Dear Friends,  

The Easter break seems like a distant memory now; however, I hope you all had a good break and managed some downtime with family and friends.  

Since the end of March, our team been up to a lot! We are gathering momentum in producing concrete election asks, which we hope will improve conditions and opportunities for our members in the community-based mental health space 

On the 26th of March, Erin and I met Chief Minister Andrew Barr. We had a robust discussion, underpinned by our requests for an increase in funding to our sector, and focus on capacity-building for mental health commissioning.  We also put forward an idea to have free public transport, plus a series of small community-focussed events, to coincide with World Mental Health Day, whilst raising awareness about loneliness rates in the ACT. 

The following day, we held our Advocacy Workshop with members. There was a wealth of expertise in the room, which helped cultivate excellent conversations, connections, and ideas. We are now formulating these ideas into concrete election asks, which we’ll distribute to members ahead of putting them forward to government.   

The day after, our Board Chair Yvonne Luxford, Erin, and I met Michael Pettersson MLA for Yerrabi. Michael has a deep interest in the issues surrounding loneliness and social isolation in the ACT, and we provided examples of where things are and aren’t working. We appreciated his pragmatic, supportive approach.

Two weeks ago, our Policy, Advocacy and Media Manager, Erin, spoke at the Public Hearing – ECI – Inquiry into the Disability Inclusion Bill 2024. Erin referred to our submission; Inquiry into Disability Inclusion Bill 2024. You can find a recording of the hearing on the Legislative Assembly’s page. Erin kicks off at the 1:27 mark.  
 
Last week, our Events and Engagement Manager, Rahni attended TheMHS Learning Network’s forum “Connecting with People Who Care” in Sydney. Rahni was excited to be joined by our friends from our sister peaks, Mental Health Consumer Network, and Carers ACT.  

Most recently, we had our second op-ed this year published in the Canberra Times, ‘The benefit for everyone in a properly funded mental health system’ speaks to our 2024-25 ACT Pre-budget Submission, and highlights the reality that with almost half of all Canberrans experiencing mental ill-health in their lifetime, a properly funded mental health system is in the best interests of all Canberrans.  

What next?  

In addition to developing our own election platform, we are excited to be collaborating with other ACT peak leaders to develop a joint election platform. ACTCOSS hosted a roundtable after Easter, and Minister Emma Davidson attended, sharing insights and support for our sector. As a collective of peak leaders, we hope our shared voice will drive change to positively impact our community.  

We’d love for you to follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X to keep up to date with what we’re up to in between sector updates.  

– Vicky Choice, Director of Engagement and Partnerships MHCC ACT