Individual Advocacy review

The Mental Health Commission (Commission) contracts Individual Advocacy (IA) services that represent the rights and interests of people with a mental illness, on a one-to-one basis, by addressing instances of discrimination, abuse, and neglect. Individual advocates work with people with mental illness on either a short-term or issue-specific basis.

The Commission contracts five Service Providers to deliver IA services – Carers WA, Rise Network, Multicultural Futures, Ruah Legal Services Limited and Health Consumers Council.

In late 2022, the Commission appointed a consultant to conduct an independent review of the IA program area, to inform a future service model that is contemporary, evidence-based or informed, and responsive to community need. The IA Review outcomes provide a clear roadmap to guide the Commission’s decisions for this program area, to best meet the needs of the community and provide value-for-money for the State Government.

The IA Review had two focus areas:

• To assess the extent to which Commission contracted IA services are meeting community need and identify opportunities to contemporise the delivery of these services.
• To identify opportunities to jointly plan and co-commission IA services to deliver better, shared outcomes for consumers, families and carers and the community across WA, in conjunction with other state and Federal Government agencies.

The IA Review was guided by four key lines of enquiry (KLEs):

A six-month extensive stakeholder engagement process took place between January and July 2023, with a diverse range of stakeholders. Workshops, focus groups and individual consultations were held with Service Providers, peak bodies, people with lived experience, an academic researcher and other State Government agencies.

The IA Review summary report provides a summary of the findings and recommendations. The Final Consultation summary report provides a summary of key themes categorised by each stakeholder group.

All information gathered through the IA Review process has been analysed and an Implementation Plan is being developed. When the Implementation Plan is finalised, the Commission will progress the recommendations with IA Service Providers and key stakeholders.

Contact

For enquiries about the IA Review project, please email: karen.steinberg@mhc.wa.gov.au.

Please find below additional information regarding broader advocacy support and legislation.

Statutory Review of the Mental Health Act 2014