August has been a busy month for the Commission as we finalised our plans for the upcoming regional stakeholder forums and continued meeting with some of our stakeholders about their views on a range of issues affecting the mental health and wellbeing of Queenslanders.
The next few months are shaping up to be even busier as we formally commence consultation with Queensland about the whole of government strategic plan and commence interviews for the Queensland Mental Health and Drug Advisory Council.
Apply now for the Queensland Mental Health & Drug Advisory Council
Nominations are being sought from interested parties to be a part of the inaugural Queensland
Mental Health & Drug Advisory Council (QMHDAC).
The QMHDAC will provide expert and independent advice on a range of issues affecting the health and wellbeing of Queenslanders.
The QMHDAC will ideally bring together a balance of personal experience and professional expertise—including people with a lived experience of mental illness or substance misuse; families, carers, and support people; as well as service providers, academics and experts across areas such as health, employment, education, housing and justice.
Find out more about the advisory council and how you can apply now.
Applications close at 5:00pm on Friday 20 September 2013.
Regional stakeholder forums in September and October
Throughout September and October we will be hosting five regional forums across Queensland to gather a wide range of views on what a whole-of-government strategic plan for mental health and drug & alcohol reform in Queensland should look like.
We will be visiting:
- Cairns - 24 September 2013
- Rockhampton - 25 September 2013
- T ownsville - 26 September 2013
- T oowoomba - 27 September 2013
- Brisbane - 29 October 2013
In addition to these sessions, we will also be adding an online survey and hosting a number of roundtables in October and November with government agencies, peak bodies and sector representatives.
Visit our website to find out more about the forums and nominate to attend a session near you.
Out and about in August
We have had some fantastic opportunities this month to attend a number of events and conferences including:
- The Winterschool Conference 2013
- the Brisbane launch of Stand Tall for PTS
- the official launch of Lives Lived Well
- Patient Opinion Australia's forum on effective consumer engagement in the 21st century
- the Ed-LinQ Statewide forum with Queensland Health and the Department of Education, Training and Employment
- the Department of Health Mental Health Senior Leaders Forum
We would also like to thank the Queensland Alliance for Mental Health for arranging a carer and consumer representative to attend the Mental Health Services Conference (TheMHS) held in Melbourne. We were able to sponsor two attendees on the day who will report back to us about their thoughts on the conference. We would like to thank Tony Martin and Jenny Speed for their time and efforts.
Thank you!
We would also like to take this opportunity to formally thank Dr Frances Hughes who has been our Acting Mental Health Commissioner for August during Lesley's short absence. Frances has provided invaluable insight and has been a fantastic support to the team over the last few weeks.
And finally, we acknowledge the tremendous contribution and invaluable efforts of Liz Powell who has been instrumental in setting up the Commission. Whilst we are sorry to have said goodbye, we wish you all the best of luck with your new role Liz!
We look forward to bringing you more news soon!
Kind regards,
The Queensland Mental Health Commission
