Northern Territory Mental Health Coalition e-bulletin

Latest News from the Coalition

AGM News - 22 November 2018.

The Coalition held a successful AG will the following members being reinstated to the Board. Congratulations.
Chairperson - Judy Davis (Catholic Care NT)
Lorraine Davies - Vice Chair (Mental Health Fellowship of Australia)
Merrilee Cox - Treasurer
Vacant - Secretariat
Jade Gooding - Ordinary Board Member
Andrew Kenyon - Ordinary Board Member
Michael Soler - Ordinary Board Member

I look forward to working with you all and our members.

New Supported Independent Living Provider Pack.
The new Supported Independent Living (SIL) Provider Pack has arrived. Providers will have until December 18, 2018 to transition to the new SIL Pack. Following that date, older versions of the template will no longer be accepted. Learn more.

Community lead on suicide prevention, a new report “offers hope and inspiration”.
Inspiring stories of how two Indigenous communities dramatically reduced high levels of suicide among their people through community led and owned solutions were shared at the second National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Conference in Perth recently. To review the full report.

Monitoring Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Reform: National Report 2018.
The National Mental Health Commission has released its 2018 report card on mental health & suicide prevention. The 2018 report shows progress and outcomes of key national reforms in mental health, including reporting on the Primary Health Networks, the National Disability Insurance Scheme, Suicide Prevention initiatives and the Fifth National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan. Learn more.

Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA)

Community Mental Health Australia, promoting the importance and benefits of community mental health and recovery services across Australia. Visit the website here

Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA) is a coalition of eight state and territory peak community mental health organisations. CMHA, through its state and territory bodies, has direct links and contact with community mental health organisations delivering services to the community. The NT Mental Health Coalition is a founding member of the CMHA. CMHA continues to lobby and advocate on behalf of the community mental health sector.

Commonwealth Mental Health Programs Monitoring Project. Funding provided by the National Mental Health Commission.
The University of Sydney in partnership with CMHA have now finalised a list of providers from each jurisdiction, spread across all three program areas, Personal Helpers and Mentors (PHaMs), Partners in Recovery (PIR) and Day to Day Living (D2DL). The first data collection will begin this month and will be for a 3 month period – August to October 2018.

Department of Health Mental Health and Aged Care Working Group.

CMHA's representative on the recently formed Department of Health Mental Health and Aged Care Working Group, is Angus Clelland, CEO Mental Health Victoria. A workshop was held in July to discuss the “Improved Access to Psychological Services in Residential Care” initiative, which was announced as part of the 2018-19 “More Choices for a Longer Life” Federal Government Budget Package. The initiative intends to address the lack of access to psychological therapies by residents living in a Residential Aged Care Facilities. The Federal Department of Health has circulated a communique from the workshop outlining a summary of the measure and key outcomes from the working group discussions.

National Disability Service Providers Benchmarking Survey Expert Advisory Group.

AbleInsight has been appointed by the National Disability Insurance Agency to independently manage the National Disability Service Providers Benchmarking Survey (the ‘Survey’). The Survey is supported by the NDIA, National Disability Services and Mental Health Australia are keen to engage with, and involve, more psychosocial providers. Therese Flood, Associated Director, AbleInsight is managing the survey. To participate and link to the survey.

NDIS News

NDS Resource Update - Resources, tools and products for the disability sector. To learn more.

NDIA announce the launch of the Independent Assessment Pilot. To learn more.

Mental Health Australia Psychosocial Disability Pathway.
This report produced by Mental Health Australia provides 29 recommendations to improve NDIA engagement and the NDIS pathway for people with psychosocial disability, based on extensive consultations with a range of appropriate stakeholders.Learn more.

Joint Standing Committee on the NDIS - Market Readiness for Provision of Services Under the NDIS.
The Joint Standing Committee report makes 29 recommendations that aim to ensure that appropriate strategies and responses (by NDIA and Department of Social Services) are implemented to stimulate growth of marketplace and ensure timely access to required supports. Learn more.

Psychosocial Disability Stream added to NDIS.
The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will overhaul the way it deals with mental illness under a federal plan that will see specialised staff and planners hired and a new focus on the episodic nature of illnesses. Psychosocial disability was a late inclusion to the $22 billion scheme but 64,000 places were added before it began for people with mental illness so severe it stopped them going out in public, working or supporting themselves. Learn more.

National Disability Practitioners (NDP) resources update: Sole traders and student placements.
The NDP has developed the NDIS and Sole Trader Hub, bringing together information for sole traders in one place this includes supervisors, managers and students, the Student Placement Hub lets you do the necessary preparation, planning, communication and evaluation to have a successful student placement. For more information please visit the links NDP NDIS and Sole Trader Hub and NDP Student Placement Hub.

Self- Management webinar video is still available.
The National Disability Insurance Agency (NDIA) recently hosted a panel style webinar to talk about self-management. The video and transcript of the event are available online. The webinar provides the opportunity to hear about self-management, how it works and the benefits from families and people who are self-managing their NDIS plan. A new self-management guide is also available for participants looking to learn more about self-management.

Improved Search Functionality and Ability to Edit Service Bookings.
The NDIA has made changes to the participant search function in the provider portal. The addition of new and refined search criteria, will ensure providers can identify participants correctly. This information is required when providers are searching for participants in the portal. The change does not impact existing service bookings, or alter the process for making a service booking.

All new myplace portal functionality is listed on the NDIS website under 'What can I do on the myplace portal?' Guidance for the portal is updated regularly and step-by-step guides are available on the Provider Toolkit - Help and Support.

Northern Territory statistics 2018.
843 people in the Northern Territory are benefiting from the NDIS with 843 participants with an approved plan and 16% growth in the number of participants this quarter.

NDIS in the Northern Territory. Click here.

See the Latest News in the NDIS Newsletter - .Keep up to date with the NDIS news. The latest edition of the NDIS newsletter has been released. It includes updates on the changes to the portal, new participant booklets and much more.

Understanding Participant Choice in the NDIS - Survey.
National Disability Services (NDS) is partnering with the Institute for Choice at the University of South Australia to conduct a survey on how current (and prospective) NDIS participants make choices about service providers, what they value and don't value in a service provider. The online survey also gives people an opportunity to comment on associated issues, like the quality of planning, access to advocacy, and the availability of services and supports. National Disability Service (NDS) has developed resources to support people to participate in the study, available here. To access the survey click here.

Other News

Government offers $10m in grants to boost NDIS jobs and market.
The Hon Paul Fletcher MP and The Hon Sarah Henderson MP announced the first round of the Jobs and Market Fund (JMF) grants.

Organisations with innovative ideas to improve the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) workforce are being invited to apply for a share of $10 million in funding to expand the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) workforce and services. To learn more.

FASD News! Minister Ken Wyatt and Greg Hunt have announced the National FASD Strategic Action Plan for 2018 -2028 with more than $7 million allocated to the plan. Aboriginal Peak Organisation (APO) NT Top End held a FASD forum which we held in late May, 2018. To view the report.
And the media announcement in the National Aboriginal Community Control Health Organisation (NACCHO).

Mental Health #1 issue for youth - Mission Australia's Annual Youth Survey
Mental health was again identified as the number one issue affecting youth in the The Mission Australia 2018 Youth Survey. Mental Health has been identified in the top three issues affecting youth for the last 3 years and was identified in 2018 as the number one issue across all states and territories. The Mission Australia Youth Survey is the largest annual survey of youth of its kind in the country. More.

National Communications Charter for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention.
Life in Mind was launched by the National Communication Charter. The Charter was developed to provide a guide on how to talk about mental health and suicide, as well as improve how workplaces, governments and the community respond to mental health and suicide.

Organisations and individuals are encouraged to become signatories to the Charter to show their support to its principles and key messages. You can find out more about the Charter and what it means to become a signatory to the document.

Peer Work in Australia - a new future for mental health.
The book was created by two of the Australia's leading community mental health support agencies Mind Australia Limited and Flourish Australia. You can order a copy of “Peer Work in Australia: A new future for mental health” by clicking on the attached link https://www.flourishaustralia.org.au/peer-work-australia

Events, Conferences & Training

National Disability Conference Initiative 2018-19.

The Australian Government is inviting applications through an open process to apply for the Disability, Mental Health and Carers Program – Disability and Carer Support - National Disability Conference Initiative. The initiative provides funding of up to $10,000 for disability-related conferences with a national focus planned for the 2018-19 year. For more information.

teamHEALTH, Youth Mental Health First Aid workshops. Darwin 6 & 7 December.
To register for the Darwin workshops. Register A workshop has also been planned for the 23 & 24 January 2019. To Register

1st National NDIS Conference. 11 & 13 December, Brisbane.
This conference is being organised by Indigenous Conference Services (Australia), a privately owned, wholly self-funded Indigenous business which specialists in events and conferences. A change in regulations has meant a shift from the Brisbane Marriott Hotel to the Pullman Brisbane King George Square Hotel. For more and to register.

Employment

TeamHEALTH provided care and deliver mental health support to Territorians. Locations include Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine, Daly River, Gunbalanya and Maningrida. For more information.

Anglicare NT offers a range of career opportunities in the community and social services sector in a diverse range of fields such as children and youth, family relationships and counselling, out of home care, refugee and migrant, corporate services, financial counselling, mental health, disability and home care, social enterprises and specialist homelessness services. There are several positions available, for more information,
click here

Carers NT is looking for a Mental Health Team Leader. Carers NT is a not-for-profit community based organisation dedicated to improving the lives of unpaid carers living in the NT is looking for a Respite Advisor. For more information.