Peer workers, advocates and community leaders gathered at Ashfield Town Hall during Mental Health Month to mark 10 years of Mental Health Coordinating Council’s delivery of the CHC43515 Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work, a nationally recognised qualification that continues to be a cornerstone of workforce development, leadership and innovation, and amplifying the value of lived experience.

Dr Evelyne Tadros, Mental Health Coordinating Council’s (MHCC’s) CEO opened the event by extending a heartfelt welcome to all who had joined across NSW, and acknowledged the impact of coming together to mark 10 years in Mental Health Peer Work.  

“When I walked into this room this morning, there was a sense of warmth that felt very fitting: this is what community looks like. It’s what peer work looks like. It is people coming together to listen, to share, and to connect, to ensure that no one walks their mental health journey alone,” she said. 

Councillor Vicki Clay from Inner West Council addressed the room and spoke of her personal connections to mental health peer work, reminding all present who work in the space to also “take care of yourselves and look out for one another”. 

Throughout the event, an empty chair was placed beside the speaker panel to invite the audience to open dialogue and collective participation, in recognition of the mutuality of peer work. 

Stories of lived experience 

A highlight of the event was the premiere of Together, a short film capturing MHCC Mental Health Peer Work graduate and trainer Max Simensen’s journey into peer work.  

While Max’s story is unique, its themes of community connection, understanding and empowerment resonated deeply with many. Reflecting on the video, several panelists shared that discovering peer work felt like “coming home.” 

We extend our appreciation to Max and Lorna Downes, who generously shared their time and peer work journey with honesty and heart. 

A panel on peer-led practise  

The discussion panel brought together Amanda Kelly (Sydney Local Health District), Jo Young (GROW), Lisa Gott (Flourish Australia), Melany Webber (Flourish Australia), Max Simensen and Michelle Hoomans (MHCC), representing a wealth of expertise and insight from across the peer work community.  

Reflecting on the sector, panelists explored themes of power relations, empathy, trauma-informed practice, and the ongoing importance of co-reflection and growth in peer work.   

Our Learning and Development Manager, Michelle Hoomans, reflected on the phrase she came across, “I see me in you,” as a reminder to honour shared humanity and ground peer work in a more empathetic and relational model of care.  

Addressing the question of mutuality in peer work as a core value alongside power imbalance in the workplace, Michelle spoke about the importance of relational interactions, instead of transactional and protecting our ‘humanness’. This may look like checking our ego in the workplace and examining our relationship to power when relating to another.  

Amanda Kelly, Safe Haven Peer Worker at Sydney Local Health District, noted that lived-experience alone is not enough: effective peer work involves a high degree of self-awareness, purposeful storytelling, and trauma-informed practice.  

The panel also touched on the place of digital delivery in expanding access for regional communities. 

“If you’ve got access to the internet and a phone you’ve got access to what this is,” said Jo Young, Team Leader at GROW, describing how online platforms have made peer support more inclusive and far-reaching. 

Conversely, there was also recognition of the limitations of virtual support in areas of human connection and healing. 

On the shoulders of giants 

When the discussion turned to the history of peer work, Max emphasised that today’s knowledge, training, and practice do not exist in isolation; they’re built on the longstanding principles and efforts of those who came before us.

Peter Schaecken, one of the first peer workers in NSW, couldn’t agree more. Peter worked as a community coordinator of a small team at Rozelle Hospital in 1995. We were honoured to have Peter join us and share his insights. 

“Terms like co-design are new, but we had this back in the ’90s. People just didn’t take it seriously,” he said. 

While change has been slow, Lisa Gott, Lived Experience Director at Flourish Australia, spoke about the promising trends she has noticed in her own work over the past decade, observing that her lived experience role has become more intentional and less tokenistic over time.  

Since 2015, MHCC’s Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work has supported 1,148 enrolments with 1,077 full fee scholarships to support students experiencing financial barriers to study.  With 12.3% of the community-managed mental health workforce in a consumer peer worker role, this group now makes up the second largest workforce in the sector. These numbers alone point to the growing recognition of peer work as an essential part of mental health care. 

With this level of workforce growth, discussions shifted to the real opportunity of opening doors for peer workers in Emergency Services, Health Clinics, and other settings. 

Former Lived Experience Deputy Commission of NSW and current Chair of BEING – Mental Health Consumers, Tim Heffernan, noted that in these new spaces, it will be crucial to develop co-reflection between existing staff and peer workers, and to build connections across all services so that people being supported can receive more effective care. 

We would like to thank our co-hosts who supported this event and made it possible: Inner West Council, ICLA, Sydney Local Health District, GROW and Flourish Australia. 

Thank you also to every trainer, student, graduate, advocate, and supporter that have been a part of this collective movement to elevate the voice of lived experience in mental health care.