Hundreds of Australians have been awarded the Order of Australia in recognition of their outstanding service and achievements in the community. Laura-Jude Johnson hopes that receiving the honour will help reduce the stigma around accessing mental health support.
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00:00What does this Medal of the Order of Australia honour mean for you?
00:06Yeah, well, it kind of came as a bit of a shock actually.
00:10It was something that I wasn't really prepared for and
00:14yeah, I feel truly honoured that, yes,
00:18someone recognised me as a potential and
00:22yeah, I suppose for myself, like,
00:26what kind of comes with the medal is hopefully from it, you know,
00:30more awareness can be made and, you know, help kind of
00:34reduce the stigmas that are surrounding mental health and suicide
00:38that we face today.
00:40And how crucial is it that young people, especially in regional areas,
00:44have access to mental health services?
00:46Yeah, so crucial. I think it's, yeah,
00:50I suppose it's not even just rural, it's everywhere across the state. I think
00:54everyone should have the same access,
00:58regardless of their situation and especially for those
01:02like, you know, that do have limited access to certain services
01:06it makes it a lot harder. You know, you may know
01:10family or friends, relatives that are a part of those
01:14services and maybe you don't feel that comfortable going to someone
01:18you know, that there are other options out there and
01:22you know, just having that almost like persistence I suppose
01:26to keep trying and yeah, that eventually, you know, that
01:30right service, that right support will come along for anyone.