Our third year

Our third year

IMHA turned three in August 2018. We have produced a report that summarises our achievements and identifies trends across the mental health system. The report highlights the ongoing engagement and leadership provided to IMHA by our consumer advisory group 'Speaking from Experience', as well as the commitment and skilled work of our advocates.

Key findings

2018 saw increasing demand for a range of advocacy services. We also engaged in activities that had a systemic focus including delivering supported decision making educations sessions and raising awareness about practices within services. These included use of force by security guards resulting in physical and emotional adverse impacts on consumers and treating teams taking a standard approach to leave requests that does not consider individual needs. Development commenced on self-advocacy resources with consumers and our Speaking from Experience consumer advisory group. Feedback from consumers confirmed most strongly agreed that engagement with their IMHA advocate provided them a greater understanding of their rights, and improved confidence expressing their views and preferences. This was expressed by one IMHA consumer:

I was treated with great respect and care and courtesy and I am truly grateful for the compassionate ear and overwhelmed by how quick I received a positive outcome… it was very much like being in a dark dungeon and now the lights are on, I have hope now thanks to the kindness of (IMHA advocate). Thank you

Download the report

More information

Read more about our Speaking from Experience consumer advisory group.

Read about Our first year. 

Read about Our second year.