Victorian Mental Health Minister James Merlino was briefed on ‘lockdown tragedies’

Victoria’s Mental Health Minister was warned by his department that two suicides linked to job ­losses had occurred shortly after Melbourne was thrust into its fourth coronavirus lockdown.

Victorian Deputy Premier James Merlino. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

Victoria’s Mental Health Minister was warned by his department that two suicides linked to job ­losses had occurred shortly after Melbourne was thrust into its fourth coronavirus lockdown.

The tragedies were detailed in a ministerial briefing note, written in early June 2021, that also alerted Mental Health Minister and Deputy Premier James Merlino to high teenage hospital emergency presentations, rising youth intentional self-harm and suicidal ideation, and told him the shutdown “could again have an adverse ­effect on mental health”.

The two-page document – drafted days after the Andrews government ordered the “circuit-breaker” lockdown on May 27 – recommended Mr Merlino take “note” of nine “key issues” driving the state’s mental health crisis.

“CCOV (Coroners Court of Victoria) has advised the department that there have been two suicides following the recent lockdown in the context of loss of employment,” the document states.

Under the heading “potential risks”, the Merlino briefing note warns the minister about the ­impact of the fourth lockdown, stating: “The elevated emergency department presentations for young people (mental health presentations and intentional self-harm and suicidal ideation presentations) remains a concern as does the high occupancy of adolescent acute inpatient units.

“From 11.59pm on Thursday, 27 May, 2021, Victoria moved to circuit-breaker restrictions, its fourth lockdown since the start of the pandemic. These lockdown measures could again have an adverse effect on mental health.”

The Merlino briefing note is headlined “Minister for Mental Health – regular meeting” and is described as a “regular update on mental health system demand, ­activity and pressure points”.

The note, released under Freedom of Information to opposition mental health spokeswoman Emma Kealy, also briefs the minister that the Coroners Court had evidence that almost 10 per cent of suicides during the first year of the pandemic had “explicit evidence of a Covid-related stressor (called ‘Covid-linked suicides)”. It states that the Coroners Court has “evidence of Covid-19 as a stressor in police reports for Victorian suicides during the first 12 months of the pandemic”.

“That Daniel Andrews’ Mental Health Minister was told Covid ­restrictions had led Victorians to take their own life, yet did nothing, is a disturbing reflection the Labor government wilfully ignored the wellbeing of Victorian citizens, ­despite having the power to save lives,” Ms Kealy said.

Mr Merlino’s office said the government had invested $42m since June to respond to pressures on the system from the global ­pandemic.

“Any Victorian life lost to suicide is a tragedy, but it is relieving to see Victoria’s suicide rates are at their lowest rate since 2017,” a government spokesperson said.

Mr Merlino’s office said public health restrictions took into ­account a variety of measures, including mental health and economic considerations, and said the briefing note was part of regular updates to the minister on the ­impacts of the pandemic.

The Merlino briefing note states that the Coroners Court believed a possible explanation for why overall suicide rates remained steady in the face of the mental health crisis was a range of federal and state policies such as JobKeeper had offered Victorians ­financial protection.

The Andrews government’s fourth lockdown to control the spread of coronavirus was lifted on June 10 but Melbourne was thrust into a fifth lockdown on July 16 that lasted until July 27.

A sixth lockdown was imposed on August 5, and was in place for more than 60 days.

Among the nine key issues ­listed in the Merlino briefing note were:

CALLS to crisis and support helpline services “continue to remain substantially above 2019” and recent data from BeyondBlue and Lifeline “suggests a small increase in the number of calls and website visits following the introduction of restrictions at 11.59pm Thursday, 27 May”.

MENTAL health emergency department presentations for children aged up to 17 were “substantially higher than 2020 and significantly higher than 2019, and appear to be increasing consistent with the usual historical pattern. (342 presentations per week v 234 (2019) and 217 (2020)”.

INTENTIONAL self-harm and suicidal ideation presentations for all ages were “increasing and remain above both 2019 and 2020 levels (578 presentations per week v 462 (2019) and 461 (2020)”.

INTENTIONAL self-harm and suicidal ideation presentations for children and teenagers aged up to 17 “remains substantially higher than both 2019 and 2020 levels and is moving into an upswing pattern consistent with the usual historical pattern (156.7.2 presentations per week v 90.8 (2019) and 83.0 (2020)”.

EATING disorder-related emergency department presentations across all ages were “substantially” above 2020 levels and “significantly” above 2019.

BED occupancy for teen acute units “remains high at 85.1 per cent ... well above previous years. A number of services are experiencing significant pressures in their acute adolescent units, resulting in admissions to paediatric wards”.

If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide, call Lifeline (13 11 14) or the Suicide Call Back Service (1300 659 467), or see a doctor