Northern Territory Mental Health Coalition e-bulletin

Latest News from the Coalition

Joint Submission to the Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs Accessibility and Quality of Mental Health Services in Rural and Remote Australia, May 2018.

The Northern Territory Mental Health Coalition (the Coalition) and the Queensland Alliance for Mental Health (QAMH), submitted a joint submission to the Inquiry. To read the submission click here

MHCC Recovery Oriented Language Guide.
The Mental Health Coordinating Council (MHCC) has updated the Recovery Oriented Language Guide first developed in 2013. The second edition takes into account trauma-informed care, age-related and supported decision-making language considerations. To view the Guide

My Health Record opt-out
Australians who do not want their medical records stored on the ‘My Health Record’ electronic database have between 16 July and 15 October 2018 to opt out of the scheme. The Australian Government ‘My Health Record’ system collates individuals’ health records in one place, allowing information sharing between healthcare providers. Individuals can cancel their My Health Record at any time, or create one if they previously opted out. For more information click here

NDIA Plan Review Process Slammed by Ombudsman Report - May 2018
Recently, Commonwealth Ombudsman Michael Manthorpe released a report into the NDIA's handling of reviews. The report examined significant backlogs, delays in decision-making and poor communication practices. The NDIA acknowledged some reviews were taking up to nine months to be completed. In February there were 8,100 reviews still on the books, with more than 600 reviews being added every week. The NDIA accepted the 20 recommendations made in the report and said it was committed to improving the way it deals with reviews and outlined actions taken to reduce waiting times and increase communication with recipients.

The Role of Physical Activity in Closing the Life Expectancy Gap in Mental Illness
A recent study has identified that people living with a mental illness die much earlier than the rest of the population, mostly due to preventable cardiovascular disease. The Role of Sport, Exercise and Physical Activity in Closing the Life Expectancy Gap for People With Mental Illness, is the first joint international consensus statement, officially released in the Translational Journal of the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM). to read the full report click here

2018/2019 FEDERAL BUDGET - Community Mental Health views

Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA) President, Liz Crowther, welcomes measures in the 2018/2019 Federal Budget. There are still questions around how the measures will work in practice. To view CMHA's media release click here

Mental Health Australia (MHA) welcomes important new investments in mental health programs and services. To view Mental Health Australia Budget Summary click here

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 link and contact to 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.

To view CMHA's Submissions and Publications click here

Senate Standing Committee on Community Affairs inquiry into the accessibility and quality of mental health services in rural and remote Australia.
CMHA’s has developed a submission to the Inquiry. CMHA's submissions will be published on the Committee's website.

CMHA calls for a national mental health consumer peak - President Liz Crowther added the organisation’s support for the establishment of a national mental health consumer peak. To view the media released click here

SAVE THE DATE - 2nd Annual Mental Health & NDIS Conference - calling for abstracts.
Mental Health Policy, Practice & Reform: Getting It Right In A Time Of Change
Proudly organised by Mental Health Victoria and Community Mental Health Australia, abstracts focusing on the conference themes are now welcomed:
•             Implementation of the 5th National Mental Health & Suicide Prevention Plan
•             The intersection of physical & mental health
•             Integrated service models
•             Co-design / co-production of mental health service delivery
•             Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health
•             Integration of the NDIS into the broader health system
•             Service quality & safety

31 October - 1 November, Melbourne Convention & Exhibition Centre. For more information click here

NDIS News

NDIS in the Northern Territory - for the latest information click here

NDIS 4th Quarter Newsletter - click here

NDIA Updates
NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission Rules, Explanatory Statements and NDIS (Quality Indicators) guidelines. Click here

A Guide for GPs and Allied Health Professionals to understanding the NDIS. Click here
The NDIA have announced nine recommendations from the Independent Pricing Review conducted by McKinsey & Company that will be prioritised for implementation with the Price Guide March 2018 To view the full report click here

National Disability Services (NDS) Learn and Develop - News Update
Enhanced NDS Learning Portal launched: Welcome to the Disability Learning Centre
From tomorrow, Friday 1 June, the NDS Learning Portal will be upgraded to provide enhanced features to learners. Click here

NDS Resources, tools and products for the disability sector - Finding time in our busy work days to attend workshops or events can be a real challenge. The good news is that NDS Learn and Develop is offering more flexibility than ever, with a range of recorded webinars, videos and online learning resources available on demand. To find out more Click here

ABC The World Today: Ombudsman report stresses crucial changes for NDIS
The report outlines the Ombudsman report, with 23 recommendations for action to improve NDIS processes amid a backlog of plan reviews. National Disability Services, Chief Executive Ken Baker features in the report. Click here to read the full report.

Other

REVIEW OF THE AUSTRALIAN CHARTER OF HEALTHCARE RIGHTS

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (the Commission) is undertaking a Review of the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights. A survey has been developed for the purpose of an open public consultation to gather as much feedback as possible from the Australian community. The results of this survey will be used to develop the next version of the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights.

The public consultation period begins on 15th May 2018 and closes on the 12th June 2018. To participate in the Commission’s public consultation, follow this link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/JYLML9N

If you have any questions about the Commission’s Review of the Australian Charter of Healthcare Rights, or you would like more information on the Review click here if you have any questions on the Review Email:mail@safetyandquality.gov.au or phone the Commission on (02) 9126 3600.

Optimising Support for Psychosocial Disability Project - Mental Health Australia
Mental Health Australia (MHA) is managing an exciting project which aims to develop alternative ways to provide support for NDIS participants with psychosocial disability. Over the next coming months, MHA will be working with consumers, carers and other experts through a Delphi process to refine a set of alternative typical support packages. To learn more about the Project click here New resources and free online learning from Emerging Minds.

The Emerging Minds: National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health is a new workforce development initiative funded by the Australian Government. The project is led by Emerging Minds and delivered in partnership with the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), the Australian National University (ANU), the Parenting Research Centre (PRC) and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).

The project focuses on building workforce capacity to better support children and parents/carers and improve the mental health outcomes of children aged 0 – 12 years. Clinical and non-clinical professionals have free access to:
• a national web hub providing innovative online training, implementation and practice support tools and information, webinars, events and the latest evidence and news
• regional support where local leaders in child, parent and family wellbeing can become part of a network of infant and child mental health champions. To find out more visit the Centre’s national web hub today at https://emergingminds.com.au/

Investing to Save - KPMG and Mental Health Australia report - May 2018
The economic benefits for Australia to investment in mental health reform, tackles a set of complex issues from a new perspective, and a new pragmatic approach to the scale of the task of reforming our mental health system. To read the full report click here

A Renewed National focus: Bringing together the mental health and multicultural sectors.
Mental Health Australia has joined forces with the Federation of Ethnic Communities’ Councils of Australia (FECCA) and the National Ethnic Disability Alliance (NEDA) as part of an alliance to deliver a new national multicultural mental health project funded by the Australian Government. The project will work with multicultural mental health consumers and carers to provide a renewed and much needed national focus on mental health and suicide prevention for people from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) backgrounds. Click here to view the joint media release.

Events, Conferences & Training

TeamHEALTH’s award winning, tried and tested, NDIS CREW Training in Darwin
Get your Support Coordination skills up to scratch. The NDIS WoW (Ways of Working) training will provide you with the tools and technical skills required to provide NDIS Support Coordination (Level 2). The CREW training encourages staff to leverage the skills they already have and apply them in the new NDIS environment to get the best outcomes for Participants. Training 4th June at TeamHEALTH Yarrawonga. Click here for more information. and to register here. D2DL program for June. Click here

2018 Indigenous Men’s and Women's Wellbeing Conference - 13-15 June.
The 2018 Indigenous Men’s Health Conference is scheduled during the 2018 Men’s Health Week synchronising its themes, “Men and Families – Making Healthy Connections” which explores the different ways families and communities support the health and wellbeing of men and boys. Consequently, the 2018 Indigenous Women’s Wellbeing Conference coincides with this year’s NAIDOC theme, “Because of Her, We Can” celebrating accomplishments of Indigenous women all throughout Australia.
For further information, please visit the conference website: or email here

Association of Alcohol and Other Drug Agencies NT (AADANT) - is offering Trauma Informed Practice/Case Management training and Negotiated Professional Supervision Training in Darwin and Alice Springs commencing in June. AADANT is offering workers from the drug and alcohol and mental health sectors a one-day training opportunity. See flyers: Trauma Informed Practice/Case Management Training Negotiated Professional Supervision Training

Trauma Informed Practice/Case Management - Darwin 19 June and Alice Springs 3rd July. To register for the training in Darwin click here To register for the training in Alice Springs click here
For any further information contact Katie on 8943 0608 or email: project@aadant.org.au

Australian Psychosis Conference 14 - 16 September 2018.
The Australian Psychosis Conference aims to bring together researchers, clinicians, consumers and carers, and all who are interested in the best possible outcomes for people with a psychotic illness. For more information on the Conference click here

2018 TheMHS Learning Network Conference, Adelaide: 28 - 31 August. For more information and to register click here

44th International Mental Health Nursing Conference, Cairns 24 - 25 October. The theme for this year is, 'Mental Health is a Human Right'. For more information and to register click here

NIDAC18 The 5th National Indigenous Drug and Alcohol Conference - November 2018 Save the date. The theme, ‘Responding to Complexity’, acknowledges the range of issues including chronic health problems; injuries from assaults; homelessness; criminal offences and incarceration; and social disruptions including family and cultural breakdown that accompany harmful alcohol and other drug use. Further information on the conference click here

The National Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference and the World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference: 20 - 23 November in Perth WA. Further conference updates to follow on the Centre of Best Practice Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention website. Click here to view.

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 click here

Employment

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

CatholicCareNT provides unique career and personal opportunities that include travel and the experience of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in both local and remote community settings. Several positions available click here

Red Cross NT is built on the power of humanity. We believe in inclusiveness, diversity and equality and are committed to ensuring that our workplaces are a reflection of that. We encourage talented people from all backgrounds, abilities and identities to apply to our vacancies. click here

TeamHEALTH - If you want to make a difference and support people in our community to help them reach their goals in their recovery journey, then TeamHEALTH is the place to be. Join the passionate and diverse team and unite in providing care and delivering mental health support to Territorians. Offices are located in Darwin, Palmerston, Katherine, Nauiya (Daly River), Gunbalanya and Maningrida. For current vacancies click here

Central Australian Aboriginal Congress (CAAC) providing support and advocacy for Aboriginal people in the struggle for justice and equity. Click here for current positions vacant.

Katherine West Health Board - an innovative field leading health services provider in remote community controlled primary health care. For job opportunities click here

Menzies School of Health Research - Menzies Alice Springs is looking for Indigenous people with cross-cultural skills and community networks to work with Menzies researchers on a new study. The study is called, Wellbeing Intervention for Chronic Kidney Disease (WICKD). It aims to address the mental health and well being of Indigenous people on dialysis. For more information contact Menzies by clicking here