People with a lived experience leading change

The PPIMS Network has seen continued growth since it was established in 2016, with close to 300 people on the mailing list at September 2019. Members have been engaged to participate in co-design workshops, tender assessment panels, recruitment panels, as well as informing the content and design of Chapter 1 of Planning for Wellbeing; and have representation on a range of stakeholder groups, including those recently established by Carers Queensland, Queensland Alliance for Mental Health, and the Queensland Council for LGBTI Health. Members sit alongside practitioners, service providers and policy makers, actively advocating and representing the collective voice of people with lived experience.

The PPIMS Network have worked to secure subsidies to support people with lived experience to undertake a range of capacity building initiatives, including supporting:

• 30 people to undertake Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work
• 50 people to complete Mental Health First Aid Training
• 25 young people, youth workers and parents to complete Mental Health First Aid for Young People
• 30 people to complete Voices for Change – Speakers Training.

Other initiatives have included the establishment of a Community of Practice for Peer Workers, and other scholarships to attend a range of local, state, national and international conferences.
Training and support has also been provided to PPIMS representatives to actively participate in the PHN’s commissioning cycle across all program areas, recruitment panels, tender assessment panels and broader advocacy work.

The diversity of the PPIMS Network has proven extremely valuable in bringing appropriate lived experience representation to all levels of governance supporting implementation of Planning for Wellbeing. This includes people with a lived experience of either mental illness, suicide and/or alcohol or other drug (AOD) use, actively engaged and contributing to the Strategic Coordination Group, the AOD Partnership Group, the Infant, Child, Youth and Families Partnership Group, the Collaboration in Mind Group, and the Suicide Prevention Partnership Group.

Network members have also been appointed to a range of State and National committees, including the National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum; the Queensland Lived Experience Workforce Framework as well as a number of Hospital and Health Service committees.

The successful coordination of the PPIMS Network has been recognised by the Commonwealth Department of Health, resulting in the PHN being funded to establish and coordinate the National PHN Mental Health Lived Experience Engagement Network (MHLEEN). It is expected that MHLEEN will create and nurture further opportunities for people with a lived experience to participate in the planning, delivery and evaluation of mental health, suicide prevention and AOD services nationally.

The PPIMS Network use a variety of mechanisms to establish and sustain a region-wide approach to participation, including:

• Sharing resources and promoting opportunities at regular PPIMS Network meetings
• Maintaining regular communications to all PPIMS members via email
• Updating the My Mental Health website
• Maintaining the lived experience PHN Sharepoint page.

The PPIMS Network also regularly invites organisations and other guest speakers to present and consult with members on a range of topics. Of note, this has included the Productivity Commissioner, the Queensland Government Independent Patient Rights Advisor Coordinator, the National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Local Area Coordinators, the Queensland Mental Health Commission and the Queensland Alliance for Mental Health.

The Network has established itself as a central point of contact for engagement for practitioners and service providers, whether private, NGO or HHS, to consult to ensure authentic participation – and the sector is responding accordingly with growing requests to secure an audience with the Network. The establishment of MHLEEN will serve to strengthen this collaborative approach, by sharing learnings across Australia.

In partnership with Brook RED, Brisbane North PHN, and Metro North HHS, members of the PPIMS Network have actively contributed to the development of the Queensland Lived Experience Workforce Network (QLEWN) – further expanding the reach of lived experience expertise through-out Queensland.