To communicate a little more about who we are, what we do, and how we collaborate with organisations on cultural diversity, equity and inclusion within the mental health landscape, we recently created five short videos about our work.
You can watch the videos by clicking the link above, the boxes below or HERE.
The videos feature independent consultants, advocates and representatives from some of the organisations we’ve worked with – including Goulburn Valley Health, Latrobe University, Micare, the Ethnic Communities Council of Victoria, Alfred Mental and Addiction Health, Orygen, and the Centre for Mental Health Learning.
They aim to show how cultural diversity, cultural responsiveness, cultural safety and inclusivity, intersectionality and lived experience are at the forefront of all the work we do and – through our partners’ voices – how VTMH works to collaborate, support, equip and advocate for them and those they support.
As part of the public mental health service system, VTMH works with government, service providers, networks, peak bodies and communities. Our commitment is to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion values – the notion that no one is left behind – are embedded in how mental healthcare is provided right across Victoria.
Our collaborations are designed to respond to the particular issues that matter to our partners. And because they are built on responsiveness to an organisation’s particular needs, we believe there’s no better way to communicate this than through the perspectives and reflections of some of those partners. We are so grateful for their collaboration.
VTMH’s work is built on trusting, honest partnerships in which we truly value the creative power that comes with working together. We believe these videos are testament to that and hope you do too.
The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System has concluded and delivered a comprehensive final report to parliament in February 2021.
The work of VTMH is considered in volumes 1 and 3, including a case study.
How VTMH got involved
The Commission commenced in 2019 and VTMH engaged with the work of the Commission in several ways.
In February 2019, the Victorian community was asked to help set the Commission’s terms of reference. Read our submission in full here.
We joined calls to make community consultations more inclusive and ensure Commission information is available in community languages
The VTMH Manager appeared as an expert witness. As part of a week-long focus on LGBTIQ+ and culturally and linguistically diverse communities, Adriana Mendoza appeared at a public hearing in May 2019. Read her expert witness statement here.
The VTMH team spoke with policy officers about culturally responsive service design and empowering communities
We facilitated a roundtable event with the Commission. Chair of the Royal Commission Penny Armytage, Commissioner Dr Alex Cockram, Commission directors, and principal policy officers met with members of the VTMH team and VTMH Reference Group. The discussion considered three themes: community, consumers and carer perspectives, workforce development, as well as governance, data and research. The issues are summarised here.
We highlighted how health and illness experiences are mediated by power and culture. Mental health and wellbeing mean many things within and across groups.
The evidence is clear; inequality harms health and wellbeing and, for many, help is beyond their reach.
The road to reform
VTMH welcomes the detailed recommendations: the renewed focus on the lived experience of people who used mental health services, their families, carers and supporters and commitments to co-design; prioritising workforce development; a new mental health and wellbeing act; and resourcing a redesigned service system that is inclusive of care, treatment and psychosocial support.
We also welcome the proposed Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing and other opportunities to bring people together – lived experience voices, researchers, practitioners and communities. Collaboration, underpinned by commitments to equity and social justice, will enable the optimal development of mental health services, and deliver the best possible outcomes for all people living with mental and wellbeing concerns.
We need a diversity, equity and inclusion framework for mental health services, and to adopt culturally safe and responsive practices, hand-in-hand with engaging communities and community-based agencies as partners.
Campaigns
Find below information about some of our key campaigns.
