Submission to the Queensland Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Isolation and Loneliness

The APS welcomed the opportunity to provide a submission in response to the recent Queensland Government Community Support and Services Committee Parliamentary Inquiry into Social Isolation and Loneliness.

Social isolation and loneliness were identified as critical public health issues with detrimental effects on individual mental and physical health and community-wide impacts on productivity and the demand for health services.

The APS endorsed the development of a Queensland social isolation and loneliness strategy as essential for mobilising and supporting psychologists and other health professionals, educators, community organisations and the broader community to work together to identify and respond to social isolation and loneliness.

The submission identified key priorities and an urgent requirement for consistent guidelines and effective multi-stepped responses to social isolation and loneliness based on assessed individual and community needs. These include effective health promotion campaigns and prevention strategies, low-intensity early intervention community-based supports and specialist mental health treatment services.

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