Mental Health Rights Manual
An online guide to help explain your legal and human rights in the mental health and human services systems in New South Wales.
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Words are important. The language we use and the stories we tell have great significance to all involved.
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Mental Health Coordinating Council is part of a growing group of peak bodies and community-managed organisations that have come together to form the NSW Mental Health Alliance.
This Alliance represents the mental health workforce, people with lived and living experience of mental health challenges, carers and kin from across New South Wales. We have united in calling for urgent reform and investment in the mental health service system and are championing systemic reform and redesign with the NSW Government.
25 SEPTEMBER 2024
JOINT STATEMENT
In response to the article published in The Daily Telegraph on Sunday, September 22, 2024, the NSW Mental Health Alliance says it is deeply concerned about the number of people experiencing mental health challenges in NSW that are struggling to access the care, treatment and supports they
desperately need. This is partly because of the workforce crisis that exists in the state’s public and community-based mental health services which continue to impact on health service availability and service user’s wellbeing and potential for recovery. The Alliance is urging the NSW Government to work with the sector to immediately implement policy changes that attract, train, and retain more mental health workers.
20 AUGUST 2024
JOINT STATEMENT
Leading mental health groups welcome the recent commitments at the Health and Mental Health Ministers’ meeting as a crucial step forward for mental health reform in Australia. The NSW Mental Health Alliance commends the nation’s state and federal Health and Mental Health Ministers for meeting and aligning on a number of the sector’s key recommendations, while emphasising that continued, coordinated action is crucial to ensure these reforms make a real difference in the lives of Australians.
3 JULY 2024
JOINT STATEMENT
As representatives of Australia’s leading mental health organisations, we come together to call for immediate and coordinated action to address the critical gap in mental health care between Federal and State/Territory services. This gap currently leaves Australians without adequate mental health support, leading to significant distress in the community and increased cost to the health system. Federal and State/Territory Governments now have the opportunity to bridge this gap, by agreeing to joint funding arrangements and a roadmap for long-term reform within the upcoming National Health Reform Agreement, as recommended by the Productivity Commission and the NHRA Review.
4 JUNE 2024
JOINT STATEMENT
The NSW Mental Health Alliance is calling on the Minns Government to take decisive action to fully implement the recommendations outlined in the Upper House Inquiry report into mental health care in New South Wales. The report, developed after months of consultation with stakeholders, highlights critical issues within the current mental health system and provides a clear roadmap for necessary reforms to improve mental health services and outcomes across the state.
19 MAY 2024
JOINT STATEMENT
The NSW Mental Health Alliance provided a joint statement in response to the NSW Community Mental Health Services Priority Issues Paper released in May 2024 which identified four priority areas for reform: enhanced funding for community mental health services, workforce, and training, improving emergency mental health care, as well as the expansion of psychosocial supports, such as homelessness services and recovery programs. It also proposed solutions for service demand though workforce priorities, infrastructure, and investment to be urgently implemented. Our advocacy continues in supporting these areas that require urgent investment.
NSW has the lowest spend per capita for mental health services compared to all states and territories in Australia, when rates of psychological distress in NSW have almost doubled over the last decade.
The alliance is urging all political parties for a commitment to the following:
Long-Term Funding and Reform: Federal and State/Territory Governments must agree on funding arrangements and a long-term roadmap for reform to close the service gap for the ‘missing middle’ and people with complex mental health needs.
Full-Day Mental Health Ministers Meeting: A full-day Mental Health Ministers Meeting, involving Federal and State/Territory Ministers for Health and Mental Health to allow for in-depth discussions and the development of a unified, collective approach.
Inclusion in National Health Reform Agreement: Mental health reform should be included in the upcoming National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA), as recommended by the Productivity Commission and the NHRA Review to ensure new mental health services can be sustainably funded across Governments.
The NSW Mental Health Alliance was launched in 2023 with the report The NSW mental health care system on the brink: Evidence from the frontline.
The report reveals critical issues in the state’s mental health system that need urgent government attention, following the NSW State of Mental Health survey conducted in early 2023 with over 1,300 mental health practitioners including community workers, peer workers, psychiatrists, psychologists, GPs, and carers,
A joint statement from CEOs and leaders of the NSW Mental Health Alliance was issued to urge the government and opposition to act on key commitments.
The report was launched at a press conference on Tuesday 14 March 2023 which members of the alliance and the media attended.
This interactive online event was an opportunity to hear directly from NSW political parties about their plans for the mental health system in the lead-up to the NSW Election on 25 March 2023. Participants also had the opportunity to provide direct feedback on their views and to hear from experts from RANZCP and other organisations.
Mental Health Coordinating Council also submitted a report, Shifting the Balance: Investment Priorities for Mental Health in NSW, to Members of Parliament to advocate for greater investment to support community-managed mental health. See our four key recommendations in the report.
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