A United Voice for the Community Mental Health & Wellbeing Sector
Advocating for Better Mental Health and Wellbeing Services Across Queensland
Collective Benefit through Collaboration
We are stronger when we work together. Join us to connect, contribute, and shape the future of community mental health.
Integrity with
Impact
Curiosity Fuels
Innovation
We don’t just ask what’s possible. We try it. Our projects turn insight into impact.
Courage to
Disrupt
We speak up where it matters. We work to shift systems, influence policy, and lead change for our sector.
We’re counting down the weeks towards the Connecting for Impact Conference and on Day 2 the Workfo…
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This week’s Membership spotlight shines on Mind Australia, and its Executive Director – Queensland, So…
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The Health Ministers met last Friday to discuss the state of mental health services across the country, and with…
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QAMH member Youth Insearch is a peer-led intervention program that supports young people through their…
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The 9th Social and Emotional Wellbeing Forum will take place in Melbourne from 30 March 2026 to 2 April 2026.
The 2026 Forum is designed to respond to the realities facing SEWB, mental health and AOD services right now, increasing complexity, workforce pressure, and the need for care systems that are culturally safe, trauma-responsive and genuinely integrated.
Across four days, the Forum brings together 300+ community-controlled organisations, mainstream services, policymakers, practitioners and people with lived experience to explore what it takes to move from intention to lasting change.
Early-bird registrations close soon. Book your seat! https://bit.ly/40LHmAG
@akoladeaust @thirdsectorau
#SEWBForum #SocialEmotionalWellbeing
#SEWB
#FirstNationsHealth
@qldallianceformentalhealth has lodged a submission on the Australian Government’s proposed new definition of an “NDIS provider” - a change that will shape which services are formally recognised and regulated under the Scheme.
We support stronger, proportionate safeguards that protect participants and strengthen the integrity of the NDIS, but getting the definition right matters.
Community-based psychosocial supports delivered by NGOs must be clearly recognised within the Scheme. Without explicit recognition, there is a real risk these supports could be inconsistently captured or unintentionally excluded.
Reform in this space must also align with pricing, workforce capacity and implementation settings to ensure regulatory changes do not place further pressure on providers, particularly in regional and thin markets.
QAMH will continue advocating to ensure community-based psychosocial supports are recognised, sustainable and accessible for the people who rely on them.
Read our submission from the Advocacy section on our website [link in bio] or go to: https://www.qamh.org.au/getting-it-right-a-new-definition-for-ndis-providers/
@ndis_australia @qld_mhc
#NDIS, #NDISProvider, #NDISAustralia
#DisabilitySupport, #DisabilityInclusion
@qldallianceformentalhealth has proudly launched our new, free micro-credential, Workplace Wellbeing Leadership in Community Mental Health, designed for managers and team leaders across Queensland’s community mental health and wellbeing sector.
In just 2 to 4 hours, this practical, self-paced online course tackles the real pressures leaders face and builds skills in:
• strengthening psychological safety
• supporting team wellbeing
• managing psychosocial hazards
• balancing care, compliance and capacity.
Featuring sector voices, practical and interactive individual and team reflection activities, and concepts brought to life through engaging animations.
Proudly funded by the Queensland Government.
Scan QR code to learn more or enrol now via link in bio!
Copy links below:
View a snippet:
https://vimeo.com/1168360968?fl=pl&fe=sh#end=1m3s
Learn more: https://www.qamh.org.au/courses/workplace-wellbeing-leadership-in-the-community-mental-health-sector/
@qld_mhc @qldgov
#workplacewellbeing #workplacewellness #mentalhealthatwork #wellbeingatwork #workplaceculture #leadershipdevelopment
QAMH, in partnership with @worldwellnessgroup invites all local service providers, peer workers, and community leaders to take part in this hands-on, collaborative workshop.
This is an opportunity to work together on solutions for strengthening your region’s mental health workforce to overcome workforce challenges and improve access for multicultural communities in our region.
As part of Queensland’s Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Workforce Strategy, this two-part workshop offers the following:
Part 1: Grow Your Own Workforce – tackle recruitment and retention challenges with local solutions.
Part 2: Multicultural Access & Inclusion – improve access for multicultural communities and create culturally responsive solutions.
You’ll also contribute to a service mapping activity to boost regional collaboration.
Book your seat now at the link in our bio. Questions? Email us at workforce@qamh.org.au.
Reminder! Thursday 26 February 2026 from 1.00pm to 2.00pm - you are invited to a special online Members Forum.
Supporting Team Wellbeing in Community Mental Health - New, Free Micro-credential For Managers and Team Leaders.
Be among the first to explore QAMH’s new micro-credential, Workplace Wellbeing Leadership in Community Mental Health – funded by the Department of Trade, Employment and Training and designed with the sector for managers and team leaders in community mental health and psychosocial services.
Join Sasha Sullivan, Learning Designer at QAMH, for a walk-through and Q&A on how this practical resource supports managers to:
- foster healthy team climates
- strengthen psychological and psychosocial safety
- recognise early signs of distress
- facilitate access to supports.
If you are part of a Member Organisation and you do not have the link in your calendar, email us at members@qamh.org.au and we`ll make sure you`re included.
@qldgov #microcredentials #mentalhealthcommunity
Health and Mental Health Ministers met last week to progress a new National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement.
Key outcomes:
- Funding for psychosocial supports will continue
- A new National Agreement is being prioritised
- A National Mental Health Declaration was acknowledged but not progressed
Maintaining funding is important, but maintaining the status quo will not close the growing psychosocial support gap.
Too many people across Australia cannot access the community-based supports that prevent crisis, reduce pressure on hospitals and keep people well. When support isn’t there, the pressure falls on emergency departments, ambulance services and communities.
The new National Agreement is an opportunity to deliver sustained investment and real reform. Our understanding is that negotiations are intended to take place between April to September, with a new agreement expected later this year. Queensland Alliance for Mental Health (QAMH) will continue working to ensure Queensland’s position reflects the experience of our members and urgent need to close the psychosocial support gap.
@qld_mhc
@mhlepqld
@lifelineaustralia @lifeline.qld
#MentalHealthAwareness
#PsychosocialSupport
#SuicidePrevention
#MentalHealthReform
This week, @qldallianceformentalhealth proudly shines the Spotlight on Nathan Johnson Managing Director, Civitas Group.
Civitas provides safe, stable housing and practical supports for people living with complex mental health needs. From a home, people can thrive.
Building better communities, one person at a time. Learn more: https://civitasgroup.co/
#MentalHealthMatters #HousingIsHealthcare #StrongerCommunities
QAMH has lodged our final submission to the @fairworkcommission on changes to the SCHADS Award, informed by the experiences and perspectives of our Members.
We support a modern classification structure that reflects the realities of community-based mental health work, recognising lived and living experience, skills built through practice, and industry expertise, not just formal qualifications. This reform is essential to addressing gender-based undervaluation and aligning pay and progression with the real work delivered by real people across the sector every day.
QAMH has been clear that no worker should be worse off. Any Award changes must be backed by increased government funding to ensure organisations can implement them without cutting jobs, hours, or supports.
Getting this right matters. We need a fair, sustainable, and fit-for-purpose classification and pay system for workers, services, and the communities they support. Read our full submission via our website (link in bio) or at: https://www.qamh.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/QAMH-2026-Submission-SCHADS-AWARD-Proposed-Alternative-Classification-Structure.pdf
@asunion
#CommunityMentalHealth
#mentalhealthworkforce
#genderpayequity
#fairpay
Real advocacy impact isn’t always visible the day a submission is lodged.
It shows up later in final reports, policy shifts and reform directions that reflect what our sector has been calling for.
That impact is built through the collective voice of peak bodies representing members, communities and lived experience across Queensland’s community mental health sector.
In December 2025, three major national reforms were finalised:
• PHN Business Model Review
• Mandatory registration of NDIS platform providers
• Productivity Commission’s Delivering
Quality Care More Efficiently inquiry
These processes shape how services are funded, regulated and delivered and they matter to every organisation working on the ground across our state.
Our new short report outlines how shared, member-led advocacy including QAMH’s contributions helped influence these outcomes, and where stronger recognition of community-based mental health is still needed as reforms move into implementation.
Read the report to see the impact of our shared voice and reflect on the progress we’ve made together on our advocacy page on our website.
@ndis_australia
#communitymentalhealth
#mentalhealthadvocacy
#mentalhealthreform
#ndis
#livedexperience
#healthpolicy
#queenslandhealth
In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, Redcliffe Youth Space recently dropped by QAMH with a little sweetness and a recipe for connection! Their supported enterprise, ConnectionsCatering, is helping young people build skills, confidence and purpose through the power of food.
This Valentine’s Day week, we’re proud to shine a spotlight on Redcliffe Youth Space and to celebrate all our Members who put mental health, community and care at the heart of everything they do, every day.
Got a special event, function or team lunch that needs catering? Show your support and connect over great food: https://www.connectionscatering.com.au/
@theyouthspace
@connectionscatering
#communitysupport #socialenterpriseaustralia
#valentinesday2026 ❤️
You can’t fix ambulance ramping in hospitals alone.
Queensland’s commitment to cut ramping by 30% by 2028 will not be met through beds and clinical staff only. Lasting reductions require investment before crisis, by strengthening community-based mental health services delivered by NGOs and psychosocial supports that prevent escalation and reduce avoidable emergency demand.
In our 2026–27 Budget Submission, we`re calling for investment that:
• provides flexible, multi-year funding so community-based mental health services can plan, retain staff and deliver consistent support
• brings Queensland’s investment in line with other states, ending the funding gap that has held services back for too long
• supports a stable, skilled workforce, including peer and lived-living experience roles, especially in regional, rural and remote communities
• enables locally led, connected responses across mental health, housing and justice
Read our submission here: https://www.qamh.org.au/queensland-state-budget-2026-27/
Alternatively, click on our link in bio and navigate to Advocacy then Policy Submissions.
@qldgov @qldhealth
@abcnews_au
@abc_queensland
#QueenslandBudget
#budget2026 #mentalhealthadvocate
#communitymentalhealth #ambulanceramping
Thursday 26 February 2026 from 1.00pm to 2.00pm - you are invited to a special online Members Forum.
Supporting Team Wellbeing in Community Mental Health - New, Free Micro-credential For Managers and Team Leaders.
Be among the first to explore QAMH’s new micro-credential, Workplace Wellbeing Leadership in Community Mental Health – funded by the Department of Trade, Employment and Training and designed with the sector for managers and team leaders in community mental health and psychosocial services.
Join Sasha Sullivan, Learning Designer at QAMH, for a walk-through and Q&A on how this practical resource supports managers to:
- foster healthy team climates
- strengthen psychological and psychosocial safety
- recognise early signs of distress
- facilitate access to supports.
If you are part of a Member Organisation and you do not have the link in your calendar, email us at members@qamh.org.au and we`ll make sure you`re included.
@qldgov #microcredentials #mentalhealthcommunity
QAMH is proud to take the lead coordinating Queensland Mental Health Week (QMHW) from 2026. For the past eight years, QMHW has thrived under the strong leadership of CheckUP, in partnership with the Queensland Mental Health Commission. Thanks to this leadership, QMHW has become a powerful, community-led movement driving connection, inclusion and mental health awareness across Queensland.
The transition to QAMH has been carefully planned with the Queensland Mental Health Commission and CheckUP and we are working closely to ensure a smooth handover and a continued focus on strengthening statewide coordination, partnerships and impact.
To help us do this, QAMH is recruiting a Queensland Mental Health Week Project Coordinator. Learn more about this opportunity at the link in bio.
We look forward to working with communities and partners across Queensland. We will share details about QMHW 2026, including dates and theme, very soon.
@qld_mhc @checkup_australia
#queenslandmentalhealthweek
Our Regional, Rural and Remote Roadshow report is being noticed.
Last week, our findings were featured by @7newsqueensland, @indaily.qld and Mental Health Network.
The findings are clear and concerning. Where you live in Queensland still determines whether you can access timely mental health support. Across regional, rural and remote communities, too many people are going without help until they reach crisis point.
Local, community-based mental health services are holding systems together through relationships, cultural knowledge and trust, often in the absence of stable funding or clear pathways. But goodwill cannot continue to compensate for structural underinvestment.
If we want equitable mental health outcomes across Queensland, the answer is not simply more acute beds.
It’s sustained, long-term investment in community-based, place-based mental health supports that reflect local realities.
The conversation has started. It needs to continue.
Read the Regional, Rural and Remote Roadshow report via the link in our bio.
#communitymentalhealth
#mentalhealthequity
#regionalqueensland
#ruralandremote
Our new micro-credential is already delivering results.
Introduction to the Community Mental Health Sector:
- 201 registrations
- 68 completions
- 9 out of 10 learners rated the micro-credential good to excellent for professional learning
In just 2 to 3 hours, participants gain practical, real-world insight into community mental health directly from workers across Queensland.
What you’ll learn:
- Real worker voices and lived experience
- Interactive scenarios and applied learning
- Clear pathways into roles and services
- Core values, skills and practice approaches
- Practical strategies for boundaries and self-care
Build capability and strengthen confidence. Enrol now. Link in bio and below.
https://www.qamh.org.au/courses/introduction-to-the-community-mental-health-sector/
#mentalhealthworkforce #mentalhealthadvocate
#microcredentials
Today our CEO, Emily Wolter, spoke with Channel 7 in Rockhampton about what we heard during QAMH’s Regional, Rural and Remote Roadshow.
Rockhampton has strong community connections and deeply committed local services, but like many regional areas, demand is rising and access to support too often comes too late.
Communities across Queensland told us the same thing: workforce shortages, cost pressures and gaps in psychosocial supports are leaving too many people without help until crisis.
We’re grateful for the opportunity to share these voices more widely, and to keep advocating for earlier, flexible, community-based and culturally safe mental health supports across regional Queensland.
@emilywolter_
@channel7queensland
#ruralqueensland
#regionalqueensland #remotequeensland
Distance apart. Community at heart.
In late 2025, QAMH travelled more than 5,600 kilometres to meet with community mental health service providers across regional, rural and remote Queensland to hear directly what is happening on the ground and inform reform conversations.
What we heard was consistent and confronting:
- People are falling through fragmented systems.
- Early support is missing until crisis hits.
- Community services are holding the system together through goodwill.
- Funding and workforce settings are not fit for regional, rural and remote realities.
- Culturally safe, community-led models work, but access remains uneven.
Despite this, communities continue to show extraordinary resilience and care.
Our 2025 Regional, Rural and Remote Roadshow Report brings together cross-regional insights and clear reform priorities, grounded in what services told us directly.
Read the full report at the link in our bio.
#communitymentalhealth
#ruralqueensland
#regionalqueensland
#remotequeensland
The SCHADS Award has been under review for several years, and QAMH has actively advocated for the community-based mental health sector at every key stage.
In 2024, the Fair Work Commission recognised gender-based undervaluation in the Award, and when a provisional SCHADS structure was released in 2025, QAMH made submissions calling for changes that are fair, sustainable and reflective of the realities of our sector.
While most issues have been resolved, 13 matters remain under dispute, and the Fair Work Commission has released an alternative Award structure for final comment. This is the last opportunity for the sector to influence the SCHADS Award and ensure the classification and pay structure is viable, equitable and fit for purpose.
Organisations are encouraged, where capacity allows, to make a submission directly to the Fair Work Commission on the alternative structure by emailing awards@fwc.gov.au. Submissions close at 5pm on 6 February.
QAMH is also seeking feedback from member CEOs and leaders via a short survey sent by email, to inform our submission on the remaining issues. Please check your inbox and share your views to ensure the community-based mental health sector is strongly represented in this final stage of the review.
#communitymentalhealth
#schadsaward
We’re hiring! QAMH is Queensland’s peak community mental health body, representing 120+ member organisations across the state. We’re recruiting now for three roles to help strengthen community-based mental health supports and drive system reform.
All roles offer flexible working arrangements (including remote work for those working in regional or rural parts of Queensland), salary packaging, professional development, and a supportive, values-driven culture. If you want to work alongside the mental health sector to build capability, influence policy, and create meaningful change, then one of these jobs could be for you.
Current opportunities:
Policy and Impact Officer (Parental Leave Cover): Fixed-term to December 2026. Turn research and project insights into strong advocacy. Shape policy, tell impact stories, and improve mental health outcomes statewide.
Senior Advisor – Peer Workforce Development: Fixed-term to May 2027. Lead statewide peer workforce initiatives, placements, and pathways. A senior, autonomous role shaping lived experience workforce development.
Workforce Project Officer: 0.8 FTE, fixed-term to June 2027. Deliver practical projects under the Workforce Strategy 2024–2029, co-design tools, and support workforce attraction, retention, and wellbeing.
Learn more, view position descriptions, and apply via EthicalJobs.com.au. View link in bio.
#mentalhealthjobs
Cathie and Neal Davies’ incredible 13-year journey began when they both served as onsite Counsellors at the mines and various organisations, offering support through individual and relationship counselling, as well as responding to critical incidents.
Neal’s final year on the job saw him tackle 11 major incidents in just six months, ultimately leading to Chronic PTSD. Neal was not expected to work again, and Cathie gave up her career to become Neal’s full-time carer.
Now, with their wealth of experience they’ve returned to counselling, doing presentations and mentoring families on how to work through the difficulties that come with PTSD. They also recently launched their book Breaking Free of PTSD.
We are proud to have Beyond PTSD as a QAMH Member and wish them the best for 2026.
#breakingfreeofptsd
