Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing

Congratulations to the 2025 Mental Health Award winners and finalists 👏 A huge congratulations to this year’s Mental Health Award recipients at the Victorian Department of Health Victorian Public Healthcare Awards. We’re incredibly proud to see Victoria’s mental health and wellbeing sector recognised for work that is reshaping practice, expanding access, and improving outcomes for communities. 🌟 Winner: Peninsula Health – Eliminating seclusion Peninsula Mental Health has shown what’s possible through sustained leadership, cultural change, workforce development and continuous evaluation. Their work to eliminate seclusion and mechanical restraint — now sustained for three years — is an significant achievement that has strengthened safety, quality of care and the rights of consumers, families and carers. 🌟 Finalists: • Regional Phone Counselling Service – headspace Supporting rural young people through accessible, youth-friendly telecounselling and family-inclusive care. • MOST – Orygen Digital A co-designed digital platform contributing to better experiences of care in youth mental health support across Victoria. Congratulations again to all the teams, practitioners, Lived and Living Experience leaders, partners and communities involved. Your commitment shows what can be achieved when we work together to create a more compassionate, accessible and evidence-informed system for all Victorians.

Leadership in psychiatry — and in mental health more broadly — isn’t just about expertise. It’s about how we use our influence, privilege, and relationships to create fairer, safer, more human systems. In this episode of Psych Matters, I had the privilege of moderating a rich discussion with Emily Unity, Dr Kerryn Rubin, and Dr Phyllis Chua, exploring what it really means to lead with humility and awareness. We spoke about how power can be used to connect rather than control, and how privilege — once recognised — can become a tool for inclusion rather than division. These are the kinds of conversations that stay with you. They remind us that meaningful leadership isn’t defined by hierarchy, but by our willingness to listen, to share power, and to walk alongside others in the work of change. “Once we become aware, we need to do something about it… we can’t just keep repeating those patterns.” #Leadership #Psychiatry #MentalHealth #LivedExperience #SystemsChange #CollaborativeCentre

Welcoming four new leaders with lived experience contributing to a more connected mental health and wellbeing system.    We’re delighted to introduce four new team members who will play a key role in shaping a more compassionate, connected and inclusive mental health and wellbeing system for Victoria. Together, they bring a breadth of expertise, diverse backgrounds and a shared commitment to meaningful reform — including rich Lived and Living Experience across several roles.    For our Lived Experience Sector Partnerships Team, we are delighted to welcome Melissa and Leanne:    Melissa Mendoza – Lived Experience Sector Partnerships Officer  Melissa joins us with over a decade of experience across strategic consulting, governance and social-impact innovation. Her lived experience of perinatal mental health challenges has guided her transition into advocacy, peer support and advisory roles. At the Collaborative Centre, she will help strengthen sector partnerships and support the growth of a sustainable Lived and Living Experience workforce.  https://lnkd.in/geiVt7GC     Leanne Burn – Manager, Lived Experience Sector Partnerships  Leanne brings extensive experience from Monash Health, where she has held roles including Consumer Consultant and Consumer Peer Work Inpatient Team Leader. She has led major reform initiatives and workforce development projects that align closely with our values and purpose.  https://lnkd.in/g7u3qeVw    For our Workforce Capability and Development Team, we welcome Karen and Erin:    Karen McKnight – Senior Workforce Development Facilitator (Family/Carer Perspective)  Karen is an educator, writer and facilitator whose work centres on translating evidence and lived experience knowledge into accessible learning. Her advocacy and training experience across organisations including Turning Point and SHARC brings a creative, inclusive lens to workforce capability building.  https://lnkd.in/gqyGKzhM    Erin Hill – Senior Workforce Development Facilitator (Consumer Perspective)  Erin has worked in designated Lived and Living Experience roles across public mental health services including Peninsula Health, St Vincent’s and Alfred Health. With training in Intentional Peer Support and consumer-focused supervision, she is committed to strengthening consumer leadership and centring lived and living expertise in reform.  https://lnkd.in/gM3SjbSc    We are thrilled to welcome Melissa, Leanne, Karen and Erin. Their collective insight, leadership and vision will help advance a mental health and wellbeing system grounded in compassion, equity and genuine partnership.    Welcome to the team!

New research from the Collaborative Centre! We’re pleased to share that Dr Kay Wilson’s latest article, “What do the social determinants of mental health mean for psychiatry, psychology and law?”, has now been published as an open access article in the interdisciplinary journal Psychiatry, Psychology and Law. Kay’s work explores how factors like housing, poverty, discrimination, education and working conditions shape mental health — and what this means for clinical practice, training, and the role our professions play in shaping policy and systems. A central insight from the paper: “Context about people’s lives can no longer be treated as background detail — it must sit at the centre of assessment, treatment and care.” The article highlights practical steps clinicians and legal professionals can take — from embedding social determinants assessments into routine practice and strengthening interdisciplinary teams, to using their influence to drive legal, policy and systemic reform. It’s an important reflection on how a more balanced biopsychosocial model can strengthen prevention, practice and advocacy. Read the full article: https://lnkd.in/gnpF2887

Written by Erin Hill, this reflection captures key insights from the 2025 Victorian Transcultural Mental Health — from Indigo Daya’s exploration of abolitionist perspectives to Kathomi Gatwiri PhD's Racial Dignity Framework — highlighting how culturally responsive systems are built through everyday actions, grassroots practice and a shared commitment across the whole workforce, not just the same familiar faces, aligning strongly with our current Spotlight on multicultural communities.

Such a thoughtful reflection — thank you for naming how connection shifts across different forms of Lived and Living Experience work. Grateful for the insight and depth you bring, and for the way you keep the consumer perspective centred in everything you do, Erin 🧡

This month’s update reflects the small but important steps we’re taking — alongside many partners — to build a more inclusive and culturally responsive mental health and wellbeing system. In this edition, we share the ongoing work of our Lived and Living Experience Governance Committee, a focus on multicultural communities, introductions to new team members, and a few upcoming opportunities to stay connected through forums and events. If you’re interested in how people across the sector are learning together, strengthening partnerships and shaping change in practical ways, we hope this newsletter is useful. Read the newsletter: https://lnkd.in/gddKG245 #mentalhealth #collaborativecentre #wellbeing

We’re pleased to share an opportunity for a Senior Lived Experience Sector Partnerships Officer with the Victorian Department of Health, working closely with the Collaborative Centre. This role leads a diverse portfolio of policy, program and partnership activities to strengthen the Lived and Living Experience workforce across the mental health and alcohol and other drug sectors. Drawing on co-production, the role works collaboratively with sector partners, coordinates expert advice, and supports the delivery of Lived and Living Experience workforce initiatives. This is a designated Lived Experience role for someone with experience as a family member, carer, supporter or kin of someone with mental health challenges, and a commitment to developing this into professional expertise aligned with the Mental Health Family Carer Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework. The Collaborative Centre operates in a fast-paced, high-output environment, and we’re seeking someone who can navigate shifting priorities, manage competing deadlines and maintain clarity, organisation and composure. A calm, flexible and solutions-focused approach will be highly valued. You’ll thrive in this role if you: • Understand the Lived and Living Experience workforce within mental health and/or AOD • Have strong project, policy or stakeholder engagement experience • Communicate clearly and build trusted partnerships • Bring attention to detail, organisation and the ability to work under pressure What’s on offer: • Meaningful work contributing to better mental health and wellbeing outcomes for Victorians • Broad development opportunities across the Victorian Public Service • A strong commitment to flexibility, balance and inclusion https://lnkd.in/gR2A_FuB #livedexperience #mentalhealth #mentalhealthworkforce

Our workforce holds deep cultural knowledge — through Lived Experience, language, identity, community connection and cultural ways of knowing. When this expertise is recognised, valued and supported, it strengthens care for everyone.   As we continue this Spotlight, we want to highlight and learn from the cultural expertise already present across our system.   We’d love to hear your thoughts — and you can find tools, stories and resources to support this capability on our Spotlight page.   Explore the Spotlight: https://lnkd.in/gmMngDfj #MentalHealthWorkforce #CulturalSafety #MulticulturalCommunities #InclusivePractice #CulturallyResponsiveCare