Mental Health Coordinating Council’s team was honoured to join more than 1,000 delegates at TheMHS Conference last week, for four days of conversations exploring hope, inclusion and connection across the mental health sector.

The Mental Health Services (TheMHS) Conference is Australasia’s largest and most diverse mental health conference, bringing together rich insights on Australia and New Zealand’s mental health landscape from people with lived and living expertise, sector professionals, advocates, carers, researchers and policy makers.

Across several presentations and conversations, a number of familiar messages came through strongly. These included the importance of lived experience leadership in reform, strengthening the psychosocial workforce, and making sure people who are too often excluded from policy and service design are part of the conversation.

MHCC’s Director of Policy and Systems Reforms, Corinne Henderson, chaired sessions on Human Rights and Safety Practice, and Psychosocial Reform and Recovery. These themes closely align with MHCC’s longstanding advocacy for human rights, recovery-oriented practice and a stronger role for community-managed care in mental health reform. The discussions reinforced the importance of connecting practice evidence with system reform and keeping these principles at the centre of mental health policy.

Conversations at the MHCC stand

Outside of the conference sessions, there was much to learn from attendees. At the MHCC stand, our live board invited people to share their perspectives on three key issues facing the community-managed mental health sector: workforce recognition, resourcing and funding.
Attendees placed stickers along a scale in response to each question, creating a live scatter graph that evolved over the four days and offered a visual snapshot of sector sentiment.

With stickers broadly clustering around the lower end of the scale, the activity provided a strong visual of the advocacy work still ahead, sparking conversations about the recognition and breadth of investment needed to sustain and strengthen mental health services and the people they work to support.

Sharing knowledge and resources

The exchange of knowledge and ideas went both ways. We also had the chance to share some of MHCC’s training and professional development opportunities, alongside resources developed to support the sector, including our Recovery Oriented Language Guide, Psychosocial Safety in Mental Health Organisations guide, Mental Health Workforce Profile, Collaborative Connections: Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Symposium report, and Foundational Supports Position Paper.

It was great to see so many people exploring these resources, sharing their own insights and taking copies back to their teams.

Taking hope, connection and inclusion forward

Reflecting on TheMHS Conference 2026’s theme of hope, inclusion and connection, those who have driven change before us have often done so by holding onto hope, staying connected to their values and communities, and continuing to advocate for greater inclusion and better outcomes. That same sense of hope, connection and shared purpose was felt across the conference and in the perspectives people shared with us.

As we take these conversations forward, they will continue to inform MHCC’s work to strengthen community-based mental health care and help shape and refine our advocacy priorities alongside our members and the broader sector as we approach the 2027 NSW election.

Thank you to everyone involved in bringing TheMHS Conference 2026 together, and to the speakers who shared their knowledge, experience and perspectives from across services, disciplines and communities. We also thank everyone who stopped by our stand to connect with MHCC’s team, share the work you’re doing, the initiatives you’re running, and discuss the wider issues affecting our sector.

Renata Anderson, Senior Policy Officer at Mental Health Australia with some of the MHCC team.

Representing MHCC at TheMHS Awards Gala Dinner – congratulations to all award winners.