Newsletters / Bulletins

Some of you will have seen a headline, and story, on the front page of The Australian today saying “Mental health in NDIS a ‘mistake’…” And such a bold assertion requires some careful analysis.

Yesterday, ‘we, the mental health sector’ united and went to Parliament House to advocate. Not to back one party over another, but to raise our voice across the parliament. What does that mean? It means we went to be heard. We also went to listen, and to do that we met with the key decision makers. Decision makers who can influence real change and real mental health reform for the people that we serve. The one in five Australians who will experience mental illness this year.

In less than a fortnight more than 80 representatives from the mental health sector will converge on Parliament House in Canberra for the Mental Health Australia Parliamentary Advocacy Day. United and representing a diverse group of advocates, consumers, carers and health professionals, our aim is for a bi-partisan systematic approach to fixing mental health in this nation.

Mental Health Australia has a clear vision of mentally healthy people, and mentally healthy communities. This weekend, thousands of people in our community will celebrate the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras. For nearly 40 years, Mardi Gras has grown to represent so much more than a march of pride through city streets. And for many LGBTIQ Australians, it is an important, and sometimes the only weekend where routine discrimination does not cast its dark shadow. Discrimination that is a huge contributor to poor mental health.