Lived Experience Advisory Group Members (LEAG) for the Darwin Medicare Mental Health Centre (MMHC)

Do you have an interest in contributing to the social and emotional wellbeing and better mental health in our community?

Do you have a lived experience of mental health challenges?

What is the LEAG?

The LEAG:

• Provide lived experience expertise, understanding and advice that supports continuous service improvement and positive changes to ensure guests have a positive quality experience.
• Provide input and recommendations to the Darwin MMHC GovernanceCommittee from a lived experience perspective.
• Contribute, review and provide input to policies, key initiatives and projects.
• Provides suggestions in service design and implementation, to ensure that Darwin MMHC continues to offer a service that is relevant to the local community.
• Provide guidance to improve the active engagement of lived experience on the LEAG LEAG members also can attend the Governance Committee and Quality and Safety Committee. This ensures that the voice of lived experience is present through all aspects of the centres.

Who are we?

We’re Neami. We’re big believers in everyone having the opportunity to live a full life – and we give our all to support people to achieve the wellbeing and mental health outcomes that matter to them. At Neami, we strive to place lived and living experience at the heart of what we do. When we say that ‘lived and living experience’ informs our work, what we mean is that we aspire to learn from personal and collective experiences of mental health and/or adversity so we can learn and design better programs and services.Medicare Mental Health Centre is delivered by Neami National and funded by the Australian government through Northern Territory Primary Health Network (NTPHN).

The Darwin Centre opened its doors on 18th January 2022. Each MMHC service is tailored to the needs of the local community and offers a combination of peer led recovery and clinical support in a warm and welcoming environment.

Darwin Centre provides guests with a quality experience which includes:

• Immediate mental health support for people in distress
• Assistance to safely cope with thoughts of suicide
• Short-term mental health and wellbeing support
• Service navigation and helpful, relevant information
• Connection and referral for ongoing support. The Medicare Mental Health Centre aims to ease the burden on the public hospital system and provide more accessible services to those needing mental health support, their carers and families.

What skills or experience are we looking for?

We welcome applications from people with lived experience of mental health, including carers who have an interest in ensuring that Darwin continues to receive quality services. We value diversity of experience, knowledge, and background. We have a range of processes in place to support your committee experience and will work with you to ensure these meet your support preferences.

What is the time commitment? And is this volunteer work?

The LEAG meets every six weeks and papers will be available at least one week before each meeting. The commitment is expected to be approx. two hours per meeting but may vary depending on the specific agenda. Membership of the LEAG is a paid position. Each member will be paid for the time they spend in attendance at the meeting and for any report review and meeting preparation time that is required. In line with standard Neami practice, an hourly payment of $40 will be paid for any work undertaken in this role.

Selection Criteria

We need people who have:

• We can interest in improving the quality and safety of services
• Good communication skills and can confidently express themselves
• Have experience speaking as a representative or advocate as part of a committee
• Experience working as part of a team in meetings or working groups. Experience sharing ideas and offering feedback within a team setting
• Access to a computer, the internet and can use common computer applications such as email, word processing and electronic calendars.

How to Apply

Submit a written application (max two pages) that covers the selection criteria.

Attach CV or resume, submit your application via the "Apply Now" button.