the question is right. There is a reasonably slight increase in COVID-19 cases across the country over the past few weeks, or maybe as much as a month, that's consistent with now pretty well settled pattern of waves coming in four to six monthly cycles.
I want to reiterate what Minister Picton said, for people, particularly as we move into a busy festive season to take care when you're around people who might be vulnerable, particularly older Australians or people with compromised immunity, if you think you may have COVID-19, be very careful about mixing with those members of your family or friends as well. I want to reiterate that when people consider going to visit loved ones in aged care facilities, which people obviously do much more frequently over the festive period, we usually see a bump in COVID-19 cases after the Christmas-New Year period. If you are wanting to go and visit a loved one, make sure you're symptom free. If you do have symptoms, take a test.
And for older Australians, I just want to reiterate again the importance of checking on your last COVID-19 booster was. If you're over 75, you should be considering getting a COVID-19 booster every six months. If you age between 65 and 75 think about it, every 12 months. As Chris said, there is now the new cutting-edge vaccine that is built around the predominant variant of COVID-19 worldwide, the JN.1 variant, that is available through general practice and through pharmacies as well.
JOURNALIST: Just to do with the Labor Instagram. There's a post on there from Dr Margaret Beavis. She's claiming that there's risks of cancer and stroke, heart attack as well, for workers in the nuclear sector and for children living nearby. Where are these claims coming from? Or do you support these claims?
BUTLER: I haven't seen the post. Given there's a very active parliamentary inquiry underway right now, there's a whole lot of evidence being put to that Inquiry about the consequences of establishing a nuclear power industry in Australia. I don't have anything to say about that particular post. I haven't seen it. I don't have anything to say about it.
Our government's concerns about Peter Dutton's nuclear power plan is that it's going to take far too long to have an impact on our energy industry, it's going to cost taxpayers far too much, and it's going to push power bills up to the detriment not just of households, but also business as well.
And the really dodgy modelling they put out over recent days, first of all, assumes the economy is going to go into a tailspin, there's not going to be much energy demand. It also assumes that we'll get nuclear power in this country at a fraction of the cost you see anywhere else on the planet. And it also assumes we don't have to build any more poles and wires. And even with those dodgy assumptions, still Angus Taylor and Peter Dutton are misrepresenting their own modelling and pretending that power bills are going to be cut if we introduce nuclear power, rather than see them rise.
JOURNALIST: Just on HRT patches, doctors have been asked not to start new patients on HRT patches to preserve supply. Is that the best answer to the problem?
BUTLER: There's been a global shortage of HRT, hormone treatment, MHT patches as they are now described, for some time now. This is a global shortage connected to manufacturing issues in the industry. The Therapeutic Goods Administration, which is responsible for overseeing supply shortages in the medicines area, has been communicating very closely with clinicians about this. We're also actively looking at approving replacement patches, when there is an alternative that is clinically still very effective, we're working as expeditiously as possible to approve alternative patches which will give women the same clinical relief that that some of the older HRT patches that have been on PBS for a while will do. We're doing everything we possibly can to deal with this global supply shortage. We still get the sense that shortages are going to impact Australia and other countries around the world for some time, which is why we're working so hard to manage this shortage and arrange expeditiously as many alternatives for Australia's women as possible.
JOURNALIST: I guess this shortage particularly impacts women. Is this just another example of the barriers that women face when accessing healthcare?
BUTLER: If I can just address the broader question or suggestion first, and then come back to the shortage question. You're right to say that women have been let down far too often in areas of reproductive health, in areas of endometriosis, a really common condition that impacts as many as one in seven women. Louise has been a really strong advocate for better services for that condition, and in areas around perimenopause and menopause as well.
We've got a really terrific Senate Inquiry that we're working through right now, it's only delivered in the last few months, to think about ways in which we can get better primary care and general practice supports for women at that time of their life, but also better medicines, patches, ointments and those sorts of things that provide really important relief. I'm going to have more to say about that in the near future.
JOURNALIST: Just one more really quick one on Bali bombings. Has Australia received assurances from Malaysia that it will monitor the two men convicted of conspiring in the Bali bombings who have been released?
BUTLER: I'm not aware of the answer to that question, sorry.
JOURNALIST: I just want to ask you, as a health professional in the sector, what have you seen in terms of the gap of resources and how frustrating has that been?
DR RANDALL: I think SA Health is progressing to get more services for eating disorders. We know they're increasing in frequency and complexity, but we are growing our capacity to treat patients with eating disorders in a very challenging mental health and health environment. I think today this is a real example of the capacity that we're showing. I'm always thinking about what more is needed for my patients, but the governments are providing that, and I'm very pleased about that.
JOURNALIST: How desperately was this needed?
DR RANDALL: This was needed. This has been planned for a long time. It's now coming to fruition. There are many patients who will be able to get better treatment, there are more patients that are able to be treated, so I'm very pleased.
JOURNALIST: And how hard is it to treat eating disorders?
DR RANDALL: Eating disorders are one of the most complex and difficult physical and mental health problems that modern medicine faces, and it requires a dedicated and skilled group of clinicians, backed up by excellent research and the wraparound care of families and carers to support someone on their individual recovery journey.
JOURNALIST: Are you confident that this will meet that need? Or do we still have more to go?
DR RANDALL: I think this is a really important piece of the jigsaw puzzle. It is so important when you're doing eating disorder recovery, the painful, difficult clinical work of recovering from a serious mental illness, to have a beautiful wraparound environment like this. This is not a hospital. This is a beautiful garden. This is a beautiful building surrounded by great support. And that is just so important to keep people on the recovery journey.
JOURNALIST: Would you be able to talk about some of the statistics that 800,000 to a million people are diagnosed with some sort of eating disorder in Australia?
DR RANDALL: I can't give you the exact numbers, but I was just talking to my colleague, Tracey Wade, we're now seeing some research which is clearly showing there has been a spike in eating disorders after COVID-19. Now, eating disorders were increasing before COVID-19 and they continue to increase, but we know that eating disorders are an increasing important problem in Australia.
