Embrace Lived Experience Group Meeting

The Embrace Lived Experience Group provides key advice and input into the Embrace Multicultural Mental Health Project. It meets in-person twice yearly and recently met on 3-4 April in Canberra.

This meeting was facilitated by Pino Migliorino and consisted of Embrace Project updates, group activities, sessions on safety contracting and collective care, and input into the development of a community leaders resource and Suicide Prevention Pilot Project activities.

The Embrace Project team would like to convey a big thank you to the Embrace Lived Experience Group members for making this such a memorable gathering.

The Embrace Lived Experience Group will meet online again in May and in-person later this year.

My Health Record and mental health webinars

You are invited to upcoming information webinars about My Health Record for the mental health sector, hosted by Mental Health Australia in collaboration with the Australian Digital Health Agency.

For service providers: My Health Record for community mental health organisations

Webinar information session and Q&A

Thursday 27th April 2-3pm AEST register here

For people with lived experience, carers and support organisations: My Health Record and mental health advance directives

Webinar information session and Q&A

The same webinar will be presented across two timeslots:

Wednesday 3 May 11 - 11:30am AEST register here

Wednesday 17th May, 6 - 6:30pm AEST register here

Feel free to share these events across your networks. For more information, contact policy@mhaustralia.org

Audit Committee holding public hearing on review findings

The Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit (JCPAA) will hold a public hearing today to examine the findings of the Independent Review of Services Australia and NDIA Procurement and Contracting led by Dr Ian Watt AC as part of its ongoing inquiry into Commonwealth procurement.

The Watt review examined 95 procurements undertaken by Services Australia and NDIA from 2015=E2=80=9316 to the present, and found that 19 procurements with an approximate value of $374 million showed inconsistencies with the Commonwealth Procurement Rules or did not show good practice.

Firefighters in WA will be presumptively covered for PTSD

As of February this year, the Western Australian Government is extending the presumption of work-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) to firefighters.

Like ambulance workers, firefighters may experience a gradual build-up of mental trauma over a prolonged period of time as a result of experiencing or witnessing traumatic events. The standard claims process, requiring workers to prove conditions are work-related, can have a detrimental impact on first responders by requiring them to relive traumatic events. This change will mean firefighters will no longer be required to prove PTSD was contracted at work to claim workers' compensation, placing firefighters on the same footing as ambulance workers.

Calls continue for reinstatement of 10 sessions

Department of Health data has revealed that January's cuts to Medicare-subsidised psychology sessions has impacted at least 240,000 Australians in need of mental health supports.

In the response to a Question on Notice asked by Shadow Minister for Health and Aged Care, Senator the Hon Anne Ruston, it was also revealed there had been significant uptake of the additional 10 sessions - which had been available through the Better Access Initiative - prior to the cuts.

Funding boost to make workplaces more accessible

On Auslan Day, Minister for Social Services Amanda Rishworth announced the first changes to be made to the Employment Assistance Fund (EAF) caps in 13-years. These changes will help poeple with disability to access additional resources in the course of their work.

The EAF provides financial assistance for work-related modifications, equipment, disability awareness training and Auslan interpreting.

Consultation underway to better protect vulnerable community members

The ACT Government is asking Canberrans to have their say on three criminal offences introduced in 2021 to better protect vulnerable people from abuse and neglect.

Three new criminal offences were introduced in April 2021 to provide additional protections for vulnerable adults with a disability and older, vulnerable members of the community.

These offences make it a crime to abuse, neglect, or fail to protect a vulnerable person. Someone found guilty of these offences could be imprisoned for between three to five years. The laws apply to institutions and individuals who provide care to vulnerable adults, including family members and a person in authority.

Training a new generation of mental health workers

The Victorian Government is marking the next stage in delivering the new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022, releasing a tender this week for providers to develop a training course designed specifically for the Victorian mental health and wellbeing workforce, covering the foundations of the new Act which is scheduled to commence on 1 September 2023.

Consultation open for Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) agenda

The PBAC welcoming input from patients, carers, health professionals, consumer groups or organisations, and members of the public on medicines submitted for PBAC consideration. The PBAC considers public consultation inputs when considering the clinical and economic evidence presented by the applicant (sponsor).

Consultation input for items to be considered by the PBAC can be submitted via the online survey on the Office of Health Technology Assessment Consultation Hub. Questions in the survey focus on issues such as:

• Unmet needs or challenges around current treatment
• Health or quality of life outcomes that are considered important
  
• Expected benefits of the medicine
  
• Side effects - what is manageable and what is not
  
• Costs associated with current treatment

You or your organisation might like to comment on these or on other issues you think would be helpful for PBAC to consider. Your organisation can also choose to upload a file as part of the survey.

Patient Safeguarding Policy announced

Minister for the NDIS and Government Services, Bill Shorten, announced the NDIA's Participant Safeguarding Policy on Monday.

This policy is a shift to a stronger focus on proactive identification, assessment, and risk management. It follows consultation which took place in November 2022, and more than 210 people with disability, their families, carers and other representatives were involved in co-designing the Policy, including its 6 safeguarding principles:

• Safety culture
  
• Empowerment
  
• Individualised circumstances
  
• Proactive support
  
• Dignity of risk and informed decision making
  
• Informal support networks

The policy outlines a commitment to support people with disability who engage with the NDIS to create or expand safeguards to improve their safety and minimise the risk of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation.

New COVID-19 Disability Provider Alert

The Department of Health and Aged Care has issued its next COVID-19 Disability Provider Alert.

This provider alert, along with other resources and information about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout, is available from a dedicated web page for disability service providers on the Department of Health and Aged Care's website, linked below.

This page will be updated regularly.

Liptember Foundation challenge Aussie men to Lip-Stick It to women's mental health issues

The Liptember Foundation is challenging men to =E2=80=98Lip-Stick It=E2=80=99 to women's mental health issues on May 11.

In a new Australian-first fundraiser, Lip-Stick It encourages men across the nation to wear bright coloured lipstick on 11 May, get sponsored by their family and friends; and raise much-needed funds for women's mental health support services.

Lip-Stick It is about being seen, challenging social norms and not being embarrassed to stand behind the women you love - bringing a new level of awareness for the unique challenges that women face in the mental health space.