The following residents of the ACT draw to the attention of the Assembly to the inadequate treatment available for eating disorders in the ACT. Currently there are no in-patient services for eating disorder treatment in Canberra, and while there is a public outpatient program, there is a four to 10-week waiting period.
Under the current health care system, only 46% of people diagnosed with anorexia in Australia recover. 20% die. The mortality rate for people with eating disorders is the highest of all psychiatric illnesses and over 12 times that seen in people without eating disorders. As of March 2017, Canberra’s population was 409,100. Using the above statistics, it can be estimated that 36,819 people in Canberra are currently suffering from an eating disorder.
The ACT Government’s failure to provide adequate treatment for eating disorders means that many young people, disproportionately young women, around Canberra are not receiving life-saving treatment.
Your petitioners, therefore, request the Assembly to call on the Government to provide the ACT with an in-patient treatment centre which specialises in the treatment of eating disorders. In the absence of this, provide the ACT with a minimum of 10 long-stay hospital beds for intensive and specialised treatment of eating disorders.
In either scenario, provide funding for the training of medical practitioners in eating disorder treatment, including, but not limited to, general practitioners, emergency department personnel, ward dietitians, mental health nurses and other nurses.