The Andrews Labor Government is delivering a new healing-focused mental health and wellbeing service designed for and delivered by people with lived experience of mental illness.
Minister for Mental Health Gabrielle Williams today announced Victoria’s first Lived Experience Residential Service will be run by Mind Australia, one of the largest providers of community-managed psychosocial services in Australia, in partnership with Alfred Mental Health and Addiction Health.
The Labor Government is investing $5 million over four years to co-design the residential service, which will provide short-term treatment, care and support in a community setting, providing an alternative to acute inpatient care.
Delivering on a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, the residential service will provide a range of therapies including art, music, outdoor and recreational-based programs and group and individual therapy. Clinical services will also be available.
Nobody knows our mental health system better than the people who’ve experienced it firsthand, which is why Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing system is being reformed from the ground up with lived experience at the heart of new programs and initiatives.
Once open, the residential service will be independently evaluated to ensure it is best serving Victorians in distress, and guide the future expansion of peer-led services across the state.
Lived experience-based programs include the $11.45 million Lived and Living Experience Workforce Development Program, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals across the state and the Lived and Living Experience Workforces Employee Survey.
The Victorian Budget 2022/23 included $1.3 billion to rebuild the mental health system and ensure more Victorians than ever are getting the support and treatment they need.
Quotes attributable to Minister for Mental Health Gabrielle Williams
“This Victorian-first, peer-led mental health service will provide consumers with a genuine alternative to hospital-based care, ensuring every person receives the care they deserve.”
“The Royal Commission told us to listen to those who know our system best. Victorians with lived experience offer a unique and personal insight and we’re ensuring their voices are at the heart of new programs and initiatives.”
Reviewed 21 September 2022