National Mental Health Peer Workforce Forum 2011
Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA),
The National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum (NMHCCF) &
Community Services and Health Industry Skills Council (CS&HISC)
National Mental Health Peer Workforce Forum
Was held on Tuesday 22 February 2011 at Australian Technology Park, Locomotive Workshop Conference Centre, 2 Locomotive Street Eveleigh NSW (Near Redfern train station)
To view forum presentations, go to our Peer Workforce webpage.
Conference flyer with registration form and subsidy application
Identifying and prioritising peer workforce development needs!
This forum focussed on identifying workforce development priorities for the mental health peer workforce in Australia.
What is the Peer Workforce?
The peer workforce refers to people employed in job roles that require them to identify as being, or having been, mental health consumers or carers. The term peer workforce is used to reflect the diversity of the consumer worker and carer worker job roles in Australia (e.g. Peer Support Worker, Consumer Advocate, Consumer Consultant, Carer Representative, Carer Advocate, Consumer or Carer Team Leader/Manager).
Key issues
This forum addressed the following key issues that relate to development of the peer workforce.
- What is currently known about the peer workforce in Australia?
- What is best practice in peer work (Australia, international)?
- What issues exist for the Australian peer workforce and what are priority development areas?
- What competencies and skills are needed for peer work?
Keynote speakers included:
- Larry Fricks – Reflection on experiences In establishing a peer workforce and consumer operated services and programs In The USA
- Eileen McDonald (Carer) and Isabell Collins (Consumer) NMHCCF representatives – Supporting and developing the Australian consumer and carer identified peer workforce
- Michael Burge (Consumer representative) & Vanessa Dayeh (CS&HISC representative) – A new national qualification for the Mental Health peer workforce
- Phil Nadin, Psychiatric Rehabilitation Australia & CMHA representative –non-government/community managed organisation perspectives on peer workforce development in Australia
Who attended
The primary audience for the forum is the peer workforce (i.e. consumer workers and carer workers from government/public, private and non-government community managed mental health services) and those who are employers or managers of peer workers. The secondary audience is others with an interest in mental health peer workforce development.
Travel assistance was available
Funding has been provided by the Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing via a Mental Health Council of Australia Conference Grant to help provide travel and other assistance subsidies for people wishing to attend the forum. As this is a national forum, peer workers from each State and Territory are encouraged to apply.
Cost
$40 for peer workforce, consumers & carers, and non-government/community managed organisation staff
$100 for other interested persons
For more information
Call MHCC on 02 9555 8388 or info@mhcc.org.au
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