Building collaborative cultures of care

within NSW mental health services

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Consumer collaborative council

The Peer Workforce Committee provides support, leadership, advocacy and professional development for the public mental health consumer peer workforce.

Service targeted

The committee is a network of NSW Health employees with a personal lived experience of mental health issues, who aims to empower and professionalise the NSW peer workforce to deliver high-quality, person-centred care to consumers accessing public mental health services.

How was the project embedded within practice?

  • Support local health districts and specialty health networks to embed contemporary practice – including recovery-oriented practice, trauma-informed care, consumer led co-design / co-production.
  • Provide support, mentoring and leadership to the network of NSW Health consumer peer workers.
  • Support a community of practice for the diversity of positions that exist across NSW Health including community, inpatient, adult, and older persons, youth, senior peer workers, peer managers, peer educators and the peer support transfer of care model.
  • Provide lived experience expertise on systemic issues relevant for the public health consumer peer workforce with key stakeholders across the NSW mental health sector.

What worked well?

Successfully influenced:

  • an increase of consumer and peer workforce
  • the creation of the state peer workforce coordinator at the Ministry of Health
  • the development of a Consumer Workforce Framework and the Peer Work Certificate IV.