This year’s Member Forum and Annual General Meeting connected our members and sector leaders to reflect on the body of work achieved throughout the year and engage in thoughtful discussions on the way forward for the sector.

Held last week at Rydges Sydney Central, Mental Health Coordinating Council’s (MHCC) Member Forum and Annual General Meeting 2025 opened with an acknowledgement of 10 years of Mental Health Peer Work and MHCC’s contribution and impact to the growth and development of the peer workforce in Australia. Members were also directed to Mental Health Coordinating Council’s newly released Annual Report 2024-25, which captures the full scope of MHCC’s work, highlights from the year, advocacy milestones, and progress across key strategic priorities.

Left to right: Bill Campos, Mark Orr, Judi Higgin, Evelyne Tadros, Giancarlo de Vera, Jonathan Harms, Nathan Francis

MHCC CEO, Dr Evelyne Tadros reflected on a challenging year for the community-managed mental health sector, marked by significant demand and many organisations operating beyond capacity.

Dr Tadros spoke about how MHCC advocated strongly for the sector’s voice during the NSW Rapid Review earlier this year, initiated in response to the mass resignations of public psychiatrists in NSW. The Review was a critical opportunity to highlight the growing evidence on the value and cost-effectiveness of community-based services.

Dr Tadros discussed the need for more balanced and increased investment across the continuum of care, to strengthen early intervention, prevention, and aftercare, rather than acute care being the primary focus. Part of this shift should also include stigma and discrimination reduction, harm reduction and relapse prevention. She also stressed the need for a more coordinated and integrated ecosystem, a point that resonated with many in the room.

This year’s Members Forum brought a unique and valuable opportunity for MHCC members to hear directly from both the National Mental Health Commission’s CEO, David McGrath, and the NSW Mental Health Commissioner, Jennifer Black. Together, they shared insights on the collaborative work underway across state and national levels and the reforms that are shaping the future of our sector.

Sharing thanks and unifying the sector

David McGrath opened by expressing his gratitude to the sector, noting that “Thank you is the central starting point for this conversation.” He then outlined the National Mental Health Commission’s renewed focus on monitoring, accountability, and improving system performance, reporting on upcoming work in service system reform, prevention, and the social determinants of mental health. He also highlighted the strengthened role of lived and living experience in governance and provided an update on the outcomes from the Productivity Commission’s review of the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement. This includes a new forthcoming Mental Health Declaration, as per Recommendation 4.1 of the review, which states ‘Governments should endorse a Mental Health Declaration that outlines long-term reform goals’. It recommends the National Mental Health Commission to “oversee the renewal of the National Mental Health Policy 2008 through a co-design process with people with lived and living experience of mental ill health, their supporters, family, carers and kin, the mental health sector and the Australian, state and territory governments. The declaration should be endorsed by all jurisdictions and refreshed every 10 years to remain up to date.”

Commissioner McGrath offered thoughtful insights on the importance of a unified sector voice and the involvement of First Ministers, advising, “Have the discussions together before going into government.” He concluded by reminding the room that “The mental health system…needs to be improved for the generations that come afterwards.”

NSW Mental Health Commission: amplifying lived experience

We welcomed NSW Mental Health Commissioner Jennifer Black, who reflected on her first year in the role. “But what does the Commission do? I kept hearing this when I joined,” she explained, and shared that clarifying the organisation’s internal vision has been essential to ensuring it can be effective in its actions.

A central part of the Commission’s mission is amplifying the voices of people with lived and living experience and their families. This has included planning for the development of a statewide mental health and wellbeing strategy and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide prevention plan, as well as establishing two councils: the Suicide Prevention Council and the Aboriginal Suicide Prevention Council.

“Mental health and wellbeing isn’t just a health problem to solve, it needs whole of government strategy,” Commissioner Black urged.

NSW’s 10-Year Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy

Commissioner Black described the magnitude of responses received for the development of the 10-Year Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy. Half of all responses came from regional communities, demonstrating that the process is not metro centric. Commissioner Black highlighted recurring barriers raised throughout the consultation, including the cost of care, accommodation, limited transport options to appointments, long wait times, and not knowing what services are available or where to go.

“We’re a small but mighty team – every submission of the 1000 plus pages has been read,” she said.

The work of reviewing survey responses, written submissions and carrying out thematic analysis will provide rich data for shaping the next Strategy.

Open Q&A discussion

During the Q&A session, members expressed gratitude as well as concerns about a lack of meaningful system change, the limitations of telehealth for prison and hospital populations, the use of forced medication and chemical restraint, and the impact of top-down approaches.

One member posed a critical question, “How do we stop the cycle of strategies that don’t deliver change?”

Commissioner McGrath responded that, beyond measurement frameworks, the most successful strategies he has seen are commissioned by central agencies and involve First Ministers from the outset.

Commissioner Black also emphasised the importance of interrogating the actual problems the system is trying to solve. She noted that while many solutions are often proposed, simply establishing more mental health hubs, for example, will not address the underlying root of the issue.

Reflecting on a difficult year for the sector, MHCC’s Chair Judi Higgin said the Forum was an important moment to pause and acknowledge the significant work being done across the sector. She noted that despite rising need, tightened funding and workforce shortages, the sector has remained focused and deeply committed.

Congratulations also to the appointed and re-appointed Board Directors: Mariam Faraj, General Manager at Central and Eastern Sydney Primary Health Network, Giancarlo de Versa, CEO at BEING – Mental Health Consumers, Gary Groves, CEO at ReachOut Australia.

We would like to send a warm thank you to all our members who joined us.