Get Real: Talking mental health & disability
Get Real presents frank and fearless conversations about mental health and disability, including people with lived experience, frontline workers in the sector, as well as policymakers and advocates. Get Real is produced and hosted by Emily Webb and co-hosted by Karenza Louis-Smith on behalf of ermha365 Complex Mental Health and Disability Services provider (https://www.ermha.org/).
Get Real: Talking mental health & disability
Now the election is over, what’s in store for Australia’s mental health?
We are a few weeks on from The 2025 Australian federal election (May 3) which resulted in a more than convincing victory for the incumbent Labor government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. So, as the federal government begins its new term, and we await the Victorian Government's State Budget next week (May 20), ermha365 CEO Karenza Louis-Smith thought it was a good time to catch up with Mental Health Victoria's CEO Phillipa Thomas to talk about what mental health reform and investment will look like for Australia.
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Speaker 2:Welcome to Get Real talking. Mental health and disability brought to you by the team at Burma 365.
Speaker 1:Join our hosts, Emily Webb and Carenza Louis-Smith, as we have frank and fearless conversations with special guests about all things mental health and complexity with special guests about all things mental health and complexity.
Speaker 3:We recognise people with lived experience of mental ill health and disability, as well as their families and carers. We recognise their strength, courage and unique perspective as a vital contribution to this podcast so we can learn, grow and achieve better outcomes together.
Speaker 4:Welcome to Get Real talking mental health and disability. I'm Emily Webb. We are a few weeks on from the 2025 Australian federal election, which resulted in a more than convincing victory for the incumbent Labor government led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. So, as the federal government begins its new term and we await the Victorian government's state budget, my co-host and Irma365 CEO, carenza Louis-Smith, thought it was a good time to catch up with Mental Health Victoria's CEO, philippa Thomas, to talk about what mental health reform and investment will look like for Australia.
Speaker 5:So excited, pip, to have you join, get Real. And these are the conversations that we love. You know the frank and fearless conversations, and our topic today really is mental health and what's happening in the federal, I guess, landscape here in Australia, but also what's going on in Victoria too. But let's start a little bit first about Mental Health Victoria. I mean, you're the peak body for mental health services here in Victoria and you know we're lucky to have you, as the CEO, join us. Give us a. You know people that perhaps don't know MHV. What does Mental Health Victoria do?
Speaker 6:Yeah, it's a different kind of mental health organisation, isn't it? It's very different Mental Health Victoria to maybe some of the other names in the mental health landscape that people would be familiar with, things like maybe Movember or Beyond Blue that have a different profile and a different focus and engagement with the community. But the role of Mental Health Victoria and any other peak body is to be a translator, a communicator, between decision makers, so governments and funders and the sector that implements the policy and responds to the community need that the decisions about that particular portfolio area are about. So in Victoria, mental Health Victoria, because of the design of Victoria's mental health system, we as a peak body represent a couple of different kinds of services and we think really holistically about all of the mental health sector in Victoria. So we have conversations and represent the views of the acute and clinical sector, so the hospital and health service providers.
Speaker 6:We represent the non-government organisations, so those organisations that typically are based more in the community, and we also work with private providers to understand what they're contributing to the mental health landscape in Victoria so that we can give advice to government and advocate for policy and for investment that is going to ensure that every Victorian has access to the enablers of positive mental health and wellbeing. So that's about thinking about mental health policy. In Victoria We've got a huge focus on mental health reform, but it's also thinking about the other kinds of policy domains and factors that affect people's mental health outcomes, and so we work really closely to understand what's happening in the community. What's influencing their experience of mental health, what's their experience of trying to access services like, and how can we raise awareness of those issues on the community's behalf to influence change.
Speaker 5:Such a really important piece, isn't it? Because when I think about the Royal Commission here in Victoria, what it kind of said was this is a really hard system to navigate, like, if you need mental health supports, it's really hard to work out where to go, how to get supports when where you need them, how you need them. So the role that you're talking about that Mental Health Victoria plays in this is bringing everyone together because ultimately, I think we have the same shared view that we want the best mental health supports for people, don't we in the community?
Speaker 6:when, where and how they need them the most. Yeah, that's right, and it means having a really clear understanding of what that looks like for the community, and it's about you know to your point. It's about accessibility having services that are accessible. It's also about understanding, particularly when you're working in an area like mental health, where there still is, unfortunately, quite a bit of residual stigma around mental health, and a lot of folks will often delay help seeking because of that stigma. It's also really important, then, that when we're thinking about accessibility, that we're also thinking about what acceptability of those services looks like. So it is so important that we're having conversations to understand Victorians and to understand what a mental health service could and should look like in order for them to feel comfortable and confident to go and engage with that service.
Speaker 5:So I'd like to talk a bit about the advocacy that you do. That start there. So I mean, I'm looking. Obviously I'll come back to the Victorian landscape. But on the big national stage and national scale, one of the things that really stood out to me is the what we now call Medicare mental health centres. Other people might have known them as head to health, but NHV, you know you actually co-designed this model. You know of these big centres right around the country and so through your advocacy you were able to persuade the federal government to invest in these and now we're starting to see these pop up in all sorts of places in Australia and again, really driven by what you're talking about, what consumers are saying, what services were saying, but actually being able to have that voice to government, which I think is a really important part of the work that you do but what an impact on the national stage that has been.
Speaker 6:MHV is so proud of that contribution that we were able to make. That was a piece of work led, I think, late. We developed the model late in 2018, before my leadership, so I must acknowledge the role of our former leader, gus Cleland, in that work. That was a great example of MHV working with the sector through policy networks and collaborating, thinking about the experience of people trying to access services and noticing an opportunity for improvement and spending that time thinking about what that could look like.
Speaker 6:The outcome of that at the time in the federal budget the 2019 federal budget that resulted in an investment of about $115 million over five years to trial those centres across Australia and of course, you know the sort of prototype of that obviously was integrated into the Royal Commission recommendations here in Victoria, which is a really positive thing. You know there's a similar model in the local mental health and wellbeing centres, but at the time, I think the Minister set a vision that they would like to see. The government would like to see over 100 of these across the country and of course, now we're seeing, as an outcome of the last federal budget, I think you know, over 90 in Australia. So that's a great example of how peak bodies can really drive the change and be of service to government by being that connection between what people are observing, what people need, and being able to have the mechanism to be able to put all of that together and be a bit propositional with government with a solution. Super important work.
Speaker 5:You had launched a groundbreaking report at the time. It was called Saving Lives, Saving Money. It was a very powerful statement as to actually, if governments did this, they could not just save lives, they would actually save some of the spend and things they were doing. How did you kind of work that out that by doing this it would be beneficial in so many different ways?
Speaker 6:Yeah, it comes from working really closely with experts in the sector and working with service providers to be able to get really close and understand the trajectory of illness and, when opportunities are missed, what the consequences of that are.
Speaker 6:So, understanding what prevents people getting earlier care, understanding what might prevent you know the efficacy of that care, understanding how things like geography might affect your ability to access services and then being able to look at well, okay, the need doesn't go away just because somebody didn't access services earlier, where it's most likely to present itself later in a higher cost environment.
Speaker 6:And we know from the evidence that the longer we leave mental illness untreated, the harder it can be to treat and the more distressing it is for the individual and their family. And by that point, what we also see in the Productivity Commission often will think about things like this but the economic participation of people, their ability to go to work, their connection with community that decreases and that ultimately costs money. We want Australians to be, we need Australians to be thriving, we need them to be contributing to community, to our economy. And so, thinking about the cost opportunity, there was, I think, probably for a match made at the time, pretty obvious that we were spending a lot of money on things just too late and that we really could be doing a lot better and seeing a lot better outcomes earlier.
Speaker 5:I think it kind of the analogy I like to give is you know, when you've got a broken leg, you know you're not going to go to ED and they say, oh, that's going to be fine, walk on it for the next six months, you know, and then the surgery that you need is very different. It's the same kind of thing, isn't it? What you're talking about here is actually, if we have what we're now calling the Medicare Mental Health Centres a bit of a mouthful, but if we, you know, have those and you can walk in at any point and any time without a referral to get support earlier, earlier what an impact that has.
Speaker 6:Yeah, and I think you know to draw on that. You know that analogy of the broken leg. We wouldn't put a clinic a broken leg clinic on a 14th floor with only stairs to get there, right, so it requires thinking about where do you locate it? What are the things that are going to make it more accessible to the person so that when they have that moment that they need it, it's really easy for them to get there?
Speaker 5:And I think, if we look at the last, you know, crikey, it's been five years right since we went into the COVID lockdown. That blew my mind and that came up on my Facebook feed actually just the other day and I was thinking, oh my goodness, did we really do all of these things?
Speaker 6:Did it inspire you to make some sourdough Corinza? It did not.
Speaker 5:Pip. It got me thinking. You know, and you know we've had all of that. You know which was huge, I think, in Victoria that significant lockdown, the impact that's had on people's mental health. We've now got what we're calling the cost of living crisis. You know, everything is sky high. People are more worried than they've ever been, more concerned about how am I going to, you know, make ends meet? How am I going to buy stuff for my kids? Can't afford for my kids to join this club. What are the things that I let go? You know, I think people's mental health, or the what's the word I'm looking for it's worsened. I think that's the word I'm looking for broadly across the whole of the community. In this last five years, the need for these kind of programs and services has never been more important than it is now, in my view.
Speaker 6:That's right. You know it was really interesting to see our colleagues at Mental Health Australia, in the lead up to the federal budget and in the lead up to the election, release a survey that they undertook where, you know, nearly 60% of Australians were reporting who responded to their survey were reporting that cost of living increases had negatively impacted their mental health. If the system that provides a response to that also requires you to pay money to be able to access to the right professionals in a timely way in the right place, then it's just a barrier that begets another barrier. So these kinds of services, like the Medicare mental health centres, are really important because they remove that barrier and that's never been more important than now.
Speaker 6:I think also coming out of COVID or the experience of COVID raised people's awareness about mental health and that's a really good thing. I think what it has done is it's probably shaped help seeking, and so it's really important that we've got the right services and the availability and the capacity to be able to meet the demand that's been created, because people are identifying, as we want them to do earlier, that you know, I think something's affecting my you know my mental health and I want to engage with somebody to improve. You know how I'm feeling, so this doesn't get worse. So it's really important that those services are available.
Speaker 5:You're absolutely right. That is so not okay. So, pip, you obviously play at MHV a huge role in advocacy and you know I think the Medicare mental health centres nationally are fantastic, you know, and that advocacy is huge and you know you're speaking on behalf of all of your members as well. You know the hundreds of people and thousands of people that work in mental health services that see every day all of these challenges. Now, obviously, we're talking about the national level. We've got a Labour government. They've been re-elected. They made some pledges as well about mental health services and wanting to continue to invest in mental health. What were your thoughts around that? And obviously, the continuation of those Medicare mental health centres as well.
Speaker 6:Yeah, look, it was really pleasing to see that public commitment.
Speaker 6:It was pleasing to see that public commitment, I think, from both sides of politics.
Speaker 6:It was pleased to see the public commitments came relatively early, and so what that tells us is that our politicians hear and understand that this is an issue that matters to Australians and you know, I think at the time about 81% of Australians were saying it was mental health was an issue that they were concerned about. When I think about the investment commitment, the devil's always in the detail, right, and so I think what I'm curious to understand is how we are going to work on the enablers of those investments being successful and impactful. So my mind, my questions naturally, as a recovering bureaucrat who's worked on implementation, my mind naturally starts to wonder about things like okay, well, what does the workforce look like? How ready are we to do this? You know, what are the sorts of things that we might be able to do to expedite rate limiting factors like the availability of workforce, so that we can get these services up and running and working effectively? I think we've seen this experience in Victoria with the local mental health and wellbeing services. We have 15 of those.
Speaker 5:That's great, but the time that it takes. That doesn't scratch the surface, though, does it, pip? Let's be honest.
Speaker 6:No, not even nearly. And also, without thinking really carefully about those implementation enablers. What happens is, you know, the commitment to stand them up goes out there, the work starts, but actually the lead time for those services to actually be able to deliver impact can be quite long. So it's really important, I think, coming out of, you know, this election and having that budget commitment I mean, one of the things that we can be grateful for is that we haven't had a change in minister. I think that will make things a lot easier to progress.
Speaker 6:This working with a minister who's already, you know, demonstrated commitment and worked effectively in the portfolio going to help. But it is going to necessitate some real reflection and some real reform, thinking about, if we want these centres to work, you know, what can we do differently to make it happen sooner and to not experience that delay. We heard that in Victoria, coming out of the last budget, that there was no investment in further locals in this financial year because government felt that the availability of workforce wasn't there, and so when we're hearing messages like that, what we need to see is not just the announcement on we're going to build these things and the number of how many there are. We actually need to hear. Well, what are you going to do, though, to make this achievable and possible and to deliver on your promise?
Speaker 5:Let's go to the Victorian context then, because you know the Royal Commission was quite groundbreaking here.
Speaker 5:I mean, you know, it was brutal in some ways and hard to read the experiences of people that had tried, unsuccessfully, to get mental health supports and some of the really tragic stories where people had died waiting to get. You know that you can't sugarcoat that waiting to get the treatment and supports and things that they needed. So I mean it's really, really important we're about to come into a state budget, you know, and the Royal Commission made a number of recommendations, and that they also included a levy which taxpayers are paying. You know, let's be a little bit controversial now to actually fund these mental health programs and services. You know, so, as the peak body, you know, you've been incredibly vocal at a federal level and you know that investment in those Medicare mental health centres which you've co-designed is huge. How is Mental Health Victoria working with all of its members to, you know, to hold this government to account for all the things that the Royal Commission recommended and the government said it would do?
Speaker 6:Well, I think. Firstly, mental Health, victoria. We strongly support the mental health levy, but we think the need for transparency around the allocation of the revenue that's generated by that levy is really important. This is an additional tax on Victorian business, and Victorian businesses have a right to understand how that money is being spent.
Speaker 5:I think you're right, pip. No one would disagree that spending money on mental health is bad. I think anyone and everyone who's stopped them in the street, they would all say, yes, I think this is a great thing to do, but where is it? Where is it going to be and what does it look like? I would be asking, that's right. What?
Speaker 6:are the outputs and what are the outcomes? So there's a difference between spending money and spending money well. And so thinking carefully about how the allocation of that really precious resource is allocated is really important, and also working really closely with the community and with the sector to understand really well, before those allocations are made, whether that investment is the right investment. Is it the right time? Are we approaching it in the right way? That's really important. So we're not wasting money, we're not missing opportunities.
Speaker 5:I think everyone listening to this podcast would 100% agree with you. So, pip, what do you think the Victorian government should be doing? You're obviously listening to all of the mental health services, whether they're clinical, whether they're community-based. You're also listening to people that access those services, to consumers, families, carers. What are you hearing? What do you think if you could talk to the Victorian government on both sides of parliament, all sides of parliament, government? What are you hearing?
Speaker 6:Well, look, we're lucky enough to have the opportunity fairly frequently to speak to people on all sides of politics here in Victoria about these issues, and I would comment that on both sides of politics there is an interest and a commitment to this as an issue.
Speaker 6:My messaging, you know we're at year four now, post the Royal Commission, and my messaging to both sides of government has really been about the importance to exercise situational and contextual leadership. The Royal Commission was undertaken at a particular point in time. It had a terms of reference that was not exhaustive, it had a limited scope, it was quite retrospective in its analysis, and so it was, you know, learning from things that had happened in the past. And one of the things obviously that wasn't apparent, you know, to those working on the Royal Commission was that we were going to go through COVID. That significantly, you know, context changing situation here in Victoria. And so my message to government is very much that we need to be working really closely with the sector and with the community to understand new and emerging issues, to not think solely about reform and sort of take a tick box approach to implementing particular projects in silos, that we're at a point here in Victoria where we've invested over $6 billion into this reform so far.
Speaker 5:That's a lot of money, isn't? It that is a huge amount of money.
Speaker 6:It is huge, and so it's only right that we're starting to that. We need to have answers to those questions about are we seeing any impact? Have we put the investments in the right place? Are there steps, perhaps, that we missed that we need to go back on? Are we paying enough attention to the parts of the sector that aren't the focus of reform initiatives to be able to anticipate changes in what they're able to do or the demand that they're experiencing or the health of those particular parts of the sector? So my messaging to government has, or to both sides of politics, has been about really needing to take some time to work really intentionally with the community, with the sector, with peak bodies, to make sure that what we're doing is right. We could continue to spend a lot of money and a lot of time and not see the change or the impact of the change that this Royal Commission and that this government promised us.
Speaker 5:When I think about reforms as well. We've. Obviously I can't talk about the end. You know anything without touching on the NDIS. We're about to see huge change in the NDIS around what's called foundational supports, and so at the start of the NDIS, you know, a number of people who had what you know is defined as a psychosocial disability found themselves in the NDIS system rather than in the mental health service system. Just for our listeners, psychosocial disability and mental health, right, are they the same or are they different? Like what's the? You know the different languages and different terms. And why are some people in the NDIS and some people not in the NDIS? And I don't know if that's something you can answer, that's just a very technical question.
Speaker 6:It is a technical question, but it's a good question because I think it's a question that you know there will be a lot of Australians who are needing to access services, who will be facing the dilemma of trying to understand why they fit in a particular part of the system or not in another, or perhaps nowhere. I think my sense of this is that, you know, the ambitious design of the NDIS looked to respond to permanent and enduring disability and that considerations of enduring mental health issues and their impact on a person's ability to live their best life would also require some responsiveness. But I think the design around that for people with mental health, with psychosocial disability, in the NDIS probably could have done with a bit more thought. And so, post this review of the NDIS, we are seeing those changes and I think when I first started thinking about, or when I first started interacting with, the implementation of the NDIS, what struck me as being significant was that there is a difference, fundamentally, in some of the philosophies that underpin, you know, the NDIS and the disability sector and the mental health sector. So in mental health, we think a lot about recovery, we talk a lot about recovery. We believe that you know people, it will take different amounts of time and different inputs. But you know, we genuinely do believe that people recover from mental illness and in disability.
Speaker 6:When somebody has a permanent disability, of course there's a different framing around that. So I think there was, right from the start, there was sort of some foundational incompatibilities in the way that we think about these things, and what that meant is that then trying to design responses or trying to design accessibility criteria became really complicated. We do know that there are individuals who have enduring mental health issues from which the impact is significant and journeys with them over time, and that's where the thinking around this being a psychosocial disability comes in. This condition, this experience that I have, limits my ability to be able to participate in society. It might limit my independence, it might mean that I require support and I might require those things over a long period. So it's a nuance. There's, you know, there's very, like you said, very technical and sort of philosophical underpinnings to those constructs. There has been, you know, some misalignment, I think, in those concepts and how they've been applied. That has resulted in the situation that we're in at the moment, where there is some uncertainty around.
Speaker 6:Well, how do people with you know mental health issues, enduring mental health issues, experiencing, you know, structural or social disadvantage because of that. How do they fit in to the system? Where do they fit? And we're working wherever in and across Australia, we're advocating to governments to provide some clarity on the future of that.
Speaker 6:There is uncertainty across Australia, and that's another stress for people. It's a stress for providers, and particularly for groups of people who, when we think about the origins of mental illness and we think about people's experiences of trauma and where trauma plays out in relationships, and so we've got folks who've been engaging with NDIS services through psychosocial supports, who have built up relationships, and that's not necessarily easy, because relationships haven't always worked out well, you know, for folks who who've got an experience of trauma. So these changes are really sensitive, and we have to think about what impact these changes will make and how we can work with people to support them through any change. The way that we approach this, though, needs to be informed by clarity on what the future looks like, and, unfortunately, at the moment, we don't have that.
Speaker 5:It's probably quite hard to get lifelong mental health supports, pip, you know in. You know in the mental health service system. So where the NDIS has kind of stepped in, you know, supports for those day-to-day functions of living for people who have a lifelong mental illness have been wonderful. But I think that the change and changes are happening everywhere is that, you know, with foundational supports some of that will change and will no longer be part of the NDIS too. I mean, I guess that's the sort of stuff that you're probably hearing from your members, pip.
Speaker 6:Yeah, and concern about you know, obviously there have been changes in you know the funding arrangements for these kinds of services that occurred when we made that transition to the NDIS. So there are real questions around, not just what it's going to look like, but who's going to be providing these services, where are they going to be? They're big questions, be they're big questions and thinking about. Are the services going to be suitable and appropriate to support people over that longer period around maintaining stability in their mental health but also being able to make progress towards their personal goals around? You know what living a meaningful and contributing life looks like. It's different for everybody, but for somebody who's experiencing a psychosocial disability, having support that can work alongside them over a longer period is really important.
Speaker 5:I think you know, across all of this conversation, the thing that still strikes me is how complicated and difficult this service system is, how hard it is for people to navigate consumers, carers, families, sometimes even for service providers and how is all of this stitched together? And I think a lot. You know what. I think that you know, pip, we're lucky, you know, to A a have you on the podcast. I mean, you're a tremendous advocate and mental health, victoria, you know, really leads the way. I think, when it comes to putting these pieces together to inform policy, practice and thinking. It's such a crucial role because otherwise we just have this bowl of spaghetti that no one can kind of, you know, work their way through. Right, it's just so difficult and so hard and I think people listening will feel like crikey. There are all of these different bits and how does any of this stitch together and change?
Speaker 5:You know the role that you're playing here is huge in this, pip. So you know we were obviously lucky enough to have you as a guest on a panel at our 2025 Complex Needs Conference, where you were talking a lot about complexity and service system complexity and having to navigate those parts being, you know, really difficult. And you know, I've seen you obviously speak at other events and you've recently again just published some thoughts with other peak bodies as well and I'm probably going to get the name of this one wrong, because again I stumble over words the royal australian and new zealand college of psychiatrists, and you've released a position paper on the role of mental health services in the delivery of drug and alcohol treatment and care and support, which again is a huge thing, isn't it? People will often say which came first, the drug and alcohol problems or the mental health challenges, and then when you put those things together, it's you know, it's quite difficult.
Speaker 6:It is, and we're humans, right, we're complex beings. We're never simple to understand, and one of the challenges that lots of people in the community face is not knowing the right place to go to get help. What if you know if I've got this particular need? What if I've got two needs? And, equally, for people trying to provide services as well, who will be talking to people and identifying? Oh gosh, you know, look, it sounds like there are some mental health issues here, but, you know, a significant contributor is, you know, the substance use that's occurring. And so you know, in order to deal with one, well, we need to deal with the other. But the systems are separated and there's really complicated and maybe not so complicated, but there's some boring policy, funding and governance issues that contribute to those systems being separated into the silos that people experience. That makes finding the right care at the right time a lot harder.
Speaker 6:And I think in Victoria at the moment, we have been trying to raise awareness with you know, the government and with the Department of Health as stewards of our system, that, while we're really happy to be seeing investment in new types of services across the state, the nature of the implementation, the way that it's working has probably created more confusion for people, not knowing where to go, not knowing which service is right for them, and our position paper on the alcohol and other drug system and the mental health service contribution to that system was really Mental Health Victoria and the College of Psychiatrists as leaders in the sector, as representatives of the mental health service system, to be able to say to government we need to be more intentional in our planning about this.
Speaker 6:We need to remove unnecessary barriers, we need to be really clear about what we're talking about in our vision for accessibility for people who experience co-occurring mental health and alcohol and other drug needs, and make it seamless for people to walk through that system. One of the challenges that people face is that you don't come prepared with a detailed map and knowledge of accessibility criteria or requirements for mental health services. We're not born with it and so oftentimes when people are needing to access those services, unfortunately it's occurring at a point of crisis and you know crisis situations um are not the right time to be trying to learn new information, and so having you want.
Speaker 5:You want the response then?
Speaker 6:though, don't you when you're in that crisis, you, you can't wait.
Speaker 5:You know that's right, it's the same. Back to the broken leg, isn't it? You're not going to sit and wait. You need that leg x-rayed. You need the plaster cast or walking boot, you need it sorted now.
Speaker 6:But if you have to spend I don't know eight hours, you know, on Google or text messaging people or calling the wrong places to find out where you fit in a system, all that's going to do is exacerbate the crisis that you're in and make you feel more isolated. So we've been talking a lot with both sides of politics about the importance of supporting system navigation, making it easy for people to find their way around. In Victoria at the moment. We are really happy to see the growth of those community mental health providers, but we have a landscape that has local mental health and wellbeing services. There are head to health clinics, there are mental health and wellbeing hubs, medicare mental health locals.
Speaker 6:How does the average Victorian understand where they're meant to go? And what if you're in a part of Victoria where none of those things exist at the moment? Where do you go? Where do you fit where? Where are the answers to these questions? Who helps you? And I think, for me. As you know a former clinician, but also somebody who's, you know, worked in the administration of mental health I know personally that not a week goes by where I don't get a text message from somebody saying oh, oh yeah, can you help?
Speaker 5:Can you help my daughter, my son, my sister?
Speaker 6:Yeah, yeah, and I'm disappointed to say that it's not always easy actually to provide the answer no it's not, and if I can't answer those questions easily and make those connections happen, then who can?
Speaker 1:I don't know who can what?
Speaker 5:chance have they got Pip? What chance have they got? Exactly happen, then who can?
Speaker 6:like I just I don't know who can exactly. Yeah, so we have a, you know. So investment is great, but investment and funding and announcements are very, very different to reform. And, yeah, the those important things you know are often can be, you know, more difficult to measure or perhaps, you know, aren't as exciting to announce, but they're things that are actually going to make a difference and we are really calling on the Victorian government to think carefully about the investment, about what the right next steps are to make sure that they are improving things for Victorians today. Yes, we're four years in. We need to start seeing those things changing.
Speaker 5:I 100% agree. I just want to kind of end by saying what a phenomenal role Mental Health Victoria plays. People will be listening. They'll be wanting to know more about your services. How can they become members to find out more about the really important advocacy that you're doing, the way that you're bringing all of the parts of the service system together to facilitate reform and facilitate change? How can people find out more about your work? How can they get in touch? How can they even join this work?
Speaker 6:Well, people can reach out to us. They can access our website, follow us on LinkedIn for some of our commentary. We've got information on the website about you know the work that we do, who we work with, how we do it. There's also the ability to subscribe to our e-news. We put out a newsletter every fortnight and that's not just limited to our members, so that's something that we encourage anybody to access so that you know you can be a part of the conversation. You can hear about the things that we're talking about, and it gives people the opportunity, if they think that we're missing something or they want to make a contribution, to be able to join in and be a part of that conversation.
Speaker 5:I love it and we'll include all of the information in our show notes as part of this episode. What an awesome job you do. I know you don't have a huge amount of money as an organisation. Mhv you well and truly, you know, do such a huge amount of work for our community. You're fearless advocates. You are in there always talking about mental health and, you know, looking to get the right supports for people. So you know, I think, on behalf of every consumer, carer, family member in this state, a huge thank you, because I think that message about saving lives is such a big thing and sometimes this is what it is, this is what it comes down to. So, yeah, please keep doing all of the things that you do at Mental Health. Victoria I mean, emma, we're huge supporters. We love your work. We are completely biased, obviously, because we've chosen to be members as well of such a really important peak body. I just really want to end on that note. So a huge thank you for joining us, pip.
Speaker 6:Thank you so much for the time and for the conversation.
Speaker 2:You've been listening to Get Real talking mental health and disability, brought to you by the team at Irma 365. Get Real is produced and presented by Emily Webb, with Corenza Louis-Smith and special guests. Thanks for listening and we'll see you next time.
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