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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@themhsorg annual conference this week gave us the chance to take our Regional, Rural and Remote insights to a national stage.
The findings from our 2025 Roadshow, drawn from 83 voices across seven Queensland regions, deserve the widest possible audience. Every conversation with policymakers, researchers and practitioners is another chance to keep these communities front of mind. One theme stood out: connection and relational practice hold these systems together, yet they rarely show up in how services get designed and funded.
We’ll keep sharing this report wherever decisions get made. The people behind it are counting on their voices being heard, and we’re not done carrying them.
#MentalHealth #RegionalMentalHealth #MentalHealthReform #CommunityMentalHealth #Queensland #HealthEquity #QAMH
On Wednesday, the Cairns Grow Your Own working session brought together the full breadth of the region`s mental health sector, including funders, service providers, training organisations and community members, all in one room with a shared purpose.
The conversations were thoughtful, practical, grounded in local experience and marked an important first step towards co-designing a region-wide, non-clinical mental health workforce strategy for Far North Queensland.
This is part of a long-term commitment to growing local mental health workforce pathways from within the Cairns community. We`re excited to keep building on this momentum, and there`s much more to come.
#GrowOurOwn #FNQ #MentalHealthWorkforce #WorkforceDevelopment #CoDesign #FarNorthQueensland #CommunityLed
Yesterday, QAMH appeared before the Rural, Regional, and Remote Medicare Access Senate inquiry to make our point clear. Community-based mental health services are a key partner in the mental health ecosystem, not an optional extra.
In rural, regional and remote Queensland, our members are often the first point of contact for someone in distress. That work holds people while they wait for clinical care, and too often it runs on local goodwill rather than a funded system.
We asked the Committee to back a formal, two-way pathway between primary care and community-based services, so referral and coordination depend on design, not chance.
We were also clear that telehealth has its place as a complement to local, face-to-face care, not a replacement for it.
The Committee was engaged and receptive, and we welcomed the chance to put the sector`s case forward. Thanks to the members whose experiences shaped what we shared.
#CommunityMentalHealth #MentalHealth #RuralHealth #RegionalHealth #MentalHealthReform #Medicare #Queensland #Advocacy
@qldallianceformentalhealth is proud to shine a light on the important work of Thirrili, one of our newest Members.
@thirrili_postvention_support is a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community-Controlled Organisation providing 24/7 culturally safe postvention support to individuals, families, and communities impacted by suicide or other traumatic loss.
Thirrili is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 1800 805 801 to speak directly with a dedicated Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander team member.
Learn more at thirrili.com.au.
#Thirrili #Postvention #CommunityLed #CulturallySafe #SocialEmotionalWellbeing
Lived and Living Experience provides essential expertise that strengthens community mental health services, policy and practice.
Peer workers draw on their own experience to build trust and connection with the people they support. That shared understanding helps people feel heard, supported and empowered, often in ways that other forms of support cannot replicate.
This is why Lived and Living Experience should be embedded across every part of the mental health system, not as an add-on, but as a core contributor to a more responsive, self-determined and effective system of care.
#LivedExperience #LivingExperience #PeerWork #PeerSupport #MentalHealth #MentalHealthMatters #CommunityMentalHealth #Recovery #RecoveryOriented #CoDesign #PersonCentredCare #Inclusion #Wellbeing #MentalHealthAustralia #SystemsChange
The Griffith Centre for Mental Health Annual Research Showcase brought together researchers, clinicians, consumers, carers and community partners to discuss and shape mental health research that matters.
This year`s theme, With, not for: Where research partnership meets purpose, focused on the value of meaningful research partnerships.
As part of the lived experience and workforce development stream, Yumi Stamet facilitated a workshop exploring what it takes to build a lived experience-centred research culture. In the afternoon, Chris Trupp joined a panel of partners and stakeholders to discuss where we are now and where we need to go, highlighting the importance of power equity in co-design and sustainably embedding lived expertise at every level.
A big thanks to Dr Leanne Geppert, Simon Katterl, Leena Favolosa, Dr Catherine Brasier, Professor Lara Farrel,
Donna Humphrey and the @qldallianceformentalhealth team.
A fair wage for community mental health workers is long overdue.
@qldallianceformentalhealth welcomes the Fair Work Commission`s recommendation to award a 15% interim wage increase for eligible SCHADS Award Schedule E workers from 1 October 2026.
Now governments must match this decision with funding. Without coordinated Commonwealth funding, providers face higher costs that could put vital services for people living with psychosocial disability at risk.
Fair wages and sustainable funding must go hand in hand.
Read our submission via the link in our bio.
#QAMH #MentalHealth #CommunityMentalHealth #PsychosocialDisability #SCHADSAward #FairWork #NDIS
It was a pleasure to host some of our members at this year`s QCOSS Budget Breakfast.
A few things from the Treasurer`s address stood out for the community-managed mental health sector.
A welcome move towards greater funding certainty, with specialist homelessness services extended for a further three years to June 2029. The Treasurer acknowledged that year-by-year funding makes workforce planning and long-term service delivery near impossible, something our sector has long advocated. We`d like to see this approach extended more broadly.
Recognition of the sector`s scale, with one in four Queenslanders now working in education, health, care and community safety. It was encouraging to hear social services recognised as a core part of Queensland`s economy.
However, there was no mention of the mental health levy or the indexation gap, two issues critical to the sustainability of community-managed mental health services. The absence of both was noticeable.
We`re shaping how this advocacy continues over the coming weeks and will keep members updated.
Thank you to @qcoss_ Aimee McVeigh and the members who joined us for another valuable morning.
#MentalHealth #CommunityMentalHealth #MentalHealthAdvocacy #CommunityServices #QueenslandMentalHealth
During NAIDOC Week, Chris Trupp, Linda Buxton and Sasha Sullivan from Queensland Alliance for Mental Health visited Birrunga Gallery, an Indigenous-owned gallery in Milton that provides a unique space for First Nations artists, Cultural education and community connection.
We were privileged to hear emerging artists Ahna Maree Barker, Ella Muir, Elysia Love-Anderson and Kane Brunjes, mentored by Suzie Goodchild and Birrunga Wiradyuri, share the stories behind their work. Their reflections on their lives, significant people and events, and the strengths and hopes of mob were a generous reminder of the power of storytelling.
One message especially stayed with us, that being Birrunga`s metaphor of keeping the switch on. Beyond NAIDOC Week, we are challenged to continue listening, learning and acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the lands we are on, strengthening our connection and allyship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples every week of the year.
Thank you to the artists and the Birrunga Gallery team for sharing your stories, knowledge and hospitality.
#NAIDOCWeek #BirrungaGallery #MentalHealth #Meanjin
#AboriginalAndTorresStraitIslander
Discover what traineeships could do for your organisation.
As workforce pressures continue across the mental health sector, organisations are looking for sustainable ways to attract, develop and retain skilled workers.
Our free micro-credential, Hosting Trainees in Mental Health & Peer Work, is designed to demystify traineeships and equip leaders, managers and HR professionals with the knowledge and confidence to successfully host trainees.
Traineeships aren`t simply a training pathway, they`re a strategic investment in your future workforce.
Enrol today in Hosting Mental Health and Peer Work Trainees and discover how traineeships can help strengthen your organisation`s workforce. See link in bio.
#MentalHealthWorkforce #PeerWork #Traineeships #MentalHealth #WorkforceDevelopment #QAMH
Community mental health NGOs are trusted, local and embedded in the communities they serve. They understand the people, places and strengths that make each community unique.
Support close to home helps people stay connected to family, culture, community and everyday life. It builds on local strengths, fosters lasting relationships and makes it easier to access support when it’s needed most.
QAMH advocates for a mental health system that invests in community-based support, because everyone deserves access to quality care close to home.
Our members deliver community mental health services across Queensland. Explore the Member Services Map from our website to see the breadth and reach of community mental health support across the state. Link in bio.
The best mental health support is often the support that`s close to home.
#CommunityMentalHealth #LocalSupport #PlaceBasedCare #CommunityConnection #MentalHealthMatters
Help shape the future of Far North Queensland`s non-clinical community mental health workforce. Register now at the Events and Consultations link in our bio.
Join @qldallianceformentalhealth for the Cairns Grow Your Own Working Session and help co-design a practical workforce plan that creates stronger pathways into non-clinical community mental health roles.
We`ll bring together community members, people with lived and living experience, service providers and sector partners to identify priorities and turn ideas into action.
Wednesday 29 July 2026
9.30am–12.00pm (networking lunch included)
Cairns Sheridan Hotel
Optional afternoon breakout sessions are available for people with lived or living experience of mental health, and people from culturally and linguistically diverse communities.
Attendance is free, but registrations are essential and places are limited.
Attention North Queensland and Far North Queensland! We`re connecting Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work students with organisations ready to host placements BUT we need your help to bridge the gap.
In some communities, students are looking for placements. In others, organisations are ready to host but don`t yet have a student match.
If you`re in North Queensland or Far North Queensland, now`s the time to register your interest.
Are you a student looking for an 80-hour placement? Submit an EOI and we`ll work to connect you with a host organisation.
Are you an organisation ready to host a peer work student? Approved placements receive up to $4,000 to help cover supervision costs.
See the Peer Work Placement Project section on our website.
#certificateiv #studentplacements #workforcedevelopment #farnorthqueensland #regionalqueensland #mentalhealthpeerwork
This week @qldallianceformentalhealth has written to the Treasurer, engaged the Opposition, spoken to media, and coordinated with peaks across the sector, all with one ask: review the 2026-27 NGO indexation rate. Our members deliver mental health support to Queenslanders every day. They cannot absorb a funding gap that arrives next week.
Read our letter on our website.
#MentalHealth #Queensland #CommunityServices #HealthPolicy #Advocacy #FundingMatters #NotForProfit #InvestInMentalHealth
@qldallianceformentalhealth (QAMH) and @mhlepqld (MHLEPQ) say the 2026–27 Queensland Budget delivers significant new investment in mental health, but almost all of it flows to hospitals, emergency departments and inpatient beds. Community-based services that keep people out of these settings remain chronically underfunded and are not addressed in this budget.
QAMH and MHLEPQ continue to call for a greater share of mental health funding to be directed toward community-managed organisations, along with full transparency of how every dollar of Mental Health Levy revenue is allocated, a commitment to pass on Award wage increases, and a funded plan for Foundational Supports that goes beyond a line in a budget document. Read the Media Release from the Latest News section of our website: https://www.qamh.org.au/queensland-budget-welcome-investment-wrong-end-of-the-system/
#mentalhealth #livedexperience #Queenslandbudget #PreventionNotCrisis #queensland
Young people experiencing mental health challenges are too often caught in the missing middle, needing more support than primary care can provide, but unable to access the care they need before reaching crisis.
QAMH welcomes the Australian Government’s investment in headspace Plus and Youth Specialist Care Centres (YSCCs), creating an important opportunity to strengthen support for young people with complex mental health needs.
Our submission on the draft Models of Care for headspace Plus and Youth Specialist Care Centres highlights the foundations needed for success:
· Access for young people with the highest unmet need
· A workforce that reflects young people’s diverse needs and experiences
· Leadership shaped by lived and living expertise
· Connected community care and strong service partnerships
· Culturally safe services shaped by self-determination
To improve outcomes for young people, these models must be designed around access, connection, cultural safety and lived expertise.
Read our full submission - https://www.qamh.org.au/draft-models-of-care-for-headspace-plus-and-youth-specialist-care-centres/
#YouthMentalHealth #MissingMiddle #MentalHealthReform #LivedExperience
Urgent call for Members to sign on by COB Wednesday.
This Thursday, QAMH is submitting a letter directly to the Queensland Treasurer and we want as many member voices behind it as possible.
We`re calling on the Government to fund the 4.75% Fair Work wage increase for community services workers.
Workers deserve this pay rise. But for our members (not-for-profit providers locked into fixed government contracts) wages already make up 70% to 80% of operating costs. Without a funding uplift to match, this increase lands on providers who are already stretched to their limits.
Your name on this letter matters. The more of us who sign, the stronger our message to Government.
To add your organisation, email cjesson@qamh.org.au by COB Wednesday and include your logo if you`d like it featured alongside our other members.
We’re also watching the Commonwealth and NDIS funding picture closely. We`re currently in touch with our national peaks to see whether they`re planning a similar push at the federal level. If they`re not, we`ll be writing our own letter to the Commonwealth. Watch this space.
Read the letter and see who has already signed on: https://www.qamh.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/QAMH-Letter-to-Treasury-SCHADS.pdf
A total funding pool of $300,000 is available through the Queensland Mental Health Week 2026 Grants Program. Apply!
Build Community, Build Wellbeing
The Queensland Mental Health Week 2026 Grants Program is now open. Host a local event, train your team in Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), or do both.
$150,000 is available to build mentally healthy communities across Queensland through the Queensland Mental Health Week 2026 Community Events Grants Program. Closes 17 July 2026.
An additional $150,000 is available through the Mental Health First Aid Training Grants Program. These grants are first-come, first-served.
Funded by the Queensland Government through the @qld_mhc and administered by @qldallianceformentalhealth the Queensland Mental Health Week 2026 Grants Program is open for schools, workplaces, sporting clubs and community groups across Queensland.
Make Mental Health Week (3–11 October 2026) happen in your community. Apply now. www.qldmentalhealthweek.org.au
#QMHW2026 #CommunityGrants #MentalHealthFirstAid #Queensland
Final decision on the SCHADS Award gender undervaluation review.
The Fair Work Commission’s SCHADS Award decision is an important step toward addressing gender-based undervaluation across our sector.
@qldallianceformentalhealth welcomes the recognition of lived and equivalent experience as a valid basis for classification, a reform we strongly advocated for.
While the decision advances pay equity for the care and community services workforce, providers must receive adequate funding to meet increased Award obligations.
Community based mental health services cannot absorb rising wage costs within existing funding arrangements. Every dollar of increased wage costs must be matched by government funding to protect essential mental health services.
Read the briefing and guide for the review on our website: https://www.qamh.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/QAMH-Member-Briefing-on-SCHADS-Changes.pdf
#SCHADSAward #MentalHealth #CommunityMentalHealth #LivedExperience #PayEquity #PeerWork #MentalHealthWorkforce #Queensland #MentalHealthAdvocacy
QAMH recently attended the Queensland Mental Health Commission’s (QMHC) 2026 Leading Reform Summit, joining sector leaders, policymakers, and lived experience representatives to shape the future of mental health reform in Queensland.
Over two days, our team took part in discussions, collaborative workshops, and forward-looking conversations. We were also proud to contribute to the panel, The 2026 Reform Landscape: Positioning Queensland for the Future, sharing insights on the opportunities and challenges shaping the sector.
The Summit was an opportunity to reconnect with members, peers, and colleagues, sparking meaningful conversations, fresh ideas, and valuable collaborations.
A big thank you @qld_mhc for hosting such an inspiring event and to everyone who shared their expertise and passion for reform. Events like this showcase the impact of working together to drive better outcomes for Queensland communities.
Pictured, the QAMH team:
Back (L to R): Chloe Jesson, Chelsea Jones
Middle (L to R): Annalise Roberts, Linda Buxton, Yumi Stamet, Kat Bhathena, Michelle Wattridge, Sasha Sullivan
Front (L to R): Chris Trupp, Allie Andrew, Jun Song
#MentalHealthReform #QueenslandMentalHealth #CommunityMentalHealth #MentalHealthLeadership #LivedExperience #Collaboration #WorkingTogether
