Programs & Services

Borderline Personality Disorder - South Australia Mental Health Commission

SA Mental Health Commission – Action Plan for People Living with Borderline Personality Disorder

Building community wellbeing - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Carers Week - Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission

Changing the Language of Self Care - South Australia Mental Health Commission

Community Collaboratives - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Community Collaboratives involve people and organisations working together to strengthen communities’ resilience, support them to recover from adversities, and improve the health and wellbeing of their community. 

Community Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Research Network - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

The Community Mental Health Drug and Alcohol Research Network (CMHDARN) is a NSW-based partnership project between the Mental Health Coordinating Council (MHCC), the Network of Alcohol and Other Drugs Agencies (NADA), and the Mental Health Commission of NSW.  The network was established in 2010 to link people and organisations in the community mental health and alcohol and other drugs sectors with opportunities to understand and undertake research. This longstanding project facilitates a culture of research by providing opportunities and support for collaboration between community organisations and research bodies, including universities and research institutes.  CMHDARN primarily aims to: 

• Improve the quality of service delivery and the outcomes for consumers of community-managed services 
• Promote increased awareness and understanding of co-existing mental health and alcohol and other drug issues. 

In line with best practice in both the mental health and alcohol and other drug sectors, CMHDARN is committed to keeping lived experience at the forefront of its work by promoting lived experience leadership in research.

CMHDARN supports non-government and community-managed organisations to conduct research activities in order to contribute to the wider knowledge base and improve service delivery practice. Members of CMHDARN play a crucial role in increasing the involvement of the community mental health and alcohol and other drug sectors in practice-based research, promoting the value of research and the use of research evidence in practice.   To build the research capacity of the mental health and alcohol and other drugs sectors, CMHDARN shares information and engages with members via its e-communications, website, workshops and webinars, and other activities and resources. 

Consumers and Carers - National Mental Health Commission

Contributing Lives, Thriving Communities - National Mental Health Commission

The Contributing Life framework is – whole?of?person, whole?of?system, whole?of?life approach to mental health and wellbeing. This means we consider people across the lifespan – from pre?birth to old age. A contributing life can mean many things. It can mean a fulfilling life enriched with close connections to family and friends; good health and wellbeing to allow those connections to be enjoyed; having something to do each day that provides meaning and purpose – whether it be a job, supporting others or volunteering; and a home to live in, free from financial stress and uncertainty. In short, it means thriving, not just surviving.

The Commission will work to support individuals to: live a contributing life; have equitable opportunity; have the best possible mental health and wellbeing; participate in community, education and employment; have knowledge, assurance and respect; and be able to contribute to socially and economically thriving communities.

Embedding LLE workforces - Queensland Mental Health Commission

Environmental scan: Lived experience engagement and participation - National Mental Health Commission

The National Mental Health Commission has been undertaking a program of work to strengthen our capability for meaningful engagement with mental health consumers and carers, families and kinship groups.   While engagement with lived experience has been a core aspiration of the Commission since our establishment in 2012, we recognise that we can improve the ways we engage with consumers and carers to be more purposeful and effective.  To strengthen our capability in engaging with lived experience expertise, the Commission has funded a review of current approaches and emerging practice developments related to lived experience engagement and participation within public sector contexts. This was conducted by Lived Experience consultant Carrie Lumby.

Human Rights Week - Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission

Leading the change: a Toolkit to evaluate lived experience inclusion and leadership - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Leading the change: a Toolkit to evaluate lived experience inclusion and leadership provides practical tools and resources for self-reflection and action planning in mental health and social services organisations.  It was developed in partnership between the Commission, BEING – Mental Health Consumers and Mental Health Carers NSW, to address Action 9 of Living Well in Focus 2020-2024 and build on the strategic direction and vision of the Lived Experience Framework for NSW (2018).

Leading the change enables organisations to assess their level of maturity for lived experience inclusion, monitor and measure inclusion and impact, and identify areas for growth. Organisations can tailor how they use the toolkit, recognising the wide variety in the sector.  Use of the Leading the change toolkit promotes the importance of lived experience inclusion, partnership, leadership and decision-making influence across the mental health and social services sectors. It highlights leadership commitment as being crucial to successful inclusion and evaluation in any organisation. Toolkit development included co-design activities with consumers, carers, sector organisation representatives, and Aboriginal communities; desktop research and iterative review by the project working group; and a sector focus group to test the draft Toolkit documents in October 2023.  

LEx Training Hub - Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT)

The LEx Training Hub provides training pathways for people with lived experience of mental health issues, suicide, or alcohol and other drugs use, educating and empowering them to effectively apply their unique expertise to support others through their own treatment or recovery journeys. In addition to upskilling Lived Experience Workers, the LEx Hub will also provide training to help organisations improve their systems, supports and workplace culture to better understand, value and support Lived Experience roles.

Lived Experience (Peer) workforce guidelines: release of additional companion documents - National Mental Health Commission

Lived Experience (Peer) Workforce Project - Mental Health Commission of Western Australia (MHCWA)

The Western Australian Lived Experience (Peer) Workforces Framework (Framework) was released in late 2022. The intent of the Framework is to provide a contemporary approach to developing the Lived Experience (Peer) workforces in Western Australia (WA). Together with supporting resources, the Framework is a practical guide for building, embedding and sustaining diverse Lived Experience (Peer) Workforces across the mental health, alcohol and other drugs and suicide prevention sectors. It aims to guide and maintain the development of these workforces as a discipline in their own right while responding to the specific needs of WA’s population and settings.

Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG) - Mental Health Commission of Western Australia (MHCWA)

The LEAG is an advisory body, responsible for ensuring that the voices of consumers, family members and significant others and community members with lived and living experience of mental health, alcohol and other drug use, harms and service use are embedded in the relevant work being undertaken across the mental health and alcohol and other drug systems. The LEAG is comprised of 12 diverse designated Lived Experience and emerging leader members. The LEAG will be co-chaired by the Assistant Commissioner, Lived Experience Consumer and the Assistant Commissioner, Lived Experience Alcohol and Other Drug.

Lived Experience Engagement Checklist - Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission

The MHCC’s Lived Experience Engagement checklist (the checklist) was designed to support staff working in the public mental health sector to maximise engagement and collaboration with people with lived experience (for project /policy work, consultation, collaboration on pieces of work). The checklist looks to create the greatest possible opportunity to have lived experience expertise influence, design and drive the work within the public mental health sector. The checklist is not an audit of public mental health services, rather it is an opportunity to self-assess the levels of engagement, collaboration and participation with lived experience within your service.

The checklist contains answers in a ‘yes’, ‘no’ and ‘partially’ format. If the answers you select contain a greater number of ‘no’; and ‘partially’ results as compared to 'yes' then we recommend using the the Lived Experience Engagement Checklist - Further Resources (see below) as a guide to help explore opportunities so that a ‘yes’ can then be selected.

Lived Experience Framework for NSW - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Lived experience journeys - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Personal stories from people with lived experience of mental health issues, carers and mental health professionals

Lived Experience Networks - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Online networks for people with lived experience who want to connect with the lived experience community, develop their advocacy skills and participate in activities such as co-design groups, consultations, and committees, or who would like to publicly share their story.

Lived Experience Workforce Framework - Queensland Mental Health Commission

Lived Experience Workforce Guidelines - National Mental Health Commission

Lived Experience Workforce Resources - Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT)

Living Well: A Strategic Plan for Mental Health in NSW 2014 – 2024 - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Living Well: A Strategic Plan for Mental Health in NSW 2014 – 2024 is the 10-year plan for mental health reform in NSW. The Commission conducted a mid-term review of the strategic plan and has developed a refreshed strategy, Living Well in Focus 2020-2024: A strategic plan for community recovery, wellbeing and mental health in NSW

Making Connections - National Mental Health Commission

The voices of Australians with lived experience shape are key in mental health reform. The Commission runs regular events and programs to ensure we are hearing current thoughts and experiences. Learn more about those here.

Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Strategy 2025-2030 and Outcome Measurement Framework - Mental Health Commission of Western Australia (MHCWA)

The Mental Health Commission (Commission) is leading the development of a new Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drug Strategy 2025-2030 (MHAOD Strategy) and Outcomes Measurement Framework. The State Government committed to the development of a new system-wide strategy and to adopt a person-centered, outcomes-focused approach to system evaluation as part of a broader package of reforms to improve leadership, collaboration and coordination of the mental health and alcohol and other drugs systems.

Mental Health First Aid - South Australia Mental Health Commission

Mental Health Literacy Development - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Mental Health Network - Mental Health Commission of Western Australia (MHCWA)

The Mental Health Network was first established in 2014 and has contributed to supporting the implementation of mental health and alcohol and other drugs priorities and reform agendas. 

Since then, the Mental Health Commission (the Commission) has continued to strengthen its governance of the mental health and alcohol and other drugs systems, and embed stakeholder engagement practices including:

Establishment of a new and comprehensive mental health and alcohol and other drugs systems governance structure, including dedicated Lived Experience and Clinical Advisory Groups;

Establishment of Assistant Commissioner advisory roles within Aboriginal Affairs, Alcohol and Other Drugs, Lived Experience Consumer and Lived Experience Significant Other;

Development and ongoing implementation of the Commission’s Working Together: Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drug Engagement Framework 2018 - 2025 and Toolkit;

Formation of time-limited advisory, steering and working groups that recruit specific expertise for specific purposes; and

An increased focus on lived experience expertise and engagement within dedicated positions at the Commission, and representation on governance committees, steering and working groups.

As a result of these developments, the Mental Health Networks will no longer operate in the same way, with some transitioning to their own, independent Community of Practice.

The Commission will continue to prioritise stakeholder engagement moving forward, aligning priorities with fit-for-purpose approaches.

Along with our new system governance structures and engagement processes, the Commission is establishing a new online engagement platform to expand and diversify our reach.

Further information regarding the online engagement platform will be available as the project develops. If you would like to be one of the first to hear about the new platform when it is finalised, please click here. 

You can register to receive our bi-monthly e-newsletter, Stakeholder Connect, to keep updated on key initiatives and opportunities to get involved. All recipients of Stakeholder Connect will be invited to join the online engagement platform once it is established.

Mental health peer scholarships - Queensland Mental Health Commission

Mental Health Wellbeing In Sport - South Australia Mental Health Commission

Mentally Healthy Workplaces - National Mental Health Commission

National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy - National Mental Health Commission

National Guidelines for including wellbeing in early childhood checks - National Mental Health Commission

National Mental Health Research Strategy - National Mental Health Commission

National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy - National Mental Health Commission

Peer Navigation Project 2021-2023 - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Peer Work Hub - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

The Commission developed the Peer Work Hub to support NSW organisations to develop their mental health peer workforces. These evidence-based resources guide employers on how to start or grow their peer workforce.

Safely Talking - Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT)

Safely Talking has been developed to guide safe discussions on suicide and suicide prevention. The toolkit has been co-developed by MHCT and Everymind with extensive consultation from the mental health and suicide prevention sector.

Shifting minds: The Queensland Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs, and Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan 2023–2028 - Queensland Mental Health Commission

Shifting minds: The Queensland Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs, and Suicide Prevention Strategic Plan 2023–2028 is the Queensland Government’s five-year plan to improve the mental health and wellbeing of all Queenslanders. It focuses on preventing and reducing the impact of mental ill-health, problematic alcohol and other drug use, and suicide. It sets the vision and direction towards achieving a whole-of-community, whole-of-person and whole-of-system approach to mental health and wellbeing.

Shifting the Landscape for Suicide Prevention in NSW - Mental Health Commission of New South Wales

Sketch2Engage - Queensland Mental Health Commission

The Stretch2Engage framework guides organisations to improve and increase meaningful engagement of people with lived experience in service design and evaluation in the mental health and alcohol and other drugs public and non-government sectors. The framework is founded on values that acknowledge meaningful engagement of people with a lived experience, their families, friends and supporters is a human right, fundamental to citizenship.

Meaningful engagement requires organisations to think and act differently. Stretch2Engage places the responsibility for engagement on service providers, not on people using services. This approach changes how engagement is understood, resourced and implemented, and emphasises the need for organisations to build their engagement capability.

Strategic Lived Experience Engagement - Mental Health Commission of Western Australia (MHCWA)

On 31 August 2023, the Western Australian Government committed to establishing new governance arrangements for the mental health and alcohol and other drugs systems as part of a package of reforms associated with the Independent Review of WA Health System Governance (IGR). Mental Health, Alcohol and other Drug Governance Structure supports the development and delivery of better outcomes for consumers, carers and the community through the integration of lived experience perspectives. Within the Commission, the inclusion of Lived Experience expertise has been enabled through three key mechanisms within the new governance arrangements for the mental health, wellbeing, alcohol and other drug (AOD) system. This includes:

• Lived Experience Assistant Commissioner roles
• Assistant Commissioner Aboriginal Affairs
• Assistant Commissioner Alcohol and Other Drugs
• Assistant Commissioner Lived Experience (Consumer)

Assistant Commissioner Lived Experience (Significant other) The Assistant Commissioners will be responsible for providing senior leadership, guidance and advice within their areas of expertise to the Commission. They will work with the Commission’s Senior and Executive leadership groups, government and non-government stakeholders and community to provide independent and expert advice to influence system-wide policy, programs and services reform.

Strong Spirit Strong Mind Aboriginal Programs - Mental Health Commission of Western Australia (MHCWA)

Strong Spirit Strong Mind Aboriginal Programs has a key role in the development of knowledge and skills within the Alcohol and Drug (AOD), mental health and broader human services sector to work in culturally secure ways through workforce development initiatives and to contribute to a skilled Aboriginal workforce.  Further roles include the provision of cultural secure consultancy and advice on policy, programs and resources across service areas within the Commission and broader AOD and mental health sectors.

Tas Mental Health Youth Forum - Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT)

Tasmanian State of Mind - Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT)

Tasmanian Youth Mental Health Forum - Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT)

The Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT) partnered with Primary Health Tasmania (PHT) and the Tasmanian Department of Health to deliver the Tasmanian Youth Mental Health Forum: Exploring Integration and Innovation on 6-7 November 2019. In a complex policy context including current work by the State Government’s Southern Mental Health Integration Taskforce and the development of a joint State and Federal Government Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, this Forum was arranged for the Tasmanian mental health sector to facilitate meaningful engagement in, and consideration of, recent trends identified in youth mental health including:

• Lack of awareness of appropriate services and support available;
• Increased demand for and on youth mental health services;
• Young people presenting more acutely unwell; and
• Increased funding and services for young people

Tasmanian Youth Peer Work Program - Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT)

Mental Health Council of Tasmania’s Youth Mental Health work is focused on developing a peer support program specifically tailored for young people. It is about young people with lived experience of mental illness helping other young people going through something similar. Youth Peer Workers will receive training and ongoing supervision to provide, encouragement, information, and non-clinical mental health support to a young person to compliment the clinical services a young person currently receives or wishes to receive . A Youth Peer Worker is someone that ‘gets it‘, who demonstrates the ability to recover/improve and can walk alongside the young person through their journey of mental illness, treatment and recovery, overcoming obstacles and helping to clear the path ahead. The Mental Health Council of Tasmania has developed an Implementation Plan for the delivery of this program over the next two years and is currently undertaking the first priorities identified in that plan.

The Youth Peer Work project to date has centred around the development of the Implementation Plan that brings together the research and consultations undertaken over the last 9 months with young people from across the state. This plan has been developed with a co-design group, comprised of representatives from headspace Youth Reference Group and the Mental Health Families and Friends representative scheme. The plan will undergo final approvals before phase 2 commences in June.

We have also established working groups in each major region of Tasmania comprised of youth-focused clinical and non-clinical services and funding bodies. The purpose of the working groups is to explore grassroots changes that can be made to improve young people’s experiences with the Tasmanian mental health system. The key themes that came out across the regions were seamless service delivery, collaboration and sharing of information. The first actions in these groups are underway and we look forward to seeing each group take the first steps to achieving their goals. These groups have also informed the development of the Youth Peer Work Implementation Plan and will work collaboratively with the co-design team to ensure that the program is suitable and effective for young Tasmanians in every corner of the state.

The Heiloo Declaration - Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission

The experience of living with and/or supporting loved ones with mental health and/or substance use results in specialised and unique expertise, knowledge and abilities critical to leadership in recovery, wellness, autonomy, authorship and human rights.

Lived and living experience leadership is to be valued and respected. Our expertise is to be used globally to transform systems, services, and societies to unlock the potential of recovery-based approaches and initiatives. We contribute to improving the lives of all who are impacted by challenges to their mental wellbeing, and hold a lens of ensuring citizenship for all impacted by mental health and substance use challenges.

Lived experience leadership inherently involves recognising cultural perspectives to recovery and wellbeing as an authentic knowledge base which embraces opportunities for developing, valuing and respecting people from different cultural backgrounds to practice, through the worldview of their lens. This enhances system transformation.

It is a global imperative to recruit, train, nurture and support authentic lived/living experience leadership throughout all design, delivery, policy development, and evaluation/research efforts.

Lived and living experience leadership must be supported and visible throughout all levels – from individuals leading their own recovery journeys to senior leadership positions to smash through the bigotry of low expectations.

There is an essential need to support leadership among diverse and marginalised populations including people of colour, Indigenous communities, ethnic groups, youth, 2SLGBTQI+, rural, veterans, women, people with disabilities, refugees/ migrants, and others.

Leaders with lived and living experience lead with the critical principles of empowerment, mutual support, rights advancement, respect, and social change. They lead with whole-person approaches, and a belief in resilience, wellness, accountability, self-determination/choice, and social inclusion. They lead, using a strengths-based approach, with the recognition that there are many pathways, and the importance of hope as the catalyst of the recovery journey.

We invite all to join with us in the support of lived and living experience leadership across the globe.

The above was drafted and accepted by participants from 12 nations at the June 24-25, 2024 Lived Experience Leadership Match sponsored by the Global Leadership Exchange. We acknowledge that we do not represent all voices of lived/living experience and honour the leadership of past generations that have created the foundation on which our efforts stand.

The Mindframe National Media Initiative - South Australia Mental Health Commission

The Mindframe National Media Initiative provides access to up-to-date, evidence-based information to support sensitive and responsible reporting, portrayal and communication about suicide and mental illness. The Commission recommends that media professionals writing about mental illness and suicide follow the Mindframe media guidelines. Mindframe resources were developed with the assistance of media professionals, suicide and mental health experts and consumer organisations, to:

• inform appropriate reporting of suicide and mental illness
• minimise harm
• reduce the stigma and discrimination experienced by people with mental illness.

The Mindframe National Media Initiative is coordinated and managed by Everymind.

Trauma-Informed Guide - Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission

Guidelines for trauma-informed mental health complaints resolution

Understanding how digital technology is impacting young people - National Mental Health Commission

Western Australian Eating Disorders Framework 2025-2030 - Mental Health Commission of Western Australia (MHCWA)

The Western Australian Eating Disorders Framework 2025-2030 (Framework) was released in December 2024.

The Framework builds on recent investments in eating disorders services in Western Australia and utilises the National Eating Disorders Strategy as its foundation. Additionally, the Framework will align to the Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drugs Strategy 2025-2030, which is currently in development.

The Framework aims to lay the foundation for a statewide coordinated approach for a comprehensive, equitable, and culturally responsive system of care for those impacted by eating disorders.

The Framework identifies six focus areas to ensure appropriate service delivery across the continuum of prevention, early intervention, treatment, and support services. This will enable people to access eating disorders services that meet their individual needs, where and when they need it.

Development of the Framework was informed by a range of national and state consultation activities; a review of current programs and services; guidance from the Western Australian Eating Disorders Framework Advisory Group; targeted engagement with members of the community, government, non-government and private organisations and service providers; and feedback on a Draft Priorities Paper released for consultation in September 2024.

Implementation of the Framework will be crucial to ensure a statewide coordinated approach to address eating disorders that supports an individualised, comprehensive, equitable, and culturally responsive system of care.

Youth Peer Support - Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT)