Lived experience is being prioritised in the state’s mental health workforce – with a new consortium set to provide professional development opportunities for lived and living experience workers.
On Tuesday, Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt announced The Collective, a consortium comprising the Self Help Addiction Resource Centre, Harm Reduction Victoria, the Carer Lived Experience Workforce Network, Tandem, and the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council.
The Collective will be the provider of dedicated supervision and training to Victoria’s lived and living experience workforce.
Lived experience workers draw on their own life-changing experiences, service use and their journey of recovery and healing, to support others.
The Collective will provide introductory training for mental health workers on the role and value of the lived and living experience workforce, along with discipline-specific supervision, specialised training for the family carer lived experience workforce and broader support to strengthen capability across the sector.
“Victoria’s mental health workforce is the backbone of the system – lived and living experience workers will always be a central part of that workforce,” said Ms Stitt in announcing the new consortium.
“The Collective will provide crucial training and development opportunities to lived and living experience workers so they can continue providing valuable insight, supporting Victorians to access the very best care.”
