MIFV

Our Mission

Our mission is to work with people with mental illness, their families and friends to improve their well being. More specifically we work to achieve mental health reform through education, support and advocacy, and we provide a range of innovative programs in both membership and services. We also provide mutual support and self help, day programs, home based outreach and accommodation services, respite and residential rehabilitation services.

Our Vision

Our vision is of a society in which mental illness will be understood and accepted. People with mental illness will be afforded the same regard as those with physical illnesses and resources will be available to offer early interventions and state of the art treatment and support. These interventions will be so effective that long-term negative consequences of mental illness will have disappeared for the person and their family. People will no longer experience stigma and that society will treat them with the same respect and dignity as any other person, and welcome and fully include them as community members.

Our Values

We value the contributions of people with mental illness, their families and friends in our organisation, and the community and set out the following values that underpin all our activity:

Honesty

Honesty means that integrity underpins all our dealings with members, volunteers, clients, staff and the community. In relationships with people seeking support and advice we will be open, truthful, genuine and respectful. It also means that staff will reflect upon their own practice and develop new insights from that process. It means that there will be appropriate use of Mental Illness Fellowship resources to support the mission of the Mental Illness Fellowship, and this will be accurately documented and recorded. It also means that there will be a process to deal with potential conflicts of interest.

Acceptance

Acceptance means that we include, and accept the person, and value difference. It means that our relationships are interactive and based on non-judgemental attitudes. We welcome people who have limited support options, and who may have experienced difficulties within the mental health system into our organisation. It means that we are 'loyal to a person's wellness' and healthy coping strategies by supporting them to build and enhance these capacities.

Equity

Equity means that we work to ensure mental health services are accessible, and available, and that people receive their entitlements. It also means that people with mental illness, their families and friends from diverse cultural backgrounds, gender and creed have te same rights to repsect and dignified treatment as that provided to any other person. It means that we identify service gaps, injustice and poor practice, which effect interventions, and we work with people to find solutions and strategies to address these difficulties.

Flexibility

Flexibility means that we are able and willing to adjust to individuality, we welcome diversity, and use it for the benefit of the individual, the community and our organisation. It means we endeavour to find creative solutions to overcome problems, and ensure that these solutions are open to scrutiny and fit within our total value system. We acknowledge the challenges that flexibility brings and use these challenges to enrich all our activities.

Commitment

Commitment means we work towards the achievement of our vision and purposes. We expect our members, volunteers and staff to commit to these values, and operationalise and promulgate them in all areas of our organisation. It also means that all of our activities are organised in ways that ensure effective and efficient use of resources and that we strive for program excellence.

Participation

Participation means that we will fully and happily engage in positive developments for people with mental illness, their families and their friends. It means that we are a grass roots organisation and encourage active involvement in voluntary activity. We encourage staff to be members of our organisation and to actively participate in achieving our goals. We encourage active membership, which is designed to strengthen the mental health voice and influence mental health development and policy. It also means co-operation within the membership, volunteers, staff and with a range of community agencies.

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