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Mind is one of 20 support partners led by the University of Melbourne and the Royal Melbourne Hospital announced this week for the new Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing. 

The centre is a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System and the first of its kind in Australia. It will bring together people with lived experience, researchers and health professionals to lead critical improvements in the mental health system. 

The centre will provide treatment, care and support to adults, lead cutting-edge research and serve as the ‘engine room’ for reform across the mental health sector and its workforce. 

Partner organisations have been chosen from across health and academia, as well as community services with a focus on Aboriginal health and wellbeing. 

Mind’s Executive Director of Research Nicola Ballenden said Mind is well placed to make important contributions to the Collaborative Centre. 

We look forward to sharing our knowledge and expertise in holistic lived-experience led psychosocial support to contribute to the transformation of Victoria’s mental health system.
- Nicola Ballenden, Executive Director of Research, Mind Australia

“We look forward to sharing our knowledge and expertise in holistic lived-experience led psychosocial support to contribute to the transformation of Victoria’s mental health system.” 

“Mind is a sector leader in incorporating lived experience at every level and stage of service development and delivery, which was a major recommendation of the Royal Commission for the sector as a whole. The appointment of our new Executive Director Lived Experience will further consolidate that process. I think Mind will have a great deal to offer the Collaborative Centre in research, co-design, workforce management and many other areas of sector change.” 

Mind CEO Gill Callister was appointed to the Centre’s Board of Governance in July 2022. 

Ms Callister said the Centre will enable new systems of service and knowledge grounded in human rights approaches to research, workforce development, lived experience leadership and partnerships. 

“We need a system that supports Victorians to have access to the mental health care they want and need, in a way that meets their needs and is timely, supportive, informed by relevant expertise and empowers them to lead fulfilling lives,” she said. 

“The Collaborative Centre will play a key role in ensuring that the entire sector can share in the new knowledge and expertise that it will develop.” 

 

A message from Mind Australia CEO Gill Callister 

Psychosocial supports – like the kind provided by Mind – help people with mental health and wellbeing concerns to manage daily activities, rebuild and maintain connections, engage with education and employment, and participate fully in the community. These are supports that help people take positive steps in their recovery journey. 

If this article raises concerns for you, please call Qlife on 1800 184 527 or Lifeline on 13 11 14. Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders can also call 13 YARN (13 92 76) a 24/7 national crisis support telephone service staffed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.