Schizophrenia Awareness and Support
This week is Schizophrenia Awareness Week. A time to raise awareness about schizophrenia, reduce stigma and promote inclusive behaviour. A time to promote help-seeking for those experiencing schizophrenia and their families and carers.
Perhaps most importantly of all, a time to promote hope. Hope that with this awareness raising Australian communities will become more inclusive places for people with schizophrenia. Hope that Australia’s mental health and disability systems can be reformed with people experiencing schizophrenia, their families, and carers to better meet their needs. Because, while we raise awareness and encourage help seeking, we also must acknowledge that for many the full suite of services simply is not there.
Many of you will be aware of the work being done to advocate for funding to address the significant gap in psychosocial support services (outside the NDIS) identified by the Productivity Commission Report into Mental Health. We know psychosocial supports are key services for many people with schizophrenia. The Albanese Government invested $260.2 million (over two years) in the recent Federal Budget to extend current Commonwealth psychosocial supports for people with severe mental illness who are not in the NDIS. While Mental Health Australia welcomes this necessary extension of existing essential services, we know it does not address the larger service gap identified by the Productivity Commission. We know Australian Governments are currently working together to estimate the gap in psychosocial support outside the NDIS and we hope this will result in tangible investment in psychosocial support to meet need.
For people with schizophrenia who receive services through the NDIS, we know that in its first decade of operation the NDIS has been life-changing for many. However, we also know that many people have faced barriers in accessing the Scheme and implementing appropriate NDIS supports. The transition to the NDIS has also created significant challenges for the psychosocial support workforce and service providers both within and outside of the NDIS. It is in this context that we heard about the NDIS Review’s progress from representatives presenting to Mental Health Australia’s recent Member Policy Forum.
This week Mental Health Australia provided a second submission to the NDIS Review, developed in consultation with Mental Health Australia members and members of the National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum Psychosocial Disability Working Group. The submission calls for changes to the NDIS rules and the NDIS access assessment approach to clarify eligibility for people with psychosocial disability. The submission outlines what early intervention services could be funded both through and outside the scheme and calls on Australian Governments to fund psychosocial support outside the NDIS to meet need.
The submission also calls for further work to increase affordability of and access to psychiatric and allied health support for all people with psychosocial disability, whether NDIS participants or not. Finally, the submission outlines a range of issues that need to be addressed for the NDIS to better meet the needs of people with psychosocial disability including NDIS pricing, the makeup of NDIS plans, responding to the episodic nature of psychosocial disability and supported decision making with people with psychosocial disability.
Mental Health Australia continues to advocate for people with schizophrenia, their families and carers and influencing government actions so that people experiencing schizophrenia have access to the full suite of services they need to live full and contributing lives in the community.
Harry Lovelock
Acting CEO, Mental Health Australia
The diary next week - On Monday I have a NaPSAAC Meeting and a meeting about the NDIA CALD Strategy
- Monday is Reconciliation Day in the ACT so the Canberra office is closed
- On Tuesday I have an Australian Health, Housing and Homelessness Network Meeting
- On Thursday I have an Embrace Alliance Meeting
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Resources on the Voice ReferendumIn April 2023, the Mental Health Australia Board Directors agreed unanimously to Mental Health Australia’s public support for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament. The Board noted the unequivocal links between identity, recognition and genuine engagement in policy development, and social and emotional wellbeing.
Recommended Reading Kerry O’Brien and Thomas Mayo have joined forces on ‘truth-telling and myth-busting’ voice guide called The Voice to Parliament Handbook. Find out more about the Handbook from The Guardian and watch its National Library of Australia launch.
Does your mental health organisation have resources about the Voice? Let us know. |
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Send us your news, events, and job vacancies
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Communicate your news, job vacancies, or upcoming events to more than 5,000 people in the mental health ecosystem weekly. Mental Health Australia members are invited to send us news, announcements, job vacancies, events or other notices for inclusion in the Weekly CEO Update newsletter. To do so, simply fill out this form by COB each Thursday for your notice to appear in the newsletter. |
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Black Dog InstituteBlack Dog Institute is the only medical research institute in Australia to investigate mental health across the lifespan. Our aim is to create a mentally healthier world for everyone. We do this through ‘translational’ research. Integrating our research studies, education programs, digital tools and apps, clinical services, and public resources to discover new solutions, foster connections and create real-world change. |
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CatholicCare NTCatholicCare NT is a not-for-profit organisation, providing counselling services and programs to individuals, couples, families, children groups, schools and agencies across the Northern Territory. They provide counselling and other support services in Darwin, Katherine, Alice Springs, Ltyentye Apurte, Finke, Titjikala,Tennant Creek, APY Lands, Nauiyu, Palmerston, Tiwi and Wadeye. CatholicCare NT is a social services agency of the Catholic Diocese of Darwin. And, is a member of Catholic Social Services Australia (CSSA), a national body representing the Catholic social services sector. Funding for their services is provided by both the Australian and Northern Territory governments. |
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Orygen and Victoria University join forces to streamline mental health care and trainingMental health care and training will be streamlined for young people in Melbourne’s west in an exciting new partnership between Orygen and Victoria University (VU). headspace Werribee will relocate its existing services later in the year to a new facility at Victoria University’s Werribee Campus, unlocking more accessible, integrated and comprehensive mental health care and wellbeing services for young people. In addition, both Orygen Specialist Program and headspace Werribee will provide mental health education and training for VU staff and students, as well as employment pathways that are critical to growing the state’s strained mental health care workforce. |
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First meeting of Premier’s Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory CouncilPremier and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Jeremy Rockliff, says the first meeting of the Premier’s newly formed Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Council has been held. The Council forms an integral part of the Tasmanian Liberal Government’s approach to addressing mental health and suicide prevention which will give us the best opportunity to connect all sectors and reduce suicide in Tasmania. The Council is made up of representatives from a range of mental health and suicide prevention funding bodies, people with lived experience, the newly established Centre for Mental Health Services Innovation, government representatives, and major stakeholders in the sector. |
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Damning report into boarding houses for NDIS participantsMinister for the NDIS, Bill Shorten, says a new report has found people living with disability are at extreme risk across a range of boarding houses across Victoria. A report done by Mental Health Legal Centre has revealed alarming examples of exploitation of people with disability, including NDIS participants, across the Supported Residential Services (SRS) system, historically known as boarding houses. Approximately 1,600 NDIS participants are amongst 4,000 people living in 115 SRS’ across Victoria. |
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2023/24 Victorian State Budget prioritises stability and continuity amidst ongoing reformsMental Health Victoria welcomes the 2023/24 Victorian State Budget, and the additional $520 million it will invest into our mental health and wellbeing system. Against the backdrop of a challenging fiscal environment, this Budget represents a commitment by the Government to provide stability in the sector while ongoing reforms continue to mature. “We’re in a time of tremendous change and growth. These additional commitments enable the sector to keep delivering for Victorians whilst undergoing the transformative change set out in the Royal Commission’s final report,” said Marcelle Mogg, CEO of MHV.
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Budget secures record funding to transform Tasmania’s mental health systemBrand new mental health precincts in every region of the state are part of the Tasmanian Liberal Government’s plan to transform the State’s mental health system. Premier and Minister for Mental Health and Wellbeing, Jeremy Rockliff, said the Government has a bold, long-term vision to transform mental health services across every region of the State, with plans for new contemporary mental health precincts in the South, North and North West. “Overall, $120 million has been allocated in the 2023-24 Budget to commence construction of two new state-of-the-art Mental Health Services precincts at the Launceston General Hospital, and adjacent to the North West Regional Hospital,” the Premier said. |
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headspace to lead coordinated mental health response in universitiesThe National Youth Mental Health Foundation, headspace, has been funded to develop a suicide prevention/postvention program for Australian universities, empowering university staff to support the mental health needs of their students, including how they plan for, respond to, and recover from the impact of suicide. The University Support Program will see headspace deliver to all of Australia’s 43 universities: mental health literacy training that enables university staff to identify mental health issues in their students, Responding to Suicide: A Toolkit for Australian Universities - practical guidance for university staff to keep their communities safe in the weeks and months following a death by suicide, and a critical incident support service to consult with universities about the next steps following a tragedy of this nature. |
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Mental Health Opportunities and Resources
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Australian Counselling Association 2023 Annual ConferenceThe ACA 2023 National Conference will showcase leading mental health research from Australia’s foremost educational institutions through masterclasses and best practice applications from local and international experts through workshops and presentations. The sessions will include over 60 masterclasses, workshops, presentations, and panels over 3 days. This Conference will also offer Mental Health Professionals and students opportunities to engage and network with their peers. Saturday 30 September to Sunday 1 October 2023 at the Hilton, Sydney in-person or via digital event app. |
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‘We Need to Talk’ Genomics and Disability ResearchResearchers from The University of Queensland are conducting the ‘We Need to Talk’ project - a research study that explores people’s views on genomic technologies (such as prenatal genetic testing) and what impact these technologies have on people with disability. They seek participants to complete an anonymous online survey to express their views on genomic technologies. The survey takes between 20 and 30 minutes to complete, and those who complete the survey can enter a raffle to win one of five $100 Coles Myer Gift Cards. Only Australian residents are eligible to complete the survey. |
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Lived experience engagement opportunity: Eating Disorder Peer Workforce GuidelinesButterfly is creating National Eating Disorder Peer Workforce Guidelines to support the development of an effective, safe, and sustainable eating disorder peer workforce in Australia. The Guidelines will build on the work of a 2021 - 22 research project, An eating disorder-focused peer workforce: Needs assessment (2022), and other frameworks developed. As a part of developing the guidelines, they are engaging with people with a lived experience of an eating disorder (both those who have accessed peer work for support and those who haven’t been able to access peer work), their carers, and family members, and peer workers (peer mentors, peer coaches, peer supervisors) supporting people experiencing an eating disorder. The survey is looking to hear lived experience perspectives on best practices of ED peer work, the challenges peer workers are facing, and guiding principles that should underpin the peer workforce. Survey participants can be anonymous. |
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