documents in pdf format

MI Fellowship raffle winner

Congratulations to the holder of ticket number 117701, now the proud owner of a Toyota Aurion! The raffle was drawn on 6 December.

MI Fellowship members advocate for the Victoria State Election

Earlier in the year, members told us what their priorities are for the mental health sector. MI Fellowship identified the key issues and presented them to all political parties fielding candidates at the November election. The parties responded to our 'Call to Action' and the responses have been sent to our members to help them make an informed vote at the state election.

Improving Mental Health Outcomes for Victorians: The Next Wave of Reform

In February 2006, the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) identified mental health as an issue of national significance. A national mental health plan is expected to be considered by COAG at its meeting in July 2006. Mental health reform is being pursued in parallel with the broader National Reform Agenda (NRA), the overall aims of which are to improve workforce participation and productivity.As an input to the policy development process for the July 2006 COAG meeting, the Victorian Government engaged. The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) to lay out for consideration a long term-vision and way forward for mental health care reform in Victoria, and to recommend some short- to medium-term initiatives from both Commonwealth and State Governments to improve service delivery to consumers. The report, Improving Mental Health Outcomes in Victoria: The Next Wave of Reform (PDF 670kb) summarises the findings and recommendations from that engagement. You can view the report at

http://www.dpc.vic.gov.au/CA256D800027B102/Lookup/ImprovingMentalHealthOutcomesinVictoria/$file/FINAL%20report%20060706.pdf

'Australia's Health'

The latest 'Australia's Health' report was released by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Click here to view the section on mental health as a 9 page extract.

Coroner hands down verdict in police shooting inquest

On Thursday 4 August, the Coroner handed down his findings from the inquest into the death of Mark Kaufmann, who was shot dead by police in January 2002. MI Fellowship has offered support to the Kaufmann family since the incident, advocating on their behalf. Click here to read the findings.

Media Clippings & Releases from Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria

• MI Fellowship's Elizabeth Crowther & Major Sam Cochran quoted in the article "Police Turn to US on Mentally Ill" The Age 1 June 2006
• MI Fellowship's Deb McDonald and Geelong participant featured in The Geelong Times "From heartbreak to hope. A real story of living with mental illness" 31 May 2006
• Schizophrenia Awareness Week 2005 focuses on employment of people with a mental illness - May 2005
• Visiting US expert explains unique approach to working with children - Feb 2005

Media releases & news from external organisations

• "Clinic to quiet schizophrenic voices" An article from The Age 11 April 2006
• "Leaving mentally ill on the streets no cheaper"  An article from the Sydney Morning Herald. 2 March 2006
• "More incentives to GPs to help patients with mental health problems" A media release from the office of The Hon Christopher Pyne MP, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing. 17 February 2006
• "Vanstone Confesses to 'another Rau' " A newspaper article from The Age. 9 February 2006
• "Howard wants buck-passing to end" A newspaper article from the Sydney Morning Herald. 3 February 2006
• "Mentally Ill 'out before drugs work'" A newspaper article from The Age. 15 February 2006
• "Shock-jock policies are driving the mentally ill into jails" A newspaper article from The Age. 14 February 2006

Media Contact:
For all media enquiries please contact Hootville Communications on 03 9510 0848, 0414 713 802 or hootville@hootville.com

For more information about any of the news listed here, please call Stephanie Puls on 03 8486 4200 or e-mail enquiries@mifellowship.org

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