SPEAKER

Charles Foster (Policy and Research Officer – Regional and Remote at Consumers of Mental Health WA (Inc.))

Topic

In this presentation we will offer an outline of the issues and proposed actions of the Out of Sight, Out of Mind report, which considered the enduring inequities and barriers to access faced by people seeking mental health treatment or support in regional and remote Australia. In particular, we will draw out the critical importance of the place-based solutions championed by this research, underscoring that attending to these injustices will require more than simple quick fixes or technological innovations.

Through highlighting how these fundamental barriers to access have remained unaddressed time and time again, we will reflect upon the persistent cycle of identifying problems and producing reports that has unfortunately characterized responses to this issue thus far.

Finally, we will share our learnings about the importance of returning to those people who continue to experience and live amidst these unjust barriers, as a pathway to maintain momentum and hope in the face of a system that would rather look away.

About the speaker

Charles Foster works at Consumers of Mental Health WA as a Policy and Research Officer focusing on Regional and Remote issues.  He has worked in systemic advocacy since 2023 after leaving a casual teaching position in academia.

His previous research has focused on using Phenomenology to explore the limitations of conceptualising the mental health and human experience through biomedical models.

VTMH seminars are open to individuals, from all disciplines and working in all sectors, who are based in Australia and interested in diversity and mental health.  

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