THIS month marked both the agreement about the future administration of the National Disability Insurance Scheme in WA and also the establishment of a national parliamentary inquiry into the provision of NDIS services to people with psycho-social disability. This is an important reminder that, while the administration of the scheme in WA is clearer, there is important work to be done to ensure the scheme is implemented in a manner that improves the lives of people with enduring mental health issues and their families, both within the scheme and those who don’t get access to it.

WAAMH is delighted to have operational responsibility, in collaboration with the Mental Health Coordination Council of NSW, to organise the first sector-driven national conference on mental health in the NDIS which will be hosted by our national peak of peaks Community Mental Health Australia. Expressions of Interest are now open for the Reference Group for the conference with more details below.

I’d like to thank WAAMH’s members, supporters and partners for your support in 2016 and to wish you a happy, safe, peaceful, and mentally healthy Christmas!

Rod Astbury
Chief Executive Officer
WA Association for Mental Health

WE are fortunate to have six fabulous keynote speakers confirmed for the WA Mental Health Conference 2017 and the pre-conference Multicultural Mental Health Forum, including Dr Robert Berezin (pictured) in his first Australian appearance. Read all about the conference keynote speakers here.

Early bird registrations open 14 January 2017
Information on prices and how to register will be announced on the conference webpage soon: waamh.org.au/conference

THANKS to the support of our major sponsors of the WA Mental Health Conference 2017 so far. Helping Minds and Ruah Community Services are Gold Sponsors, and Anglicare WA, Rise Network and Outcare are Bronze Sponsors.  

Sponsorship packages are selling fast but there are still opportunities available. 
Please see the Sponsorship Opportunities webpage for more information and to download a copy of the Sponsorship Prospectus.  Remember, all packages are being allocated on a first come, first served basis, so act now to secure your first preference.

WAAMH presents Recovery Stories: a celebration of lived experience, recover and hope, a beautifully illustrated publication, which makes an ideal Christmas gift or inspirational keepsake, to instigate conversations about mental health.

This book is a compelling collection of true stories written by Western Australians with lived experience of mental illness, as part of WAAMH’s 2016 Recovery Stories by Candlelight project. This professionally produced publication captures these deeply personal stories, to continue to raise awareness about mental health and combat stigma.

• Bound coffee table book: $24
• Printable e-book: $5
Click here to order yours now.

Proceeds will go towards WAAMH’s crucial mental health sector support in WA.

THE Towards Elimination of Restrictive Practices 11th National Forum (formerly Seclusion & Restraint Reduction Forum) will be held in Perth on 4-5 May 2017, with the theme, Working together, a culture of care.

The forum is a co-sponsored initiative between the Western Australian Office of the Chief Psychiatrist (Lead Agency), Mental Health Commission, Department of Health and WAAMH.

The forum provides an opportunity for consumers, clinicians, practitioners and carers/family members from across Australia to come together to showcase innovations in practice, forge ideas and policy directions based on research, clinical practice and lived experience. The Perth forum will facilitate a national commitment to eliminating the use of restrictive practices and working together within a culture of care.

Individuals and organisations interested in participating in the forum are now invited to submit an abstract of their proposed oral or poster presentation. Registrations open early January.

For more information or to keep up to date with the latest news, please visit: waamh.org.au/TERP11forum

OUR first Consumer and Carer Mental Health Advocacy workshop was held in November with great success.

This interactive workshop is designed to up-skill and empower consumer and carer stakeholders to advocate effectively and participate in co-design processes.

The event caters for everyone from a beginner to an intermediate level. Day one focuses on learning and developing human rights, lived experience workforce and self-advocacy skills and techniques; while the second day explores support for self-advocacy, Individual, community and systemic advocacy.

Courses this month and January 2017 are now sold out, with spots filling fast for the next session on 16-17 February, so get in quickly. 

The Consumer and Carer Advocacy workshop is restricted to consumers, family members and carers only, that is, people who have personal experience of living with a diagnosis of mental illness or who have cared for a person with a diagnosis of mental illness.

"Knowledge is powerful, this course gives you the power. Tailored for consumers and carers, it has empowered me to be an advocate." - Course participant Sally Whyte.

For more information or to register, please visit the WAAMH events website here.

PLACES are filling fast for WAAMH’s acclaimed Certificate IV in Mental Health program, commencing February 2017.

Ideal for current and potential mental health support workers, along with other professionals wanting to learn more, the course involves one day per week of classes, plus a workplace practicum.

Held in WAAMH’s central location, across the road from McIver Train Station, the course is designed to provide participants with a range of rehabilitation and support skills with a focus on recovery-oriented, community-based support, intervention and promotional work.

Click here for more Cert IV information and registrations.

JOIN the reference group for Australia's first sector-driven professional development conference, focused on the National Disability Insurance Scheme and mental health.

The National Mental Health NDIS Conference will be based in Sydney in November 2017.

The draft Terms of Reference for the Conference Reference Group (CRG) can be provided upon request. The CRG will:

• Provide advice and support to the conference operational team;
• Provide advice to assist with strategic event decisions;
• Contribute ideas and expertise, especially in the areas of theming, programing and sector engagement; and
• Help promote the conference across Australia’s mental health community and encourage attendance among their own networks.

The CRG will meet by teleconference on six occasions between December and September 2017. The members of the CRG will comprise representatives/stakeholders from within the Australian mental health sector.

Members will be selected based on applications received through a call for Expressions of Interest. The online EOI form can be found https://evev.wufoo.com/forms/w3naf20izx0am/ Renumeration will be offered for people with lived expereince. 

Applications close 13 December 2016.

THE state-wide roll out of the NDIS in WA is due to commence 1 July 2017.
On 2 December 2016 the WA State and Federal Governments agreed to start the final negotiations on the agreement which will enable WA to run its own NDIS model locally from Perth. The WA Government has agreed to 11 fixed conditions, including national consistency for key elements such as eligibility and access. 

Information, linkages and capacity building (ILC)

THE National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) recently released a number of ILC documents including the Commissioning Framwork Program Guidelines, FAQs and the Outcomes Framework Discussion Starter. The ILC Toolkit was designed to help organisations prepare. The ILC will commence in the Australian Capital Territory on 1 July 2017, in South Australia and New South Wales on 1 July 2018, and in Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania and Northern Territory on 1 July 2019. There is no commencement date yet for WA. For a quick rundown of the 80 things you need to know about the ILC, read the article at everyaustraliancounts.com.au

NDIS quarterly report

THE first quarterly report from the NDIS transition phase shows the scheme came nowhere near to hitting its original estimates for enrolments, mainly due to numerous IT issues. The numbers point to the huge challenges ahead for the NDIS to meet its targets when the scheme is fully rolled out in 2019.  

The quarterly report also states eligibility rates were lower for individuals reporting psychosocial disability (69.4%) than for all other disability groups (90.9%), reflecting the tight access criteria and the challenges of the eligibility process for people with mental health issues. Read ABC News article about the report.

New NDIS psychosocial disability fact sheet

WAAMH welcomes a stronger focus on recovery in the NDIA’s new fact sheet, Psychosocial disability, recovery and the NDIS that talks about how the NDIS works with people with psycho-social disability.
 

Resourced assistance missing for NDIS transition

AN audit report assessing the management of the approach by the Department of Social Security and the NDIA to transition the disability services market to the NDIS market arrangements, has been unveiled by the Australian National Audit Office (ANAO).

While the report acknowledged the magnitude of growth and change required to the disability services market, what continued to be missing is real and resourced assistance for organisations to manage the transition.

Based on experiences at trial sites, Community Mental Health Australia said support is required to transition the mental health sector, in particular the community mental health sector, to be ready and able to maintain services and support people within the NDIS.

An Industry Support and Transition Plan is needed to assist not-for-profits in their movement into this new environment. Knight and Gilchrist comment in their opinion piece on probonoaustralia.com.au that: “Such a plan would provide a much needed blueprint for the sector, giving it the direction it needs to make decisions regarding very scarce resources…. [and] the can also use such a blueprint to prioritise their focus areas, create a realistic roll-out timetable and to allow them to work with the disability services sector effectively.”

WAAMH is advocating for an Industry Support and Transition Plan in the upcoming state election.
 

Webinars available for replaying

MENTAL Health Australia has a number of recent webinars available for viewing on its website, on topics including marketing for psychosocial disability providers, and costing and pricing.

A webinar to help mental health carers understand the NDIS and support the person they care for was recently broadcast by Mental Health Australia and Carers Australia and is also available online.

IN further evidence to support the work of Lisa Wood and her colleagues at the Centre for Social Impact at The University of WA - which identified the significant health and financial benefits of providing public housing for people with mental health issues who are homeless or at risk of homelessness - other Australian studies have emerged. 

Work by Rebecca Bentley at The University of Melbourne and Emma Baker at The University of Adelaide demonstrates the provision of affordable housing and public assistance to meet housing costs results in significant mental health benefits.

Supported housing to homeless people, including those with mental health issues, significantly reduces the costs to government in areas such as policing, prisons, emergency department admissions, hospitalisation, mental health admissions and homelessness. https://theconversation.com/supportive-housing-is-cheaper-than-chronic-homelessness-67539

Seniors Housing Strategy

THE WA Department of Housing has released a Seniors Housing Strategy Discussion Paper and is seeking submissions to the paper by 16 December. The Seniors Housing Strategy aims to enable aged Western Australians on low to moderate income to access and sustain affordable and appropriate housing to age in the community. 

THERE are still key issues relating to psycho-social disability under the NDIS which need to be addressed.

WAAMH has identified several key areas needing attention and pointed to the recent announcement of the Parliament of Australia Joint Standing Committee inquiry into ‘The provision of services under the NDIS for people with psychosocial disabilities related to a mental health condition’ as further evidence that more work is needed to get the scheme right for people with psycho-social disability, their families and carers.

WAAMH detailed its support of the inquiry and identified its own areas that need attention in a Media Release. 

WAAMH has previously voiced its concerns about the needs of people living with a mental illness who currently receive Federally funded mental health services but will be ineligible for the NDIS.

Submissions to the inquiry close on 27 February 2017.

WELFARE agency, Anglicare said the needs of carers were not being met under the NDIS. Anglicare's latest report, Carers: Doing it Tough, Doing it Well, raises several areas of concern with the NDIS, including a possible lack of respite programs and a lack of support in general for carers. Read ABC's article.

AFTER more than a decade of lobbying for the Criminal Law (Mentally Impaired Accused) Act to be amended, WAAMH welcomed the long awaited Senate’s report on the indefinite detention of people with disability or psychiatric impairment.

WAAMH chief executive officer Rod Astbury said there had been tireless lobbying from the mental health sector, consumers and families to overhaul the CLMIA Act and end years of inhumane and unjust treatment. The recent United Nations’ damming assessment of WA’s laws and now the Federal Senate’s critical findings apply serious pressure to the WA government.

WAAMH welcomed the Senate Inquiry recommendations in a Media Release.

COMMUNITY Mental Health Australia has completed its 2017-18 Federal Pre-budget Submission and has been promoting this with Federal MPs.

The pre-budget submission was developed in consultation with the states and territories and puts forward six defined measures to address issues with the various mental health reforms and the NDIS for inclusion in the 2017-18 Federal Budget.

The key points in the submission are:

• Develop a National Mental Health Workforce Strategy
• Psychosocial services be included in the services Primary Health Networks can commission
• Establish a cross-government and cross-sector Expert Reference Group to examine and monitor reforms impacting mental health
• Conduct regional Communities of Practice to support NDIS transition
• Develop quality assurance processes specifically tailored for psychosocial support services as a part of the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework
• Develop options for funding services for people living with a mental illness who are ineligible for the NDIS and currently access Federally funded programs, ensuring their support needs are met whether eligible or not.

CONCERNINGLY the percentage of young people indicating mental health as one of their top concerns has doubled in the past six years.

In Mission Australia's Youth Survey of 22,000 people this year, the young survey participants named mental health as one of the top three issues.

“I am concerned about mental health in rural areas, particularly suicide," the report stated. "I think there needs to be more help… particularly low cost or free help."
Read ABC's coverage of mental health being the top concern among young Australians
Read Mission Australia's youth survey results
 

Youth suicide prevention strategies failing

A SOBERING report from youth mental health service Orygen revealed suicide rates among young Australians are at the highest level in 10 years, despite a range of investments and prevention strategies. The report identified a lack of national leadership on youth suicide and called for a reinvigorated approach.

The report’s figures were confronting:

• One third of all deaths of young men are due to suicide
• 41,000 young people aged 12-17 have made a suicide attempt
• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth and youth in regional and remote areas are most at risk
• Suicide rates among young men are higher than women, however female suicide rates have doubled over the past 10 years
• One quarter of women aged 16-17 have self-harmed.
• Young people are being turned away from mental health services in significant numbers because services do not have the capacity to respond.

Read Orygen's report here.

A NEW report titled, Solutions that work: What the evidence and our people tell us, from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation project summarises the evidence base for what works in Indigenous community-led suicide prevention. 

It includes responses that seek to address the structural and social determinants of risk factors for suicide. The report presents recommendations to reduce the high rate of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
 

Report finds WA Government failed Aboriginal youth with suicide still a significant issue

EDUCATION and Health Standing Committee of the WA Parliament released a report this month, Learnings from the message stick, examining Aboriginal youth suicide in the Kimberley and remote areas.

It found the WA Government failed to adequately respond to recommendations from 40 previous inquiries into Aboriginal youth suicide over the past 15 years.

The report made 44 recommendations, including empowering Aboriginal communities to develop their own strategies, programs and services that are relevant to their people and to limit the number of government-owned and run services.
Read the ABC article on the Inquiry’s findings
Read the committee's report.

A NATIONAL Press Club Address held last month outlined key reform priorities in rural and remote health, including the need for greater fairness for the seven million people living in rural and remote Australia.

It revealed the potential for increased productivity and economic growth if the disparities in health outcomes between rural and remote residents, and city residents, could be fixed.

Chair of the National Rural Health Alliance Geri Malone zeroed in on the lack of appropriate services, service fragmentation, and highly time consuming web and maze to find a support solution for a 12 year-old boy. 

Read more about the National Press Club Address - Fixing Rural and Remote Health, here. 

IT'S time to hear your feedback on how we went this year. Was Mental Health Week a success in your eyes? Did it achieve what it set out to do in your area? What did you love? Tell us what we can do better next year as we celebrate 50 years of Mental Health Week.

It would be appreciated if you could help us maintain our high standards of delivery when it comes to co-ordinating Mental Health Week and help us effectively promote mental health in the whole WA community.

Please take five minutes to complete this survey.