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About the sector

The community managed mental health sector is a key provider of mental health services and supports to people in the community.

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Annual Reports

Find detailed information on the work we do to support the community managed mental health sector.

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Latest news

Catch up on all the latest news and stories from the community-based mental health sector.

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Sector events

Discover a range of ways to connect and learn through our events, forums and talks.

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Our Work arrow

Mental Health Rights Manual

An online guide to help explain your legal and human rights in the mental health and human services systems in New South Wales.

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Recovery Oriented Language Guide

Words are important. The language we use and the stories we tell have great significance to all involved.

See the guide

Registered training

Build on your lived experience or on-the-job experience and receive a nationally recognised qualification.

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Customised training

Contact us to design a professional development solution for your workforce and organisation.

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Our members

Our members are community managed mental health organisations, large and small, local and NSW-wide service providers.

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Become a member

Join a strong network of community-based mental health organisations delivering better outcomes for people in New South Wales.

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Publications & Initiatives

Embracing Change: Webinars & National Forum

The Embracing Change Project is for organisations that provide services and supports to people living with, or at risk of developing, psychosocial disability and their supporters.

The purpose of the Project is to foster greater awareness of the NDIS Practice Standards and Quality Indicators from a psychosocial disability perspective. Project activities support existing and prospective NDIS providers to achieve increasing alignment with the NDIS Practice Standard.

The Embracing Change: Webinars & National Forum consists of a series of ten webinars and a National NDIS and Psychosocial Disability and Quality and Safety Forum.

To gain more insight into this important project, you are invited to read the Embracing Change Project Report.

EMBRACING CHANGE Webinar series

Catch up on all of the webinars held as part of the Embracing Change Project. Watch the recordings, read the transcripts or view the free resources. For help and instructions on accessing the resources see details at the end of this page.

Webinar 10: Future directions for NDIS psychosocial disability, Quality and Safeguarding

The tenth and final webinar in the Embracing Change series explores significant NDIS psychosocial disability, Quality and Safeguarding themes and future directions for the sector informed by the Embracing Change Project Report.

Webinar Speakers

  • Dr Gerry Naughtin, Strategic Advisor, Mental Health and Psychosocial Disability, National Disability Insurance Agency
  • Dr Lynne Coulson Barr OAM, Branch Head- South East Australia, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
  • Bill Gye OAM, CEO, Community Mental Health Australia
  • Karen Stace, Senior Manager State & Territory Operations, National Disability Services

Watch this webinar to learn about:

  • Key NDIS psychosocial disability, Quality and Safeguarding issues
  • Systemic NDIS issues impacting on Quality and Safeguarding in a psychosocial disability context
  • Understand the key Quality and Safeguarding issues as they relate to NDIS participants with a psychosocial disability and NDIS service providers delivering NDIS psychosocial disability supports
  • Key themes emerging from the Embracing Change Project Report

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Report and Transcript


Webinar 9: NDIS Quality Management

The ninth webinar in the series unpacks Quality Management under the NDIS Practice Standards.

Webinar speakers

  • Karen Stace, Senior Manager State & Territory Operations, National Disability Services
  • Colleen Rivers, Quality and Compliance Manager – Community, Anglican Community Services
  • Ashley Creighton, General Manager, Safeguarding and Practice Excellence, Aruma (formerly House with No Steps and The Tipping Foundation).

Watch this webinar to learn about:

  • Key Quality Management principles, mechanisms and practices as they relate to NDIS psychosocial disability service providers,
  • NDIS service provider experience of developing and implementing Quality Management Systems, and
  • Implementation ready tools, resources and Quality Management System models.

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Resources (PDF)


Webinar 8: Governance, Information Management and Privacy for Registered NDIS Providers

The eighth webinar in the series focuses on Governance, Information Management and Privacy under the NDIS Practice Standards.

Webinar speakers

  • Katrina Broadbent, Account Manager of the NDIS Audit Program, PricewaterhouseCoopers
  • Mae Tanner, Lawyer and Manager of Training, Justice Connect
  • Catherine Scott-Richardson, National Manager of Governance, Safety & Quality, Stride

Watch this webinar to learn about:

  • Governance, Information Management and Privacy under the NDIS Practice Standards
  • How the Australian Privacy Principles apply to the Information Management & Privacy and Dignity modules of the NDIS Practice Standards
  • Development and Implementation of Governance, Information Management and Privacy systems in a NDIS psychosocial disability service provider

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Report and Transcript (PDF)
Webinar Resources (PDF)


Webinar 7: Worker Screening and Workers Requirements for Registers NDIS Providers

The seventh webinar in the series focuses on NDIS Worker Screening and Workers Requirements.

Webinar speakers

  • Fran Cole, Director of Policy and Strategy, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
  • Laura Dorahy, National Director of Complaints and Reportable Incidents, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
  • Kimberly Hibbert, National Manager of Strategy and Workforce Development, Mental Health and Wellbeing Australia.

Watch this webinar to learn about:

  • Worker Screening requirements for NDIS service providers including the NDIS Worker Screening Check
  • Practice behavior’s and expectations of workers under the NDIS Code of Conduct and the Incident Management and Complaints Management NDIS Practice Standards
  • How a NDIS psychosocial disability service provider is implementing worker screening and worker requirements in their Human Resources and Professional Development systems

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Report and Transcript (PDF)
Webinar Resources (PDF)
Participant Questions on Notice (PDF)


Webinar 6: Understanding behaviour support under the NDIS

The sixth webinar in the series focuses on Behaviour Support under the NDIS.

Webinar speakers

  • Tracey Harkness, National Director Behaviour Support, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
  • Evelyn Ireland, Senior Behaviour Support Practitioner, The Disability Trust.

Watch this webinar to learn about:

  • The NDIS Commission’s requirements for NDIS service providers with respect to Behaviour Support as they apply to Specialist Behaviour Support Providers and Implementing Service Providers
  • The principles and practices of Behaviour Support including the principles of Positive Behaviour Support
  • How a team of behaviour support practitioners work to support NDIS participants with a psychosocial disability to develop and implement their behaviour support plan

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Report and Transcript (PDF)
Webinar Resources (PDF)
Participant Questions on Notice (PDF)


Webinar 5: Provision of Supports and Provision of Supports Environment

The fifth webinar in the series is about the responsibilities of NDIS providers when providing supports to participants.

Webinar speakers

  • Debbie Hamilton, Mental Health Advocate
  • Penny Halpin, Program Leader, HDAA Australia
  • Peter Orr, Chief Customer Services Officer, New Horizons

Watch this webinar to learn about:

  • Understand NDIS access and planning from the perspective of a person with lived experience of mental health
  • NDIS Approved Quality Auditor’s into the requirements of the Provision of Supports and the Provision of Supports Environment standards for NDIS psychosocial disability service providers
  • Mechanisms and process New Horizons has put in place to give effect to the Provision of Supports and the Provision of Supports Environment standards

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Report and Transcript (PDF)
Webinar Resources (PDF)


Webinar 4: Feedback, Complaints, Incident and Human Resources Management and Continuity of Supports

The fourth webinar in the series focuses on Practice standards for Governance and Operational Management.

Webinar speakers

  • Graham Humphreys, Director of Complaints for NSW/ACT, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
  • Christine Regan, State Director, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
  • Kate Wilson, Quality and Safety Manager, One Door Mental Health

View the recording to learn about:

  • Complaints Management, Incident Management, Human Resource Management and Continuity of Supports, NDIS Practice Standards
  • Identify systems, work practices and documentation specific to psychosocial service providers that can meet these outcomes and quality indicators
  • Hear some examples of how a NDIS psychosocial disability provider has meet these standards and embed a culture of Continuous Quality of Improvement in their organisation
  • The One Door Mental Health respond to the COVID-19 pandemic

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Report and Transcript (PDF)
Webinar Resources (PDF)
Participant Questions on Notice


Webinar 3: Governance, Operations, Risk, Quality and Information Management

The third webinar in the series focuses on Governance, Operations, Risk, Quality and Information Management.

Webinar speakers

  • Sherie Avalos, Acting Director of Provider Registration, NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission
  • Fiona Loughlan, General Manager, Institute for Healthy Communities Australia

Watch this webinar to learn about:

  • The audit process including what to expect from Certification and Verification audits
  • Principles of Quality Management focusing on Continuous Quality Improvement
  • Examples of evidence aligned the requirements of Governance and Operational Management standard

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Report and Transcript (PDF)
Webinar Resources (PDF)


Webinar 2: Demonstrating Compliance with NDIS Practice Standards

The second webinar in the series focuses on NDIS participant Rights and Responsibilities practice standard and explores what psychosocial services can expect when aligning work practice with the NDIS Practice Standards.

Webinar speakers

  • Karen Hersey, Project Manager: Embracing Change Project (September 2019 to March 2020), Mental Health Coordinating Council
  • Juliet Middleton, General Manager Service Delivery, Aftercare (Stride Mental Health as of April 2020)

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Report and Transcript (PDF)
Webinar Resources (PDF)


Webinar 1: Pain Points and Priorities for Providers in Applying the Practice Standards in Psychosocial Disability Services

The first webinar in the series introduces the key features of the NDIS Quality and Safeguarding Framework, comparing it to the state and territory quality and safeguarding requirements for disability service providers it replaced. Discussion explores and prioritises topics in upcoming webinars, including:

  •  Registration Requirements
  •  Code of Conduct
  •  Practice Standards
  •  Complaints Management
  •  Incident Management and Reportable Incidents
  •  Worker Screening
  •  Behaviour Support

Webinar speakers

  • Karen Hersey, Project Manager: Embracing Change Project (September 2019 to March 2020), Mental Health Coordinating Council
  • John Carrigan, National Manager: Quality and Safeguards, National Disability Services

Access a recording of the webinar
Webinar Powerpoint (PDF)
Webinar Report and Transcript (PDF)
Webinar Resources (PDF)


Instructions on how to access webinar recordings

Missed the live stream or want to re-watch one? All of our webinars are available for you to watch on-demand.

If you have already registered for the webinar, enter your registered email at the top of the page and click the blue ‘join’ button and follow the prompts. This will open up a new window with a recording of the webinar.

If you have not previously registered for the specific webinar, fill out the form on this page to register. Once you have registered, you can enter the same email address that you used register into the login at the top of the page (under Already registered? Login below to view) and click the blue ‘join’ button and follow the prompts. This will open up a new window with a recording of the webinar.


Contact Embracing Change

For project enquiries and feedback, contact us or call 02 9060 9627.

Embracing Change: A Guide to the NDIS Practice Standards

The NDIS Practice Standards Guidebook: An essential guide for psychosocial disability service providers and the online NDIS Practice Standards Self-Assessment Tool have been developed to foster greater awareness of the NDIS Practice Standards from a psychosocial disability perspective and support NDIS providers to achieve increasing compliance with the NDIS Practice Standards.

View the Guidebook and Self-Assessment Tool
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