IN the past month we farewelled the state's first Mental Health Commissioner, Eddie Bartnik and welcomed another, Tim Marney. We are looking forward to working with Tim.

We are very proud to announce the first formal partnership to deliver a co-located Individual Placement and Support service in Western Australia. You can read the full article below, where our eNews team interviewed the mental health and employment services.

During March, the mental health sector's involvement in shaping the Mental Health Bill implementation and the NDIS / My Way trial sites are expected to gain momentum.

We are planning to hold more forums throughout the year with our Leadership and Development series and a follow-up forum on NDIS with a national focus.

There is also the opportunity to start nominating for TheMHS Exceptional Contribution Award, Mental Health Media Award, and ICWA's Safety Excellence Award.

Until next month, enjoy the March edition of eNews.

Rod Astbury
Executive Director
WA Association for Mental Health

STORN Peterson turned his life around and decided to make a difference in the community after battling with his own mental health and alcohol addiction-related problems.

Turning several negative life experiences into a positive, Storn's aim now is to drive around in his trailer spreading a message to prevent male suicide.

With the help of Lifeline, his trailer (named Enterprise 33 after the average of 33 men estimated to take their own lives every day in Australia) is filled with educational materials, service providers' details and resources to improve mental health and encourage people to reach out for help.

If you would like to organise Storn's trailer to visit your event or organisation, please get in contact with him at enterprise33@outlook.com

If you or someone you know is thinking of suicide, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

MORE than 100 people involved in WA's mental health community stepped out on Valentine's Day afternoon to say a special goodbye to WA's first Mental Health Commissioner Eddie Bartnik.

Eddie gave a heartfelt farewell speech after being presented with a gift from the sector presented and painted by his favourite artist, David Giles. The painting was appropriately titled, "Pathway to a new horizons".

Tim Marney stepped into the Mental Health Commissioner role on February 17 and has featured in several news articles since then, talking about both his professional plans for and personal experience with mental health.

See photos from the event on our Flickr Feed

The Armadale Mental Health IPS Steering Group: (From left) ORS Group IPS specialist Rosalia Dorner; Consumer Advisory Group chairperson Beverly Barndon; Armadale Mental Health Service operations manager Andrew Nesci; Armadale Mental Health Service senior social worker Barry Hughes; HORIZONS community mental health rehabilitation service coordinator Jyoti Manik; WAAMH IPS state project lead Philleen Dickson; ORS Group national marketing manager Marina Chalmers; Armadale Health Service principal occupational therapist Gail Nesci.

BECOMING the first metropolitan partnership to deliver a co-located Individual Placement & Support (IPS) service in Western Australia means Armadale Mental Health Services and ORS Group now offer jobseekers' living with mental health issues a significant advantage in realising their employment goals and potential.

Armadale Mental Health formalised its IPS partnership with ORS Group in late February after deciding to implement the process in August last year.

It’s hoped this monumental achievement will inspire other mental health services in both rural and metropolitan WA to adopt international best practice, IPS and assist people living with a mental illness to find work.

ORS Group has existing IPS partnerships in place in New South Wales with several sites in Bankstown, five in the Hunter Valley and four in Sydney.

Armadale Mental Health has known about IPS since 2011, when Centre for Mental Health Research Head of Social Inclusion and Recovery Dr Geoffrey Waghorn visited Perth to advocate the benefits of IPS on recovery for individuals with mental health issues.

However, it took WA Association for Mental Health IPS state project lead Philleen Dickson’s enthusiasm and unwavering support for the competitive employment model to help get it off the ground in the west.

“We knew the value, we knew it was evidence based practice, it’s been around for many years, the literature is out there, and with the help Philleen driving it we were finally able to implement it,” Armadale Health Service community mental health rehabilitation service coordinator Jyoti Manik told WAAMH eNews.

Read the full article

AROUND 120 people attended the NDIS / My Way Info Session, hosted by WAAMH at the end of the February.

Participants listened to a highly regarded line-up of speakers and had the opportunity to participate in a World Cafe to voice and collaborate their own ideas and views. These ideas will be compiled into as report and available soon.

View presentations from the event

Download WAAMH's background paper on Mapping the Territory: Impact of NDIS and My Way

We will continue to keep the sector informed of developments with the integration of mental health into NDIS and another forum is on the drawing board for next month, with a national focus.

FORMER WAAMH vice-president Marita Walker was recently appointed manager of the Perth Hills trial site and the call for nominations to join the advisory group is now open.

Those interested in being selected for an advisory role in the stakeholder groups for the NDIS Perth Hills trial site, are invited to complete an Expression of Interest.

There are a range of categories, experience and skills which require representation.

Would you like to hold a presentation at the next TheMHS Conference? There is only one week left to submit an abstract for The Mental Health Conference being held in Perth in August.

We are looking for interactive presentations that demonstrate how to:
• Do it differently
• Provide leadership
• Make change happen
• Share ideas and research
• Provide and make informed choices
• Work across sectors and with stakeholders

Submit abstracts online at www.themhs.org by March 13.

CALLING all consumers and carers. Mental Health Council Australia is keen to hear about your knowledge and experiences with Australian Government Disability Employment Services via a short online survey. 

Your responses will help mould the MHCA project to:

• Lift mental health consumer and carer engagement and knowledge of the Disability Employment Services program
• Provide mental health consumer and carer advice to the Australian Government about service needs and ways to improve future disability employment services.

The survey should take less than 10 minutes to complete and can be completed anonymously if you choose.

Your involvement in this survey is appreciated

RAISING awareness of mental health in the community through tunes, Music to Open Your Mind is on again next Sunday afternoon, 16th March at Kings Square, Fremantle.

This year’s music line-up will be headlined by Rainy Day Women, who have featured on Triple J, along with Boys Boys Boys and Freo favourite Kavisha Mazzella.

This free community event will also host market and food stalls, children’s activities and a range of information about mental health and wellbeing. 

Music to Open Your Mind event coordinator Angela Piscitelli said the event highlighted a very serious issue in our community, with one in five Australians experiencing mental illness at some stage of their life.

“Music to Open Your Mind brings the community together to promote good mental health and helps reduce stigma associated with mental illness,” Piscitelli said.

Visit www.southmetropolitan.health.wa.gov.au/music for more information or follow Music to Open Your Mind on Facebook.

TO meet the ongoing demands for Lived Experience Advisory Group (LEAG) members on various Mental Health Bill Implementation Reference Group (MHBIRG) committees, membership has increased.  The Mental Health Commission will be placing an Expression of Interest on their website within the next two weeks which will be followed by a selection process, if you would like to participate.

The LEAG will run for the duration of the implementation stage (expected to be in excess of twelve months). LEAG members will receive remuneration for their time and contribution. Any queries please contact Breda Ryan on 6272 1211 or Breda.Ryan@mentalhealth.wa.gov.au

Background on Mental Health Bill Implementation Reference Group and the Mental Health Bill

APPROACHING its sixth year, Positive Schools is here again with its WA conference in May.

Supporting the wellbeing and mental health in Australian primary and secondary schools and colleges, this year the conference is examining the relationships between mental health, creativity and technology, for building engagement, motivation, sustained wellbeing and flourishing school communities.

Registrations still open!

Event details:
May 29-30
The Rydges Esplanade Hotel, Fremantle

Download the program

Nominate a teacher for the Positive Teacher Award

Download App now

SOUTH Metropolitan Health Services has recognised care coordination is important in the delivery of mental health services.

As part of implementing this best practice, a brochure providing information about care coordination and what it means to consumers, carers and families has been developed.  It provides information on:

• Principles underpinning care coordination
• What it means for consumers
• When you might need a care coordinator and who will be the care coordinator
• What carers can expect from care coordination.

More information on Care Coordination

MENTAL health issues can impact people's performance in the workforce. An unhealthy work environment can result in stress and lead to the development of a mental illness. Research demonstrates diverse workplaces with non-discriminatory employment practices and equitable human resource management policies lead to improved performance.

The facts:

• A total of 3.2 days per worker are lost each year through workplace stress.
• Stress-related workers’ compensation claims have doubled in recent years, costing over $10 billion each year.
• A survey of over 5000 workers indicated that 25% of workers took time off each year for stress-related reasons.
• In relation to psychological injury claims, work pressure accounts for around half of all claims and harassment and bullying for around a quarter of claims.
• Preliminary research shows that Australian businesses lose over $6.5 billion each year by failing to provide early intervention/treatment for employees with mental health conditions.

How to counteract the negative impact of mental health issues and stress in the workplace:

• Commitment from senior staff developing a healthy environment through mission statements and policies.
• Promoting a healthy culture to increase staff loyalty
• Zero tolerance to bullying, harassment or unreasonable behaviour.
• Endorse lifestyle balance and flexibility utilising reasonable adjustments
• Access to supervision, counselling or specialist support
• Training and education for all staff on mental health awareness, stress management and communication
• Health and safety, ensure breaks, limits on overtime and workload, time off in lieu.

Are you working with people who require post placement support strategies?

More online resources for mental health in the workplace.

LISTEN to Australian of the Year 2010, lead research, clinician and reformer in the area of Youth Mental Health Professor Pat McGorry speak on “Why Youth Mental Health”.

Date: 7 March, 2014
Time: 7:30pm
Location: Christ Church Grammar School Chapel
Cost:  $25 per head
Click here to book tickets

There is increasing evidence showing early recognition and treatment of many mental illnesses can lead to substantial improvements in recovery and overall functioning.  There is a growing need to identify mental illnesses at their earliest possible stage.  Professor Pat McGorry will help you understand who is at risk and what you can do.  This seminar is essential for parents, teachers and anyone who deals with youth on a regular basis.

RICHMOND Fellowship WA (RFWA) is holding a series of workshops over March and April 2014.

RFWA is a provider of specialist training in recovery-based training.  It currently has a series of training workshops suited to consumers, carers, family, friends, support workers, health professionals and anyone who is interested.

These workshops include:

• The Hearing Voices Approach
• Introduction to Recovery Approach & Recovery in a World Context (11 March)
• Walking Together - ‘Aboriginal Cultural Awareness’ (18 March)
• Hearing Voices Group Facilitator three-day training - (31 March - 2 April)
• Conflict Management Training (3 April)

Find RFWA on Facebook or find out more at www.rfwa.org.au

THIS event presents a diverse range of of voices, attracting leaders from the world of business, science and academia as well as patients, advocates and caretakers.

Date: 14 and 15 May 2015

For further information go to www.meetingforminds.com.au

NOMINATIONS  are now open for Injury Council of WA’s Injury Prevention and Safety Excellence Awards 2014.

Award categories include:

• Innovation or Research
• Communications and Partnerships
• Individual
• Sector

Nominations  open until Monday, March 24 and award winners will be announced on April 30. Download a full Nomination Kit or call ICCWA on 9420 7212.