By now, you will have heard about the Victorian Government's announcement regarding the Royal Commission into Mental Health. We're thrilled that mental health is finally being given the attention it needs and we hope to see some great outcomes for consumers and staff alike. 

HACSU members have lobbied the Government for decades to improve the mental health sector and whilst we've had some terrific accomplishments through our campaigning, we know that more improvement is needed for the sector. 

Many of our officials come from working in the field and we've consulted with members on an ongoing basis to find out about contemporary issues. We've heard from you that there are structural issues, particularly regarding staffing supply and support that impact at work daily. 

Here's what we've been working on:

In consultation with members, we've put together a submission to the Terms of Reference for the Royal Commission. In our submission, we've talked about all the issues you've raised with us. Our recommendations included:

• Focus on acute, community and forensic mental health services
• Completion timeframe of less than 18 months
• Support mechanisms to be provided to witnesses
• Review of effectiveness of interaction with allied social, justice and emergency services
• Focus on diversity of consumers and those most at risk due to vulnerabilities
• Importantly, workforce development and retention measures
• Explore the possible redesign of acute services to improve therapuetic outcomes

You can read our full submission to the Terms of Reference here.

We'll be talking to members again when it comes time to produce our major submission to the Commission. When the time comes, we will be calling on you for action, including the possibility of providing evidence and/or involvement in a committee to inform our campaign.

We're also engaging a research company to support our claims to the Commission and ensure that any information we provide is backed up by a solid evidence base. 

HACSU Advisory Groups

In the meanwhile, we're still running the discipline-specific Advisory Groups which you are encouraged to participate in. If you can't make it in to the HACSU Office on the day, you are phone in. Contact us to RSVP today! hacsu@hacsu.asn.au

The dates for the upcoming groups are as follows (with more to come!):

Occupational Therapist: February 26th, March 26th, May 8th, June 5th, June 25th

Social Worker: February 6th, March 6th, April 10th, May 8th, June 5th

Administrative & Clerical: March 8th, April 12th, May 10th, June 7th

Psychiatric Enrolled Nurse: February 13th, April 17th, June 12th