27 March 2015

Issue #66
@
ARAFMI
23rd – 27th
March 2015
Message from the CEO
Hi carers, staff, volunteers and students,
Since the last @Arafmi we have completed
the painful process of packing our offices
up and moving down the hallway while
renovations commence.
Inside:
CEO Message & Staff
Notices
1
Uniting Care Courses
2
Community peer support
worker positions available
2
In The News
3
Substance Use and Mental
Illness
Participate in the Sydney
LGBTIQ+ Mental Health
Professionals Network.
Community Education
Workshop
3
4
5
During the next month or so we will be
conducting most of our business as usual
from Suite 504 on the same floor as our
current building, but much more snugly as
we co-habit much smaller premises with
our partners, the Mental Health Association
and Being.
Last week we held the first joint Committee
meeting with representatives of the Board
from all of the different organisations. The
meeting went very well with a sound basis
for the future collaboration being
discussed. Arafmi’s Board representative
was Tess Dellagiacoma and her wealth of
experience in the mental health and
community managed sectors was definitely
an asset in the discussions that took place.
Some of the implications of the shared
services and Hub arrangements were
discussed in the Planning Day held with the
Staff Notices:
Arafmi Board to help refine strategic
direction in a challenging mental health
and community sector environment. The
Board is particularly grateful for Anne
Rouse’s facilitation of the planning process.
After refining our ‘Mission’ to ‘Empowering
Carers for Mental Health,’ at the last
meetings, this time we refined our ‘Vision’
to a (proposed) 4 words, ‘Inclusive
communities; connected carers’. Further
refinements and clarifications will follow!
Further to this, I have met with the Nous
Group
of
consultants
and
today
representatives of Arafmi’s Peak Advisory
Committee are also meeting with them to
discuss the role of the Commission and
how it should go about this into the future.
Normal PAC meetings will resume soon.
ON a sad note, Amelia Martinez will attend
her last CAMHS meeting today and she will
be missed, but we wish her good luck for
the future!
Many thanks to all our staff, volunteers and
members and have a great weekend! Keep
on looking after yourselves, and the ones
you care for!
Jonathan Harms,
CEO, MHC Arafmi NSW Inc.
The Office will shut in mid-March (date to be confirmed) and will remain shut for 6 weeks while the
refurbishment talks place. Arrangements for extra people to work from home and in the space being
set up on site have been agreed and advised.
New Resources: G:\Research Reports Resources and Studies\AAA New
Resources (if you would like any emailed to you please advise).
This week we received:

2015 NSW Election Agenda from Being

Destigmatizing day-to-day practices: what developed countries can learn from
developing countries, by Alan Rosen

A Framework for Information, Linkages and Capacity Building (Tier 2) from the
National Disability Insurance Scheme
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@ARAFMI
Newsletter
Uniting Care January – June Free Courses
Uniting Care is running free carers courses in the
North shore/Northern Beaches area. If you’re
interested in attending one of the free courses
you can look at the different topics listed below
and register with Family Carers NSCC.
[Issue]
:: [Date]
Issue 66 :: 23rd
- 27th March
Community Peer
Support Worker
positions at Maroubra
now being advertised
We are currently recruiting to
consumer peer support workers
– community mental health and
have 2 x 19 hour per week (12
month contracts) positions to be
based
at
the
Maroubra
Centre.
Please distribute to
your networks.
The Peer Support Worker will
draw upon their lived experience
of mental health challenges and
their personal recovery journey,
to
develop
empathic
relationships
and
support
personal recovery for mental
health consumers of the South
Eastern Sydney Local Health
District (SESLHD).
Based in community mental
health centres, the Peer Support
Worker role will span across the
full range of community mental
health settings.
We invite applications for
exciting opportunity which
arisen to join a dynamic
innovative
team
at
Maroubra Centre.
an
has
and
The
We are recruiting for 2 x 0.5 (19
hours per week) Consumer Peer
Support Workers for 12 months
contracts - 1 specifically female
position and 1 specifically male
position, to
be
based
with
Eastern Suburbs Community
Health.
For full information and to
apply, click here.
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@ARAFMI
IN THE NEWS:
Monash
university finds
rural Australians
under serviced
for mental health
issues
Last week's Monash
University findings from
the largest ever study into
Australian mental health se
rvices paint a bleak picture
for individuals living in
rural and remote
areas. This examination of
25
million mental health items
, taken between 2007 and
2011 from Medicare data,
highlights that those living
in metropolitan areas have
about three times better
access to psychological
services than those living
in rural and remote
locations. Unfortunate as
this is, these findings
should not at all be
surprising given the high
levels of mental illness in
rural and remote areas.
However, what is alarming
is the significant number of
young people
experiencing mental illness
within this demographic.
Given that 75 per cent
of mental illness occurs
before a person turns the
age 26, it places an
already vulnerable
population group at an
increased risk.
To read full article, click
here
Substance Use
And Mental Illness
Do you care for someone with a mental illness?
This course provides information and resources to families and
carers of people with a mental illness and substance use issues by
providing information about the issues involved in caring for
someone with drug and alcohol and mental health issues. The
focus is on the caring role.
Topics include:
 Relationship between mental health and drug and alcohol
use
 Impact on families and carers
 Harm minimisation
 Stages of Change model
 Recovery
 Coping strategies for families and carers
 Services and Resources
Location: Mid Mountains Neighbourhood Centre, New St, Lawson
Date: 27 March 2015
Time: 10.30 am to 4.00pm (registration from 10.15am)
Register by: 20th March
All courses are FREE to families and carers of those with a
mental illness who live in Penrith and the Nepean Blue
Mountains
For further information and to register your interest please
contact UnitingCare Mental Health Family and Carers Program
02 8599 4880 or [email protected].
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@ARAFMI
Newsletter
[Issue]
:: [Date]
Issue 66 :: 23rd
- 27th March
Participate in
the Sydney
LGBTIQ+
Mental Health
Professionals
Network!
The Sydney LGBTIQ+ Mental Health Professionals Network will aim to work with other LGBTIQ
dedicated or friendly private practitioners and or organisations based near Sydney CBD and statewide to increase the positive development of our NSW based LGBTIQ MHPN.
This locally driven network will aim to promote collaborative practice amongst professionals and service
providers who support the mental health needs of LGBTIQ+ people, their families and the broader
community.
What the network will do
 Bring together practitioners and service providers who have a shared interest in LGBTIQ+
mental health
 Provide a forum for professional development, peer support and gaining an understanding of
available local services, service gaps and how services and individuals can work together.
 Create new opportunities for professional development, and how services and individual
professionals can work together to support the mental health of the LGBTIQ+ community
 Strengthen professional relationships and enhance referral pathways between local practitioners
and services
 Meet monthly, with the location to be confirmed depending on numbers of participants (& their
work place locations)
Who can benefit from joining?
Any practitioner with an interest in LGBTIQ+ mental health, including Psychologists,
Psychiatrists, General Practitioners, Mental Health Nurses, Social Workers, Occupational Therapists,
Counsellors, Youth & Community Workers, Student Counsellors, Welfare Workers, Family Support
Workers, Homeless Sector, Peer Support Workers and People Informally Supporting the LBGTIQ+
Community.
What you need to do
1. Click here to provide your details and register your interest. If the link doesn't open, copy the
following address into your browser: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/TNRMZR2
Need more information?
On filling out the survey, you will be added to the contact list for this network and will receive a
notification once the first meeting has been arranged. In the meantime, if you would like more
information or have a question, please contact Emma Galligan at [email protected]
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