Newsletters / Bulletins

At its heart, ‘advocacy’ is the public support for… or recommendation of a particular cause or policy. The word itself, has Latin origins meaning ‘one called to aid’ and interestingly was once referred to as ‘advocare’.

February is the month where Reality TV gets real… but is it really hurting us? Television networks spend January pumping up, and pumping advertising dollars into their latest production, and news publications are increasingly happy to oblige, providing ongoing commentary as ‘click bait’. On and off screen they all stir the pot for a viewing and online audience apparently wanting more and more of a genre where it’s well known that ‘hate rates’.

Christmas is a time to reflect. At the end of what seems to have been a very long year, I am proud of many of Mental Health Australia’s achievements. I continue to believe our very small but very hard working team punches well above its weight in the national debate, and a brief look at some of those achievements tells the story of 2017.’

At the Mental Health Australia Members Policy Forum in Canberra this week, and our Chair Jennifer Westacott challenged the sector to unite behind a shared vision, and find practical, incremental ways to achieve that vision. Put succinctly and simply, Jennifer raised the question, ‘what are we doing on Monday to achieve our vision for mental health in Australia?’