Welcome to the November edition of eNnews.

We are back with even more news to share as the end of a momentous year approaches.

We introduce you to our new president, Alison Xamon who takes over from John Gherardi after five successful years. You can read all about Alison’s wealth of experience below.

Two other new board directors elected at our Annual General Meeting - Fremantle Multicultural Centre manager Marina Korica and mental health advocate Helen Lynes, both who bring a breadth of knowledge and expertise to the board. We thank Sandra Vidot and Sinead Flaherty for their contributions.

It’s with great excitement I announce WAAMH has joined the wide world of social media with the launch of our Twitter account - https://twitter.com/TheWAAMH. We will use this platform to tweet important mental health news, promote our forums and events and keep you up to date with WAAMH’s latest developments as they unfold.

More on the social media front, WAAMH launched a Flickr feed right before Mental Health Week. You can follow us to see photos from events, forums and functions. This Flickr feed can be accessed through the Photo Gallery on our News & Media website page http://waamh.org.au/news--media/photo-gallery.aspx

It was a busy and productive October – both for WAAMH and the mental health sector. We saw the Mental Health Bill tabled in parliament and confirmation from the coalition government that a review of mental health services by the National Mental Health Commission would proceed.

Mental Health Week was a huge success and our Annual Report and the Sector Strategic Framework report were both released at the Sector Forum: Building Blocks for Reform on the 30th October.  Read all about these events in this month’s edition.

I would like to also welcome our new members this month, Fremantle Medicare Local and Intework (Balcatta), plus four individual members. Thank you to all our members for your ongoing support and dedication to mental health.

Rod Astbury
Executive Director
Western Australian Association for Mental Health

ALISON Xamon has held many board positions over the past two decades, spanning across a variety of environmental and social justice groups. She officially became the president of WAAMH on October 30, following an election at the AGM.

Alison also currently serves on the Social Justice Board for the Uniting Church and brings extensive experience leading large organisations, most notably as the former state Co-Convenor and National Convenor for the Australian Greens.

She is a lawyer, a former State Member of Parliament, and has previously worked with both the union movement and children at risk. Alison holds a Law degree, a Bachelor of Arts and a Cert 4 in Human Services.

As a child of a parent with mental illness, and like so many others, Alison’s life has been deeply affected by the effects of mental illness, although she first became professionally involved when she took on the role of Greens spokesperson for Mental Health in 2009. Although it was one of 17 portfolios she held at the time, it was unequivocally the portfolio closest to her heart, and subsequently made the decision to continue her advocacy in mental health.

As president of WAAMH, Alison would like to be able to assist the association move to the inevitable next stage of its development, by ensuring there is a powerful voice speaking on behalf of the sector.

While positive reforms are slowly unfolding and need to be recognised, Alison also believes it's important to maintain a fair but fearless capacity to speak out about where things are going wrong and how they can be improved.

IN staying abreast of social media trends and accessing a wider audience with our mental health messages, we have joined Twitter. Look out for our tweets!

Follow us at https://twitter.com/TheWAAMH

WAAMH's Annual Report for the 2012/13 financial year is now available to download from our website.

AROUND 100 people attended the Sector Forum on October 30. It was a full day packed with information.

Helpful feedback was received to improve the next forum and we were lucky enough to secure Mental Health Commissioner Eddie Bartnik and Minister for Mental Health Helen Morton to open the forum. Mental health advocate and MC  Amy Coombe was charming and did a wonderful job hosting the day.

Four main topics were covered as part of the Building Blocks for Reform theme. There were System Reforms, Capacity Building, Strategic Measurement and Strategic Partnerships.

WAAMH's Sector Strategic Framework Report was launched at the Sector Forum. You can download it from our website here. Check out presentations from the day here and photos from the day here.

MORE than 30 people attended WAAMH's free consultation and briefing session on the Peer Work Framework in Bentley on November 7.

Additionally, 12 health department employees from Broome, Bunbury and Esperance dialled in via video-conferencing to participate in the session.

The project aims to develop a strategic framework to support the engagement of consumer and carer peer workers in mental health and drug and alcohol services in WA. It consulted a wide range of organisations and individuals with experience, commitment and expertise in peer work.

AFTER more than a decade of development, the Mental Health Bill was tabled in the WA parliament on October 23. The new Bill provides improved protections of the rights of people with mental illness and their families.

Download the Mental Health Bill

COMMUNITY Mental Health Australia (CMHA), in partnership with the Commonwealth Departments of Health and Social Services, is running the pilot portal of the Standards & Performance Pathways (SPP) specifically for mental health services organisations across Australia.

The SPP is an integrated online system for the completion of self-assessments and compliance activities related to service and quality standards.

Mental health service organisations receiving mental health funding from the Commonwealth Departments of Health and/or Social Services can register to particiapte in the trial. As a limited number of places are available on a 'first come, first served' basis.

More information can be found about Standards & Performance Pathways Mental Health Portal Pilot and register here: https://www.ngoservicesonline.com.au/standards/spp-mental-health-portal-pilot/. Two free webinars are being ran to introduce the new portal and explain how the service works on Thursday, 7 November (12pm WST time) or Tuesday, 12 November (12pm WST time). To join a webinar, click on the date relevant to you.

MINISTER for Mental Health Peter Dutton has requested the National Mental Health Commission do a thorough review of all existing services - state, federal and non-government - to assess how well and efficiently they are helping their clients.

This confirms a commitment the Coalition made during the election campaign. The Minister made the announcement in a media release for World Mental Health Day on 10th October.

THERE was an overwhelming sense of involvement this year from our members and your members - the people with a lived experience - participating in the Mental Health Week events.

YOUR SUCCESS! Mental Health Week 2013 has been officially labelled a huge success by all involved.

There were so many events driven by so many people sharing the goal to promote Mental Health Week. We would like to acknowledge the dedication of so many, in particular Glenn Mitchell who again stood up as our Ambassador, not only sharing his own experience of mental illness, but also encouraging us to look after our own mental health and that of those around us at every opportunity.

Talking about mental health and wellbeing was definitely a theme unknowingly carried throughout the week – with Glenn attending most of our events, and Amy Coombe, Joshua Cunniffe and Heath Black supporting many local and regional events.

The week was enriched with personal stories from people with a lived experience, carers and families who shared their journey; participation from our members and many consumers who joined us tp contribute to the success.

Mental Health Week was the platform for the premiere of The Sunnyboy, where we first shared the personal story of Jeremy Oxley’s 30-year battle with schizophrenia. Author of Unravel, Greg Ralls shared his experience and battle with members of the corporate world and Spirit of the Streets choir sang up a storm in Murray Street Mall.

The variety of activities was awe inspiring and included art, music, poetry, basketball, and bowls – embracing the theme of the week, Celebrate Connect Grow. Closing events were held around the state with hundreds of people attended an art exhibition in Perth Town Hall, the Ball of Hope in Esperance, and ‘Navigating Teenage Depression’ in Bunbury. WA shone with its dedication and people were confidently and  openly talking about mental illness to reduce the stigma.

There are some great stories and photos on the Mental Health Week website. If you would like to submit your images for general viewing, please send to: communications@waamh.org.au

WAAMH is funded by the MHC to coordinate Mental Health Week each year and we look forward to working with you all in 2014.

SPEAKING of Mental Health Week, WAAMH is very sad to say goodbye to one of it's most dedicated staff members - Promotions Coordinator Anne Preston Carter (pictured on right).

Anne, who has successfully driven Mental Health Week for two consecutive years and taken the week to a new level of recognition and achievement, will step down from the role at the end of this month.

Her dediaction to drive change, passion for event organisation and knack for developing new partnerships has enhanced Mental Health Week and its activities.

Anne's engagement with schools, the corporate sector and regional WA has lifted the profile of Mental Health Week and we hope the event continues to pull big crowds and arouse as much media interest next year.

Farewell Anne! We hope you enjoy a stress-free lifestyle change on your vineyard and please stay in touch with the mental health sector.
 

THE Perth Convention Centre housed the first WA-based Happiness and its Causes Roadshow last week. More than 300 people attended to hear the presentations.

The action packed program featured speakers from all around the world and Australia and was aimed at professionals in psychology, education, health care, business and anyone with an interest in being happy.

It was a highly enjoyable and informative day full of interesting, entertaining and relevant presentations, with topic-related books for sale throughout the day. There were opportunities for the audience to engage with all presentations which created a great atmosphere. Media personality Gretel Killeen was hilarious as MC and kept everything running smoothly.

Topcis included:

• The meaning and the quality of life 
• Change your thinking
• The Third Space, transitioning your behaviour between work and home
• Positive schools
• The Happiness Institute
• Emotional intelligence and neuroleadership
• Holistic paths to wellbeing
• Positive Psychology 
• How thoughts affect your emotions and behaviour
   

WAAMH looks forward to the next Happiness conference in Sydney!

www.happinesanditscauses.com.au/roadshow/perth