Submission to the Department of Social Services Consultation on General Foundational Supports

In December 2024, Mental Health Australia made a submission to the Department of Social Services consultation on General Foundational Supports. The submission recommended that information, advice and referral services funded through General Foundational Supports for people with psychosocial disability should be co-designed with people with lived experience, family, carers and supporters, be well integrated with existing mental health information, advice and referral services and include a proactive outreach component. It also recommended that individual capacity building supports should include peer support programs, recovery colleges, digital psychosocial supports, community connection focused models of support and support for decision making. It recommended General Foundational supports should include family capacity building supports specifically for mental health carers, stigma reduction initiatives, mental health awareness and response programs, training for mainstream services in trauma-informed care and practice and supported decision making. It also made a range of recommendations about how to ensure psychosocial specific services funded through General Foundational Supports are quality and safe and how to ensure a smooth transition across implementation of Foundational Supports.