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As we approach the end of the year, Mind’s 2025 Annual Report (PDF 1.4 MB) and our new Organisational Strategic Plan for 2026-2030 (PDF 1.67 MB) showcase both our recent achievements and the principles that will guide our next big steps forward.

The Annual Report demonstrates the success we’ve had in realising the four strategic goals of Mind’s concluding 2021-2026 Strategic Plan.

These goals were to:

  • invest in service design and innovation to deliver better services and outcomes
  • increase our impact by growing and expanding our service delivery
  • be a strong organisation that enables its people to do their best possible work
  • contribute to a better, stronger Australian mental health system.

Investing in service design and innovation to deliver better services and outcomes

The integration of lived experience into all stages and levels of Mind’s service design and delivery has been central to our ability to provide better services and outcomes for the people we support.

The announcement, in September, that Mind will deliver Victoria’s first Lived Experience Residential Service is an exciting milestone in bringing the unique and powerful compassion and insight of lived experience to bear across all facets of service delivery.

The peer workforce is central to this change and Mind is leading the charge. A sign of our leadership in peer workforce development, Mind was chosen to develop the Lived Experience Career Compass, which is coordinating and supporting the early career progression of peer workers across Victoria.

Mind is also now co-designing all its new services to ensure they are tailored to suit the communities and cohorts they are funded to support.

Increasing our impact by growing and expanding our service delivery.

Across the period of the 2021-2026 Mind Strategic Plan, Mind’s annual revenue grew from $100m in 2021 to $185m in the most recent reporting period. This reflects the number of new services and programs Mind has been entrusted to deliver in this time by state and federal governments – and the many more people in new places that we have been able to support.

Mind is now delivering support in five Australian states

Mind is now delivering support in five Australian states – a key deliverable of this strategic goal – and we are on track to have Haven residences in three states by 2027.

The recent growth in new service offerings by Mind’s Allied Health division – our new Employee Assistance Program being one example – reflects this expansion of service delivery, as does Mind’s increased delivery of centre-based services such as Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals, Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect services and Medicare Mental Health Centres. You can read about these much needed services in the Annual Report.

Mind has also become a national leader in housing support solutions for people with mental health challenges, another of the key targets for this strategic goal. The Haven Foundation’s building program completed three new multi-unit residences in the 2024-25 financial year, with many more in the pipeline.

A strong organisation that enables its people to do their best possible work

Mind’s Lived Experience Workforce Plan reflects our commitment to building and supporting a diverse workforce that reflects the communities and individuals we support. Embedding lived experience leadership and expertise at all levels of the organisation has been an important part of achieving this Strategic Goal. 

Mind and One Door Mental Health have now integrated their HR systems to enable more efficient processing of payroll, leave and recruitment. 

Our annual Pulse Surveys continue to help us to get the staff feedback we need to ensure that staff have the support, the infrastructure and the work culture they need to do their best possible work. 

Contributing to a better, stronger Australian mental health system

Mind is helping to build a better mental health system through policy development, sector leadership, and participation in conferences and research partnerships. Now in its second year, the Stratford Lecture and Scholarship is continuing to build and inspire lived experience thought leadership across the sector.

Mind played a significant role in the development of the Australian Psychosocial Alliance’s Access Denied report, which highlights the growing obstacles and inequities people with psychosocial support needs face in getting support from the NDIS. 

We are also sector leaders in using outcome measures research as an evidence base for continual improvement of our services. The Annual Report showcases how we use these to evaluate our support services.

Mind Strategy 2025-2026

Moving into 2026, we are excited to launch the new strategic plan for the next five years.

This is the product of months of dedicated work by Mind, Haven and One Door staff and Board members, in consultation with service users, and our Lived Experience Advisory Team and Youth Lived Experience Advisory Team.

We know that people still face challenges in accessing support, because services are hidden, complex or hard to navigate. With this new strategy, we want to reshape mental health services, so that they are community-based, unified and visible.

We aim to achieve this change by:

  • maximising the impact of our work, through effective services, investment in our people and continuous improvement
  • driving systemic change through influence and effective advocacy, informed by the lived experiences of those most impacted
  • pursuing innovation and diversification, so that we can take what we have learnt and bring it to new people in different places.

Our strategic plan sets out in detail how we intend to do this - listening to those who access our services, nurturing our workforce, investing in the right tools, and advocating for the change we want to see in the mental health and psychosocial disability sectors.

We invite everyone to read Our Strategic Plan and join us in the next phase of the transformation of Australia’s mental health system.