National Mental Health Commission's 'Making Connections for Your Mental Health and Wellbeing Program' (Connections2022) being undertaken 7 July - October 2022

The National Mental Health Commission's national stakeholder and community engagement program will be under way from July 7 to mid-October this year.

The Commission will be visiting 34 communities across Australia's states and territories and inviting people to share their experience of the mental health and suicide prevention system with the Government through a series of community conversations. The aim is to ensure that all individuals, regardless of whether they live in an urban or remote area, have an opportunity to participate, through face-to-face conversation meetings and in an online National Connections Survey.

Connections2022 will contribute to understanding what is and isn’t working and if real and impactful change is being made in communities across Australia, helping to build evidence to shape outcomes for future national mental health and suicide prevention reform.

The 2022 program follows on from the 2019 Connections program which helps inform an understanding of the systemic shifts needed to change the way people living in Australia experience the mental health and suicide prevention systems. These perspectives are now embedded in Vision 2030 which the Productivity Commission called to be the 'landing point' for the successful implementation of reform.

This year, Connection2022 will inform the development of a National Outcomes Framework for Vision 2030, enabling the Commission to monitor and report on the impact of reform initiatives.

Connections2022 will visit the following NT communities:

Tennant Creek: 8-9 August
Alice Springs: 10-11 August
Darwin: 12 August
Nhulunbuy/Yirrkala: 15-16 August

Those who are unable to attend one of these locations, will be able to participate in a National Connections Survey.

For more information visit Connections 2022 | Have Your Say - National Mental Health Commission or contact Jenny Muir, Principal Adviser - Engagement and Communication at 0415 401 200 or jennifer.muir@mentalhealthcommission.gov.au.