AN Albury priest yesterday said the mental health system was a basket case but neither governments nor the institutions were willing to admit its failing.
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St Matthews Anglican Archdeacon Peter MacLeod-Miller said help lines were impossible to navigate for sufferers, while families were increasingly isolated by social workers.
He said his church saw at least one case a week.
The Border Mail yesterday highlighted the case of a suicidal teen who was not assessed by mental health workers because it was out of hours.
Father MacLeod-Miller said communities must push for a better service.
“I get angry when I hear MPs and others saying what a wonderful system we have, how lucky the Border is,” he said.
“There are some great people in the system and it is a difficult area. And because of the nature of the work, there will always be tragic outcomes.
“But over and over and over again, you hear that there is a structural problem in the way that parents are frozen out.
“Perhaps they have made some mistakes but, at the same time, the connection between a parent and a child is very much greater than between a person and their social worker.
“And the entirely unacceptable response has been they are the ones with the qualifications, they have the greater responsibility to the individual and invariably that is not the case.
“These parents would give their body and soul for their child but, at the end of the day, their point of view isn’t accepted.
“The government, local MPs, need to act — it’s their responsibility.
“This is not about stopping people killing themselves but how do you help them truly live.”
Earlier this year, Father MacLeod-Miller raised concerns about help lines and the lack of support of young people with a mental illness.
In early February, a young woman spent most of the day taking sanctuary at his Albury church as he searched, unsuccessfully, for accommodation through a series of “supposed” help lines.
She was again on his doorstep two days later.
He said injured wildlife got better treatment.
“Many young people facing challenges don’t believe that they can be up front about it because life is supposed to be plain sailing, it’s the Australian way — she’ll be right, mate,” he said.
“Life is not always good, not always sweet.
“Often anything else is seen as a failure.
“We need young people to understand it is OK to ask for help.”
Father MacLeod-Miller said suicide was often a desperate plea for help.
“Young people know so little about death — most of them think they are bulletproof,” he said.
“But they do know about pain.
“They know life can be better, they just don’t know how to get there.”
