Queensland Alliance for Mental Health

21/08/2026

Could your organisation host a Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work student?

Round two of the Peer Work Placement Project is opening soon. We can support you to:

· Find a student
· Set up your placement framework
· Access up to $4,000 per placement towards supervision costs

No previous placement experience? No problem. Organisations of all sizes and levels of readiness are welcome.

Find out how the project works at our information session this coming Wednesday 26 August 2026 from 10.00am to 10.30am.

Join the session here: 04790897-9601-477d-beb6-e08f1ebdf191@81ee06cb-283a-442b-b14c-eedfef99fca2" rel="ugc" target="_blank">https://events.teams.microsoft.com/event/04790897-9601-477d-beb6-e08f1ebdf191@81ee06cb-283a-442b-b14c-eedfef99fca2

Learn more: https://www.qamh.org.au/lle-supervision-project-2/

Questions? Email [email protected].

18/08/2026

What does Mt Isa need to build stronger pathways into non-clinical community mental health roles for local people?

We want to hear from you.

We’re working with the Mt Isa community to develop a Grow Your Own Non-Clinical Community Mental Health Workforce Plan, a local blueprint for the future.

We want your voice to help identify local workforce priorities and shape the Plan, with a focus on pathways for First Nations peoples, multicultural communities, people with Lived and Living Experience, and local residents.

Tuesday 8 September 2026
9.30am to 1.30pm
Ibis Styles Mount Isa

Your local knowledge. Your voice. Shape the workforce Mt Isa needs. Book now https://events.humanitix.com/mt-isa-grow-your-own-non-clinical-community-mental-health-workforce-plan or email Michelle Wattridge, Project Officer at [email protected] for more information.

Qld Alliance for Mental Health is working with the region to develop the Grow Your Own Non-clinical Community Mental Health Workforce Plan for Mt Isa

13/08/2026

We’re pleased to announce the appointment of Dr Rosemaria Flaherty GAICD as Queensland Alliance for Mental Health’s new Chief Executive Officer, commencing Tuesday, 18 August 2026.

Rosa brings extensive leadership experience across the health, social services and child protection sectors, with deep expertise in government engagement, policy reform and organisational transformation. She is also a registered Senior Psychologist with a PhD in Psychology, and postgraduate qualifications in business administration and counselling psychology.

Acting Chair Tanya O'Shea said, "We welcome Rosa as Chief Executive Officer and are confident her experience and leadership will be invaluable as we work with Members and Government to shape the sector's future."

Rosa said it's a privilege to join the Alliance at such a significant time for the mental health sector in Queensland. "I am eager to build on Queensland Alliance for Mental Health's strong foundations - working closely with Alliance Members to strengthen the sector's voice, and in partnership with the Queensland Government and the broader community to ensure we are well-positioned to respond to Queensland's evolving community mental health needs and commissioning priorities."

Please join us in welcoming Rosa to the Alliance.

07/08/2026

The MHS Learning Network annual conference this week gave us the chance to take our Regional, Rural and Remote insights to a national stage.

The findings from our 2025 Roadshow, drawn from 83 voices across seven Queensland regions, deserve the widest possible audience. Every conversation with policymakers, researchers and practitioners is another chance to keep these communities front of mind. One theme stood out: connection and relational practice hold these systems together, yet they rarely show up in how services get designed and funded.

We’ll keep sharing this report wherever decisions get made. The people behind it are counting on their voices being heard, and we’re not done carrying them.

05/08/2026

On Wednesday, the Cairns Grow Your Own working session brought together the full breadth of the region's mental health sector, including funders, service providers, training organisations and community members, all in one room with a shared purpose.

The conversations were thoughtful, practical, grounded in local experience and marked an important first step towards co-designing a region-wide, non-clinical mental health workforce strategy for Far North Queensland.

This is part of a long-term commitment to growing local mental health workforce pathways from within the Cairns community. We're excited to keep building on this momentum, and there's much more to come.

31/07/2026

Yesterday, Queensland Alliance for Mental Health appeared before the Rural, Regional, and Remote Medicare Access Senate inquiry to make our point clear. Community-based mental health services are a key partner in the mental health ecosystem, not an optional extra.

In rural, regional and remote Queensland, our members are often the first point of contact for someone in distress. That work holds people while they wait for clinical care, and too often it runs on local goodwill rather than a funded system.

We asked the Committee to back a formal, two-way pathway between primary care and community-based services, so referral and coordination depend on design, not chance.

We were also clear that telehealth has its place as a complement to local, face-to-face care, not a replacement for it.

The Committee was engaged and receptive, and we welcomed the chance to put the sector's case forward. Thanks to the members whose experiences shaped what we shared.

29/07/2026

Queensland Alliance for Mental Health is proud to shine a light on the important work of Thirrili, one of our newest Members.

Thirrili is a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community-Controlled Organisation providing 24/7 culturally safe postvention support to individuals, families, and communities impacted by su***de or other traumatic loss.

Thirrili is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Call 1800 805 801 to speak directly with a dedicated Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander team member.

Learn more at thirrili.com.au.

24/07/2026

Lived and Living Experience provides essential expertise that strengthens community mental health services, policy and practice.

Peer workers draw on their own experience to build trust and connection with the people they support. That shared understanding helps people feel heard, supported and empowered, often in ways that other forms of support cannot replicate.

This is why Lived and Living Experience should be embedded across every part of the mental health system, not as an add-on, but as a core contributor to a more responsive, self-determined and effective system of care.

20/07/2026

The Griffith Centre for Mental Health Annual Research Showcase brought together researchers, clinicians, consumers, carers and community partners to discuss and shape mental health research that matters.

This year's theme, With, not for: Where research partnership meets purpose, focused on the value of meaningful research partnerships.

As part of the lived experience and workforce development stream, Yumi Stamet facilitated a workshop exploring what it takes to build a lived experience-centred research culture. In the afternoon, Chris Trupp joined a panel of partners and stakeholders to discuss where we are now and where we need to go, highlighting the importance of power equity in co-design and sustainably embedding lived expertise at every level.

A big thanks to Dr Leanne Geppert, Simon Katterl, Leena Favolosa, Dr Catherine Brasier, Professor Lara Farrel, Donna Humphrey and the Queensland Alliance for Mental Health team.

17/07/2026

A fair wage for community mental health workers is long overdue.

Queensland Alliance for Mental Health welcomes the Fair Work Commission's recommendation to award a 15% interim wage increase for eligible SCHADS Award Schedule E workers from 1 October 2026.

Now governments must match this decision with funding. Without coordinated Commonwealth funding, providers face higher costs that could put vital services for people living with psychosocial disability at risk.

Fair wages and sustainable funding must go hand in hand.

Read our submission here: https://lnkd.in/ga_PPNMJ