New mental health workers rolled out
Sixty-six new mental health workers will be employed in community support services across Australia thanks to a $13.4 million boost to the popular Personal Helpers and Mentors initiative.
The new workers will by employed by 31 organisations in almost 50 communities across the country to provide one-on-one support to local people with mental illness.
They will work in communities with high levels of mental illness and need for extra support services, including Bourke and Wyong in New South Wales and Ipswich and Logan in Queensland.
The new mental health workers will also provide targeted support to groups including young people leaving out-of-home care, recent migrants and refugees, homeless people and Indigenous Australians.
Personal helpers and mentors assist people with severe and debilitating mental illness, such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, to set and achieve personal goals, such as finding employment, and improving relationships with family and friends.
By building their confidence and increasing their connections within the community, personal helpers and mentors help participants overcome the social isolation that can be so crippling for someone with a mental illness.
This latest investment is part of the Gillard Government’s unprecedented $2.2 billion investment in mental health services, announced in May 2011.
These 66 new workers are in addition to the 36 new personal helpers and mentors announced earlier this year.
By 2014 more than 425 extra personal helpers and mentors will be supporting people with mental illness as part of this Government’s national mental health reforms.
The Government is continuing to deliver on its promise to make mental health a priority so that more Australians with mental illness are getting the care and support they need, when they need it.
Location of new personal helpers and mentors
|
State |
Regions and suburbs getting new workers |
Number of Workers |
Local Organisation |
|
NSW |
Bankstown and Ashfield |
1 |
Aftercare |
|
NSW |
Brewarrina, Bourke and Mitchell |
2 |
Richmond Fellowship NSW |
|
NSW |
Coffs Harbour and Clarence Valley |
2 |
Coffs Harbour Employment Support Service (CHESS) |
|
NSW |
Croydon and Bankstown |
1 |
New Horizons Enterprises |
|
NSW |
Inner City Sydney |
1 |
CatholicCare |
|
NSW |
Parramatta |
2 |
Uniting Church in Australia, Parramatta Mission |
|
NSW |
Redfern and Waterloo |
1 |
New Horizons Enterprises |
|
NSW |
Ryde |
2 |
New Horizons Enterprises |
|
NSW |
Ulladulla and the Shoalhaven |
2 |
Schizophrenia Fellowship NSW |
|
NSW |
Woy Woy |
1 |
Aftercare |
|
QLD |
Bundaberg |
1 |
Bundaberg Skills Centre |
|
QLD |
Caboolture |
2 |
Open Minds |
|
QLD |
Charters Towers |
1 |
SOLAS – Supported Options in Lifestyle and Access Services |
|
QLD |
Coolangatta and Burleigh |
2 |
Aftercare |
|
QLD |
Gold Coast |
2 |
Schizophrenia Fellowship of QLD |
|
QLD |
Inner Brisbane North |
1 |
Communify Queensland |
|
QLD |
Inner Brisbane South |
1 |
Aftercare |
|
QLD |
Ipswich |
1 |
Open Minds |
|
QLD |
Logan |
1 |
The Benevolent Society |
|
QLD |
Logan |
1 |
Youth and Family Services |
|
QLD |
Northern Brisbane |
2 |
NEAMI |
|
QLD |
Northern Sunshine Coast |
1 |
Schizophrenia Fellowship of QLD |
|
QLD |
Redcliffe and Deception Bay |
1 |
Aftercare |
|
QLD |
Rockhampton |
2 |
Australian Red Cross |
|
QLD |
South Brisbane |
1 |
Open Minds |
|
QLD |
Southern Brisbane |
1 |
NEAMI |
|
QLD |
Sunshine Coast |
1 |
Ozcare |
|
QLD |
Toowoomba |
2 |
Schizophrenia Fellowship of QLD |
|
QLD |
Townsville |
1 |
Ozcare |
|
QLD |
West Moreton |
1 |
Aftercare |
|
SA |
Adelaide/Enfield, Blair Athol (Inner North Metro) |
2 |
Mental Illness Fellowship South Australia (MIFSA) |
|
SA |
Northern Adelaide and Adelaide Hills |
1 |
Mind Australia0 |
|
SA |
Whyalla, Port Augusta and surrounds |
1 |
Mission Australia |
|
SA |
Salisbury and Tea Tree Gully |
2 |
Catholic Church Endowment Society |
|
SA |
Port Pirie and Yorke Peninsula |
1 |
Uniting Care Wesley |
|
SA |
Unley and Mitcham |
1 |
Mental Illness Fellowship South Australia (MIFSA) |
|
TAS |
Greater Hobart |
2 |
Anglicare Tasmania |
|
VIC |
Nunawading, Box Hill, Blackburn and Burwood |
1 |
Mind Australia |
|
VIC |
Hume and Goulburn Valley |
2 |
Mitchell Community Health Services |
|
VIC |
South Yarra, St Kilda and Prahran |
1 |
Inner South Community Health Service |
|
VIC |
Loddon Mallee |
2 |
St Lukes Anglicare |
|
VIC |
Malvern, Albert Park and Toorak |
1 |
Mind Australia |
|
VIC |
City of Darebin |
1 |
NEAMI |
|
VIC |
Brunswick, Coburg and Glenroy |
2 |
Merri Community Health Services |
|
VIC |
Seaford, Frankston and Carrum |
1 |
Mental Illness Fellowship of Victoria |
|
VIC |
Cranbourne |
1 |
WISE Employment |
|
VIC |
City of Whitehorse |
1 |
EACH |
|
WA |
Fremantle |
2 |
RUAH Community Services |