R U OK? Day

In this place we work on many complicated pieces of policy to try to fix problems and make lives better. So, on R U OK? Day, it's refreshing to be able to talk about four simple steps that could change a life: ask, listen, encourage action and check in. Every one of us who talks about this in parliament does so because we hope someone in our communities hears our speech and asks someone else if they're okay. Two of the most common themes from the first speeches of the MPs who joined parliament with me two years ago were suicide and mental illness, which have touched the lives of so many people in this place. In Australia, we lose close to 3,000 people each year by suicide. That's about eight people every day. For every death by suicide, it's estim