New Community Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug Council to strengthen links
The Minister for Mental Health Roger Cook today announced a new Community Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug Council will be established. The new Council will strengthen collaboration between the community services sector, government and consumers, carers and families.
The Council will contribute to the reform of the Western Australian mental health, alcohol and other drug system, by providing high level leadership on topics such as:
- developing more person-centred care across services;
- catering for co-occurring mental health, alcohol and other drug issues; and
- integrating the sector.
It will ensure lived experience is central to policy development and service delivery and will be chaired by the Mental Health Commissioner.
The membership will include representation from community services peak bodies, major strategic advisory groups, the WA Primary Health Alliance, as well as consumers and carers/families.
The new Council will complement the work of the Mental Health Executive Committee, announced in March, which will bring together mental health leadership from across the public hospital system.
The Council and the committee will be supported by the new Chief Medical Officer, Mental Health to strengthen clinical system-wide safety and quality considerations in mental health, alcohol and other drugs.
Expressions of interest will be sought for the positions of consumer representative and carer/family representative. The successful applicants to these two positions will sit on both the Community Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug Council and the Mental Health Executive Committee.
