With funding from State Trustees Australia Fund, Mental Health Victoria currently oversees a project aimed at integrating consumer control and choice principles into service design and delivery across the ageing, disability and mental health sectors.
Mental Health Victoria is one of nine organisations on the Ageing, Disability and Mental Health Collaborative Panel (the Panel). The panel was established in 2014 to build the capacity of the ageing, disability and mental health sectors to:
- Prepare for the transformational changes associated with Government reforms including the introduction of the National Disability Insurance Scheme and the introduction of the Aged Care Gateway and related funding reforms
- Develop good practice in response to these reforms in relation to consumer led service delivery, new training approaches, learning from the sharing of experiences and collaboration on common challenges and opportunities
The Ageing, Disability and Mental Health Collaborative Panel was initiated and is supported by State Trustees Australia Foundation and helps strategically guide the State Trustees Australia Foundation’s larger grants program to gain momentum in supporting vulnerable Victorians.
With funding from State Trustees Australia Fund, Mental Health Victoria currently oversees a project aimed at integrating consumer control and choice principles into service design and delivery across the ageing, disability and mental health sectors.
Based on numerous consultations across the three sectors, information and resource audits and local case studies, Mental Health Victoria is developing a training workshop for senior staff to better understand and implement core principles of consumer control and choice within their organisations.
The training aims to help participants to:
- Better understand the key principles of consumer control and choice: what it is (and isn’t)
- Understand the rationale behind why these principles are important
- Understand how to incorporate and embed these principles into the structure and values of an organisation
- Take back practical and immediate actions to their workplace
- Have the opportunity to share and learn from others across the ageing, disability and mental health sectors
To complement the training, Mental Health Victoria is developing a website containing a framework for understanding the principles of the training as well as further information and resources to broaden one’s understanding of the rationale and practice behind consumer control and choice in service provision.
This project aims to draw on linkages with a number of other Collaborative Panel projects, including collaboration with National Disability Services Victoria (NDSV) and the Australian Federation of Disability Organisations (AFDO).
The Ageing, Disability and Mental Health Collaborative Panel is chaired by AFDO CEO Ross Joyce and includes representatives from:
- Australian Federation of Disability Organisations
- Carers Victoria
- COTA Victoria
- Ethnic Communities’ Council of Victoria
- National Disability Services
- State Trustees Australia Foundation
- Victorian Aboriginal Controlled Health Organisation Inc
- Victorian Council of Social Service and
- Mental Health Victoria
