News from the CEO: 2022
CEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Season’s Greetings and reflections
16 December 2022
In the final CEO blog for the year, before we close the office and take some well-deserved annual leave it’s a good time to reflect on our work this year.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: It’s that time of the year
9 December 2022
No, this week’s blog is not about Christmas, that’s coming soon. It is the time of the year that the Treasurer calls for Pre-Budget Submissions so many organisations are developing proposals to inform government on where they should be targeting their investments in next year’s Federal Budget. Not quite as exciting as the festive season but a window of opportunity not to be missed.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: NDIS – Going forward not backwards
2 December 2022
Mental Health Australia has had a consistent advocacy role in the development of the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) since its inception in 2013, leading the call for the inclusion of people with psychosocial disability, who were initially excluded from the scheme.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: The risks of ‘jumping in’
25 November 2022
As I write my last message this week I am thinking about our sector and what I want to say in farewell. And it's about engaging even when there is risk. Have you jumped out of a plane, or taken on bungee jumping? Or perhaps extreme surfing or bushwalking? People prepare, they stand on the edge, take a deep breath - and then mostly they close their eyes and jump. I couldn’t do it! I would not be able to get over my own fear to step into the risk.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Children and Prisons
18 November 2022
This week we cannot have avoided being made aware of the treatment of primary school aged child ‘prisoners’ in a Perth justice centre. This was a picture of trauma, disadvantage, distress and injustice. And it was not the first time. At the United Nations Human Rights Council Universal Period Review (a three year cycle of review) of Australia’s compliance with international human rights charters to which we are signatory, 29 of 47 countries made a recommendation relating to the age of criminal responsibility as demonstrated in the recommendation by the Republic of Maldova: “[That Australia] adjust the national child justice system in line with the Convention on the Rights of the Child, in particular raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 14 years of age”.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: It’s always a choice – choose compassion
11 November 2022
One of the very best things that we have back (post-Covid) is chats at work with colleagues in the kitchen. These are the best conversations (and I will very much miss them when I leave Mental Health Australia in a couple of weeks). Today three of us were talking about the terrible impact on us and/or individuals in our families of bullying. As older women we were recalling incidents of face to face bullying witnessed or experienced at school before the cyber era and we noted how much more toxic the online environment seems to be for young people these days.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Happiness and/or a meaningful life?
4 November 2022
A few years ago, I went to Finland on a holiday. My late husband who had a fascination with Nordic countries selected Finland for us at that time and later he went to Iceland in a journey he had been wishing for his whole life. He wrote on a postcard back to our daughters that he had been meeting “warm wonderful people”
Read moreUpdate from Mental Health Australia: Tiny tea-light candles
14 October 2022
I have been reading about the Diwali festival which has been a feature in our communities over the past week. With light, candles and even fireworks this celebration represents the triumph of light over darkness, good over evil and wisdom over ignorance.
Read moreUpdate from Mental Health Australia: In respect for carers
14 October 2022
This week we acknowledge the unique and invaluable contributions of carers, support people, and their family members and loved ones
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: The Hardest...
14 October 2022
I have been thinking about why writing today here in this weekly message about my decision to leave Mental Health Australia has been extra hard. It’s because this weekly message has become such an important connection between us.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: What the taxi driver said
7 October 2022
“I am so sick of hearing about mental health” he said after I answered his question about where I work. He had trouble articulating why he was sick of hearing about it. It seemed to be a sense that the radio + news + TV + life in general was saturated with rhetoric and it was overwhelming. For my taxi driver its mental health YEAR not just mental health week and month 2022 with World Mental Health Day on Monday 10th! It’s all too much for him.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Launching Our World Mental Health Day Campaign
23 September 2022
On Wednesday we proudly launched Walk the Talk. The video is a Mental Health Australia mini-documentary production, created in collaboration with Six O’Clock Advisory, that examines the state of mental health in Australia, including the people, policies and organisations that support Australians experiencing mental ill health every day
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Walk the Talk
23 September 2022
It’s a big week for an extremely committed Geelong Cats footy club fan like me. We are heading into another AFL Grand Final and I watched the last one from Canberra two years ago during the pandemic restrictions. We have a chance to do one better this time. Go CATS!
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Public and private grief
16 September 2022
Do you remember that episode of the US TV fictional drama the “West Wing” when one of the well-known public characters, Josh is shot and in the immediately-held press conference a brief update on his well-being is provided to a packed press gallery.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Wear it Purple
26 August 2022
Today I’m wearing my best purple attire for Wear It Purple Day. An international day to raise awareness of the experiences of LGBTIQA+ young people, to demonstrate allyship, remind them there is hope and acceptance, and they have every right to be proud of who they are and who they are becoming.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: SOLD!
19 August 2022
This week I had the privilege of participating in Minister Bill Shorten’s engagement with leaders from the disability sector in preparation for the Job Skills Summit and I am sold!
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: A national tragedy
12 August 2022
The disproportionate rate of suicide amongst our veteran community must not continue, and is a particular responsibility of the Australian Government to prevent. The Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide is the opportunity to bring together reforms recommended by previous inquiries to create systemic change, and fundamentally improve the wellbeing of Defence personnel and veterans now and into the future.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Major challenges – new and old – are before us
29 July 2022
This week in Canberra the 47th Parliament kicked off with appropriate ceremony and theatre. Amongst the first speeches made by the newly elected members was His Excellency the Governor General’s speech as he opened the proceedings.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: A National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing
22 July 2022
The Australian Bureau of Statistics’ national study of mental health and wellbeing released today, highlights the prevalence of mental ill-health and distress, and gives us further evidence of the urgent need for system reform.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: That new word - "wellbeing"
15 July 2022
I am probably biased, but I think the mental health sector could successfully compete for an award for the most amount of jargon! For example, we don’t all agree on what “community mental health” really means. Or, we talk about consumers, patients, clients, participants and those with lived experience.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Get up! Stand up! Show up!
8 July 2022
As we come to the end of NAIDOC week for 2022, let’s continue to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! for systemic change.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: What exactly is so difficult?
1 July 2022
Today I will be more frank than usual. I am frustrated, disappointed and dismayed. It is way past time to set up independent peak bodies for people living with mental illness and those who love and care for them. What exactly is so difficult? Let’s revisit the context.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Embrace Refugee Week 2022
24 June 2022
As we come to the end of Refugee Week for 2022, members of the Embrace Lived Experience Group, Nevena and Shaima have been kind enough to share some words about their refugee experiences.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: The One Thing We Could Do
17 June 2022
Infant Mental Health Awareness Week Monday 13th June - Sunday 19th June provides an opportunity to draw attention to the fundamental importance of babies' mental health as well as some to the issues that affect it.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: The building blocks of mental health and wellbeing
10 June 2022
This week, results from research published by the University of Sydney’s Matilda Centre, in collaboration with Australia’s Mental Health Think Tank, reinforced the approach Mental Health Australia took to the election: that every election issue is a mental health issue.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Change, hope and “leaning in”
3 June 2022
What a lot of transitional and practical activity needs to go on to move people “out” of government and then bring others “in” to government. A particular challenge I am sure is changing from being an every-day-citizen to becoming a newly elected Member of Parliament!
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: A time of historic, positive change
29 April 2022
We are honored that Leilani Darwin, Founder and CEO of First Nations Co. has written and spoken for and to us all this week.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: If we vote with mental health in mind, we can influence systemic reform
29 April 2022
Tomorrow’s Federal Election is the final chance to vote with mental health in mind. In every electorate it is a final chance to help shape the path towards improved systemic mental health reform over the next three years and beyond. The fact that mental health reform has not been discussed as a major standalone issue during this campaign is disappointing, but not surprising.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Mental health reform requires a unified and coordinated approach
29 April 2022
As we near the election and reflect on the key issues raised so far throughout the campaign (cost of living, climate change, and the housing crisis) we lament the lack of vision the major parties have when it comes to mental health reform. In recent years, funding for mental health services has been like having some puzzle pieces of a jigsaw but no picture that shows where these pieces fit into the landscape.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Reality check
29 April 2022
This week I had the privilege of meeting with (many face to face and some online), and addressing the Annual Issues Workshop with those whom Mental Health Australia supports as leaders in the lived experience mental health community.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Worries for many - climate and cost of living
29 April 2022
In the lead-up to the 2022 Federal Election, we’ve been delving into the issues that impact the mental health of Australians – that is, every election issue.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: A Budget Analysis in an Election Campaign
22 April 2022
Mental Health Australia receives a steady and welcome stream of feedback each week about the material we provide via this newsletter, and none more positive each year than the Budget Analysis. We are proud to again provide this for members and stakeholders.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: #everyelectionissue
14 April 2022
At Mental Health Australia we believe that the future of our mental health system, and the many community based, and life-linked, causes of mental ill-health will be discussed every day during this election campaign, because every election issue will impact our mental health.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Mental health is a global priority
8 April 2022
Yesterday marked World Health Day, with the World Health Organisation (WHO) focusing global attention on urgent actions needed to keep humans and the planet healthy and foster a movement to create societies focused on well-being.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Everyone belongs
25 March 2022
The term 'Intersectionality' refers to the ways in which different aspects of a person's identity can expose them to overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalisation. It is interesting then, is it not, that this week and next sees the intersection of Harmony Week and Neighbour Day - both initiatives are about shedding stigma, celebrating diversity and building connection.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Synonyms for ‘disappointed’ and ‘hope’; a response to the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement
18 March 2022
I have become even more fond of the thesaurus widget in my word processing program this week. You know, the one that helps you refine what you really mean, or suggests a different word when you find you’re being repetitive.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Focus on the strength
11 March 2022
On International Women’s Day (IWD) this week, June Oscar (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner) wrote “To all our women, stand with confidence and be the powerful women you are, holding tens of thousands of years of wisdom in your hands.”
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: On hope
4 March 2022
This week I have asked team member Erin to write our Blog as she heads off on maternity leave.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Finding and holding the humanity
25 February 2022
As we all witness what feels like a sudden and terrible descent into war in Europe, it is very hard to know what to say, isn’t it?
Read moreMental Health Australia comments on the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement
18 February 2022
The National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement was recently posted onto the Federation Financial Agreements website.The Agreement has not been signed by all jurisdictional governments wit…
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: An ongoing, shared and deeply important endeavour
18 February 2022
A young family member of mine (you know who you are!) took some time as a child to learn how to apologise, and to sound like she meant it! In the overwhelming emotion of the moment sometimes the recipient of the apology remained unconvinced. But she won her sisters around by showing that she understood why the other felt wounded, and taking time to repair the relationship. Sometimes this took a lot of work: more apologies, more re-telling and reviews of what happened, and more repair efforts than she initially expected.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: The problem is not going away
4 February 2022
Everybody needs a home. Increasingly many people don’t have one. And people with mental illness are disproportionally affected.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Valuing Connection
4 February 2022
At the end of day one for children returning to school in my neck of the woods, the TV news did a feature on the ‘big return’. There were sections about rapid testing challenges, access to vaccinations, worries about vulnerable children, and features of teachers preparing for the term ahead.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: To honour - an observance of respect
28 January 2022
I have been thinking about how to honour everyday heroes, those we know. As the dictionary says – to honour is an ‘observance of respect’.
Read moreCEO Update from Mental Health Australia: Are we there yet? Will 2022 finally be the turning point for mental health in Australia?
21 January 2022
Welcome to 2022 and the marathon of living in a community grappling with the ongoing impacts of the pandemic. Like many of you, my holiday break with my family was impacted directly by COVID and with home-based isolation comes enforced rest and also reflection.
Read more