This groundbreaking report details the scope and nature of stigma experienced by mental health consumers when seeking support and treatment from mental health and other health professionals.

There is considerable concern about the mental health of refugees and asylum seekers in immigration detention centres, particularly for those who are held for prolonged and indefinite periods. Research evidence and mental health sector organisations support a number of changes to minimise the negative psychological impact of immigration detention.

The National Mental Health Commission Workshop brought together Government, service providers, consumers and carers from around Australia, to discuss the establishment and priority focus for the new National Mental Health Commission, due to commence in January 2012. This report summarises what was discussed at the workshop.

The Ten Year Roadmap Workshop brought together Government, service providers, consumers and carers from around Australia, to discuss the establishment and priority focus for development of a Roadmap, to build on the 4th Mental Health Plan and to direct policy, planning and implementation in relation to the 2011-12 Federal Budget mental health package. This report summarises what was discussed at the workshop.

The Coordinated Care and Service Integration Workshop brought together service providers from around Australia, to discuss implementation challenges and opportunities related to the coordinated care and flexible funding initiative announced in the 2011-12 Budget. This report summarises what was discussed at the workshop.

Adversity to Advocacy: The Lives and Hopes of Mental Health Carers is a landmark report representing the first attempt to monitor, measure and record the experience of mental health carers.

This first national survey of Australian mental health carers reveals the 15 key issues that affect mental health carers and provides the first ever national report card on how well Australia is managing these issues.

This report details the results of a national survey undertaken by the MHCA and beyondblue: the national depression initiative in 2011, which captures the experiences of Australians with lived experience of mental illness in applying for, or making claims against insurance products.

The MHCA held 14 forums across the country between 30 November – 17 December 2010, which enabled the Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, the Hon Mark Butler MP to hear about the critical issues facing the mental health sector firsthand from mental health consumers, carers and other stakeholders.

This document provides a summary of the key themes and critical issues raised in these forums.

The Mental Health Carers Report 2010 provides the first quantifiable measure of the issues and concerns of Australian mental health carers.

The survey builds on the groundbreaking work of Adversity to Advocacy: the lives and hopes of mental health carers, where carers attended 116 workshops nationally to identify the key issues which affected their lives and the lives of the people they care for. Fifteen key issues emerged from the workshops and formed the basis of the 50 question survey completed by 756 mental health carers. This survey is the f

This background paper arose from the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission (NHHRC) 2009 Final Report and its recommendations about future directions for primary health care.

This paper seeks to clarify points of overlap and difference between primary health care and community mental health. It also identifies how their linkages could be strengthened whilst ensuring maintenance of the capacity and integrity of specialist mental health services delivered in the community.

The purpose of this document is to clarify the nature and scope of community mental healthcare, and to provide principles to guide its further development across Australia. It has been developed in consultation with Mental Health Council of Australia (MHCA) members.

Home Truths is a landmark report that explores the relationships between housing, homelessness and mental health, and considers appropriate models to support and accommodate people experiencing mental illness

A 2 page summary of the 10 recommendations of the MHCA publication Home Truths.

The Life Insurance Industry and Mental Health Stakeholders have been working together since July 2001 to improve the life insurance outcomes for those with a history of mental health conditions. Underpinning this unique collaboration is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which has been in place since March 2003.

This report details the achievements made so far, the issues that are still outstanding and the work that will be undertaken over the next two years under the fourth iteration of the MoU.

This is the second report prepared by the MHCA analysing aspects of the Better Access Program, a key component of the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) National Mental Health Plan which commenced in November 2006. The Better Access Program enables public access to services provided by psychiatrists, psychologists, otherallied health professionals and general practitioners through the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS).

This report highlights the barriers to better workforce participation, the economic disadvantages of the current Australian approach, and ways of effectively overcoming these problems.

This report presents an analysis of the first six months of the new program Better Access to Psychiatrists, Psychologists and General Practitioners through the Medicare Benefits Schedule.

Time for Service is the first of a series of MHCA papers presenting solutions to Australia’s mental health crisis. It presents practical solutions that governments should fund and implement now through the Council of Australian Governments (CoAG). The solutions proposed aim to deliver new pathways to new services, offer flexibility and choice, and make a real difference to people with a mental illness and their carers.

This report aims to provide a balanced and informed view on the relationship between cannabis and mental illness. It summarises the research and states the MHCA’s position on activities and directions that governments and the mental health sector should pursue based on the existing evidence. It also highlights where the need to invest in the development of better prevention, intervention and treatment responses.

This report focuses on providing a snapshot of community resilience and wellness within Australian communities. Resilience is typically understood to refer to the ability to bounce back from setbacks and, in relation to people, to readily recover from illness or trauma.

Smart Services is intended as a contribution to improving the evidence about community-based services and the need for further research and evaluation of various mental health services models in Australia.

The quality use of medicines (QUM) seems an ethereal concept in that it is oft-quoted but rarely put into practice. The Council’s goal in holding the workshop that is the basis for this report was anything but ethereal. The workshop’s title, ‘Concrete Ideas for Practical Action’, bears this out.

This document is a summary of the Not For Service report published in 2005.

Not For Service was published in 2005 and at the time was the most significant report on mental health care in Australia for over a decade. It includes the strong views of doctors, nurses, psychologists and other professionals who provide mental health services in Australia.

This document is a summary of the Investing in Australia's Future report published in 2004.

This report highlights four key themes for a new style of mental health reform. These are: promoting early intervention for all severe disorders among young people; providing effective pharmacological and psychological treatments in primary care; maximising returns to full social and economic participation; and investing in innovation, research and sustainability.

A report detailing Mental Health Services in Australia in 2002 and community priorities for the National Mental Health Policy 2003-2008.