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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Yesterday’s launch of the @upbeatarts Choir in Bundaberg struck a powerful note, highlighting the vital role of creativity, connection, and community in mental health support.
Chloe Jesson (Deputy CEO, @qldallianceformentalhealth) joined Sandra Eyre (Executive Director of MHAOD Strategy Branch) and Robyn Bradley (Executive Director, MHAOD, Wide Bay HHS) for a panel discussion, facilitated by Jane Rowan (Board Chair, Upbeat Arts; Board Member, @_accoras), on the role of arts-based supports in building inclusion, confidence, and wellbeing.
While in Bundaberg, Chloe also had valuable conversations with QAMH members @bridgeshealthcc and 88 Constellations, both pitch-perfect examples of community-based mental health in action.
In the photo with Chloe Jesson (from L to R): Sandra Eyre (ED of MHAOD Strategy Branch), Jane Rowan (Board Chair of Upbeat Arts, Board Member of Accoras), Robyn Bradley (ED of MHAOD of Wide Bay HHS), Peta Bryant (D/DDG of @qldhealth), Amy Della-Torre (Upbeat Arts Bundaberg Program Leader), Susan Gilmartin (Upbeat Arts GM), Bretine Curtis (ED of @qld_mhc).
#QAMH #UpbeatArts #QueenslandHealth #QMHC #MentalHealth #CommunityWellbeing
Short-term, rigid funding is holding community-based mental health services back.
Across Queensland, services are being forced to operate within funding models that don’t reflect reality resulting in disrupted care, limited responsiveness, and growing pressure on already stretched systems.
Right now, our Members are facing:
* Short-term contracts that undermine workforce stability and long-term planning.
* Inflexible funding that restricts how support can be delivered.
* Funding gaps that ignore essential costs like travel, supervision, cultural load, and thin markets.
This isn’t sustainable.
We’re calling for a shift to long-term, flexible, place-based funding that:
* Delivers stability.
* Reflects the true cost of care.
* Empowers communities to design services around local needs.
Community-based mental health works. But it needs to be locally informed, culturally responsive, and backed by secure, long-term investment.
This is one of four key priorities driving @qldallianceformentalhealth advocacy in 2026.
@nmhcaustralia @abcnews_au @qldhealth @productivity_commission
#MentalHealthReform #CommunityMentalHealth #HealthPolicy #QueenslandHealth #MentalHealthAustralia
Rural, regional and remote Queenslanders deserve timely access to mental health care but too often, they can’t get it.
Across our Regional, Rural and Remote Roadshow, communities told us the same thing: when GP access is limited, people turn to community-based mental health services as their first point of contact.
These services are stepping in to provide early support and stabilisation. Without them, people are more likely to deteriorate driving avoidable pressure on ambulance services, emergency departments and hospitals.
In our submission to the @SenateofAustralia inquiry into rural, regional and remote Medicare access and funding we’re calling for reform that:
- supports sustainable rural general practice
- strengthens coordination with community-based services
- recognises the role of peer workers and community organisations
- supports Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations
- ensures telehealth complements local care.
The system must catch-up an align with community reality.
Read our submission: https://lnkd.in/gx7vRSJS
@QueenslandAllianceforMentalHealth @mhlepqld @AHHA_org_au
#RuralHealthMatters #MentalHealthForAll #HealthPolicy #PrimaryCare #AboriginalHealth #HealthcareLeadership
A strong peer workforce is essential to Queensland’s mental health system, but a key barrier continues to limit its growth.
Securing a suitable placement remains one of the greatest challenges for students completing the Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work but without it, many students are unable to finish their qualification.
In response QAMH’s has launched its new Peer Workforce Placement Project, specifically designed to tackle this catch-22 situation.
Over the next 12 months, the project will:
• Fund and coordinate 27 placements across Queensland.
• Support students to complete their studies and transition into the workforce.
• Test and evaluate a new model to better resource organisations delivering placements.
Sector input is critical. As phase one rolls out, we invite you and your workforce to complete a short survey to inform the project. Copy the links below.
• Staff who hold a Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work: https://forms.monday.com/forms/b369c4ef2fad886d4292b7025f19297b?r=apse2
• Organisations who would like to or already do host Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work Placements: https://forms.monday.com/forms/916b91207a4cadb80cd0a8681d44429e?r=apse2
Your insights will help shape practical solutions to strengthen the pipeline and sustainability of the peer workforce.
Expressions of interest open mid-April.
For further information email Chris Trupp (Senior Advisor – Peer Workforce Development) at ctrupp@qamh.org.au.
#MentalHealth #PeerWorkforce #CommunityMentalHealth #MentalHealthCare #WorkforceDevelopment
@mhlepqld @aumentalhealth
Queensland’s community-based mental health sector is being asked to do more with less.
Just 4.6% of the state’s mental health budget goes to NGO community-based services, despite growing demand and mounting pressure on hospitals and emergency services.
Across the state, Members are reporting:
• funding that doesn’t keep up with SCHADS Award wage increases.
• short-term contracts that undermine workforce stability.
• high vacancy rates and retention challenges, especially in rural and regional communities.
This is not sustainable. Without reform services reduce, the workforce shrinks, and more people are pushed into avoidable crisis pathways.
Community-based mental health is essential, not optional.
We’re calling for:
• a clear plan to close the funding gap.
• long-term investment in a secure workforce.
• stronger State–Commonwealth responsibility for psychosocial support.
Investing in community mental health means stronger communities and fewer crises.
This is a key priority driving QAMH’s advocacy in 2026.
@qldhealth
@healthgovau
#MentalHealthMatters #CommunityMentalHealth #InvestInMentalHealth #MentalHealthReform
Balancing Individual and Organisational Needs: In our sector, supporting worker wellbeing means carefully navigating both individual and organisational responsibilities with clarity and intention.
In this short video from our new, free Workplace Wellbeing Leadership micro-credential, leaders speak openly about how to encourage teams to take ownership of their own wellbeing, while also providing the frameworks and tools needed to support wellbeing at an organisational level.
Watch Amanda Queen Organisational Development Lead at Redcliffe Area Youth Space Incorporated, share the approach they’re taking.
Explore the free micro-credential online here (link in bio): https://www.qamh.org.au/courses/workplace-wellbeing-leadership-in-the-community-mental-health-sector/
Big thanks to Sasha Sullivan QAMH Learning Designer and Queensland Government.
#WorkplaceWellbeing #MentalHealthAwareness #WellbeingAtWork #LeadershipMatters #CommunitySector
Last year, Queensland Alliance for Mental Health developed a policy brief highlighting the measurable impact of Queensland’s community-based mental health sector, drawing on service evaluations from across our membership. The evidence is clear. Community-based psychosocial supports reduce distress, prevent hospital presentations, strengthen recovery, and deliver strong economic returns.
Yet our sector remains under-recognised in state and national reporting systems. Evaluation is often inconsistent, underfunded, and shaped by reporting requirements that fail to reflect recovery journeys or lived-living experience.
As national reform pushes for better data systems and consistent outcome measures, we’re actively shaping this work to ensure community-based psychosocial supports are visible, recognised, and valued.
Later this year, we will update our brief. If your organisation has evaluation findings, outcomes data, or impact reports to share, reach out to us at aroberts@qamh.org.au.
#mentalhealth #advocacy #QAMH #recovery
Online Thursday 26 March 2026 from 1.00pm to 2.00pm.
Join our Strategic Thinking Workshop for Community Mental Health Leaders and learn how to navigate Australia’s evolving mental health reform landscape.
Work through real reform scenarios, test decisions using practical frameworks, and strengthen your strategic judgement in complex environments. Facilitated by Impact Co., specialists in reform and strategy across health and social sectors.
Bring along one unresolved strategic challenge from your organisation. Check your inbox for the calendar invite or email members@qamh.org.au for details.
@helloimpactco @qldallianceformentalhealth
@communitymentalhealthau
#CommunityMentalHealth #MentalHealthReform
#HealthStrategy
#StrategicThinking
The latest NDIS Quarterly Report reveals a concerning shift for people with psychosocial disability, with access to the Scheme declining sharply.
In 2022, 56% of applicants with a primary psychosocial disability were approved for the NDIS. In 2025–26, that figure has dropped to 31%.
Psychosocial disability applicants are now significantly less likely to gain access than other disability groups.
While the overall NDIS access rate for applicants aged 25 and over remains around 55%, the rate for psychosocial disability has fallen far below this.
At the same time, fewer access decisions are being made for people with psychosocial disability compared to previous years. This means more people needing psychosocial support are falling outside the NDIS. Across Queensland, community-based mental health services are already seeing the impact, with more applications rejected and plans not renewed.
As access narrows, properly funding psychosocial supports outside the NDIS can no longer be delayed if we are serious about closing the unmet need gap.
Copy link to read the latest quarterly report: https://www.ndis.gov.au/publications
@ndis_australia @healthgovau
#NDIS #DisabilityAdvocacy #DisabilityRights #Inclusion #EquityForAll
This week @qldallianceformentalhealth shines the Spotlight on Donna Ford and @lutheranservicesaustralia. Lutheran Services is passionate about supporting individuals on their mental health journey. From the Graceville Centre on the Sunshine Coast, they offer a range of tailored programs, including the Transitional Recovery Program, Dialectical Behaviour Therapy, supported accommodation options, and In-Home and Community Support through the NDIS for people living with psychosocial disability.
Lutheran Services walks alongside each person to build skills, strengthen confidence, and foster independence, empowering them to achieve their goals and enhance their quality of life. Learn more from their website at www.lutheranservices.org.au
#CommunityMentalHealth #SunshineCoast
#Brisbane #MentalHealthSupport #NDISSupport
Leading in community mental health means supporting others through complexity, pressure and emotionally demanding work. Our new Workplace Wellbeing Leadership micro-credential equips team leaders and managers with practical tools to strengthen psychosocial safety, recognise early signs of distress and prevent burnout in their teams.
Learn from real experiences shared by leaders and workers across Queensland, and identify small, achievable actions that build safer, more sustainable workplaces.
“Good to hear real life examples of how leaders are using this in their practice with teams” Karen Thomas, Director of Community Connection and Wellbeing, @neami_national .
Self-paced. Practical. Designed for Community mental health team leaders and managers. Enrol now. See link in bio.
#mentalhealthleadership
#communitymentalhealth
#workplacewellbeing
In December 2024, QAMH concluded the Peer Work Scholarship Program, supporting people with lived-living experience to undertake the Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work.
The program demonstrated strong demand, high engagement and sustained participation across metropolitan, regional, rural and remote Queensland, including participation by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
We learned that while financial support and mentoring enabled access to study, vocational placement emerged as the point where pathways stalled. For many students, securing suitable placements proved difficult due to supervision capacity, funding pressures and workforce shortages.
In response, QAMH is progressing Phase 2, a paid peer work placement model that builds directly on these learnings. This next stage focuses on supporting host organisations to provide structured placement opportunities, strengthening the bridge between training and employment and creating a more sustainable peer workforce pipeline.
This is how we move from learning to action.
Read the full program summary from the Latest News section on our website. See link in bio.
@brook.red @qld_mhc @brookred.lew
#PeerWork
#PeerWorkforce
#LivedExperience
#PeerSupport
#RecoveryOrientedPractice
Seeking resolution, not conflict, for the most vulnerable. This week, QAMH shines the Spotlight on Melissa Martin and Mackay Advocacy Inc.
Mackay Advocacy Inc champions the rights of people with disability across the Mackay, Sarina, Whitsundays and Isaac regions. The Team provide free, independent advocacy so people are heard, respected and empowered to make decisions about their own lives.
They stand beside individuals to navigate services, challenge unfair treatment and push systems to do better because everyone deserves dignity, inclusion and a strong voice in their community. Learn more at www.mackayadvocacy.com.au
#EveryVoiceCounts
#Mackay #Whitsunday #IsaacRegion
#DisabilityRights #InclusionMatters
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
