• A word from the National Mental Health Commission’s Chief Executive Officer

    26 September 2023 - The Mental Health Safety and Quality Engagement Guide is a welcome and practical addition to Australia’s investment in consumer and carer engagement and participation in the development and delivery of mental health services. It is a priority action under the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan.

  • Training and learning

    26 September 2023 - Becoming a part of a safety and quality group in the mental health sector can be a new and challenging experience. This section outlines some important facts about training and learning.

  • Managing your self-care

    26 September 2023 - In this section, we discuss some ideas for self-care. This is an important topic as many conversations that occur in the safety and quality area may be challenging emotionally for everyone involved. The conversations and subject areas may remind people with lived experience of difficult and traumatic personal memories. It is useful to know something about areas that may be challenging for you.

  • Mentoring and support

    26 September 2023 - In this section we discuss the importance of mentorship and support. One of the consistent messages we heard during the consultation process for this guide is that mentorship is a critical element of safe and supported engagement of people with lived experience in the safety and quality area. Mentorship can take many forms, and should be discussed and tailored to individual preferences. Here we discuss several aspects of mentorship and support.

  • Being heard and having influence

    26 September 2023 - When preparing this guide, we talked with people about being an effective lived experience leader. They gave many suggestions about ways of being heard and having influence, as well as tips for navigating the challenging aspects of being an adviser or leader.

  • National Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce Development Guidelines

    26 September 2023 -

  • A shared agenda for change

    26 September 2023 - The National Development Guidelines are intended to strengthen understanding and collaboration across the mental health sector and beyond, contributing to more effective services and ultimately, better outcomes for people accessing services, their families, supporters and communities. Five priorities are identified for the mental health service system as a roadmap for leaders across diverse settings to establish policies and practices that support sustainable and effective workforce growth.

  • Appendix 3: Peak agencies

    26 September 2023 - The below lists the peak agencies for the Lived Experience workforce, peak agencies are either a Lived Experience workforce trade or advocacy group, or an overall association of groups allied to the Lived Experience workforce.

  • Appendix 4: Guideline development process and evidence base

    26 September 2023 -

  • Dedication

    26 September 2023 -

Acknowledgement of Country

The Commission acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waters on which we live, work and learn.

Diversity

The Commission is committed to embracing diversity and eliminating all forms of discrimination in the provision of health services. The Commission welcomes all people irrespective of ethnicity, lifestyle choice, faith, sexual orientation and gender identity.

Lived Experience

We acknowledge the individual and collective contributions of those with a lived and living experience of mental ill-health and suicide, and those who love, have loved and care for them. Each person’s journey is unique and a valued contribution to Australia’s commitment to mental health suicide prevention systems reform.