You can read the latest issue of the Mental Health Carers Voice Newsletter here

Hi valued carers,

Happy Mental Health Month folks! We hope you’ve had the opportunity to look after your own mental health and wellbeing this month. For those that haven’t yet, be sure to check out the 5 Ways to Wellbeing to find some simple ways you can prioritise yourself this month. Here’s extending a big thank you to everyone that was part of ACT’s Mental Health Week (8-16th), particularly the spectacular coordinating team at the Mental Health Community Coalition ACT and their community partners (including Carers ACT!). It was a pleasure to get involved in the planning of Mental Health Week and see it all come together.

The 16th of October also kicked off National Carers Week, the time of year we all get to recognise and celebrate Australia’s 2.65 million carers (although every week is carers week in our eyes). Carers ACT hosted a range of exciting events to celebrate and we were glad to see so many carers participate and enjoy themselves.

MHCV have been pretty busy this month attending various events and consultations. Mental Health Carers Voice being busy…during Mental Health Month and Carers Week – surprise, surprise! Some of these events and consultations included:

• Hosting a stall and presenting on how we can care for carers during Mental Health Week’s Online Expo
• Organising a Priori-tea wellbeing workshop for the staff at Carers ACT
• Attending the Mental Health Month Award Ceremony as part of the Advisory Committee. The event was attended by various distinguished guests including Minister Davidson and Dr Elizabeth Moore
• Attending the launch of the Mental Health Policy Unit Visual and Decision Analytics (VIDEA) Lab
• Finishing up consultations on the Youth Mental Health Systems Modelling for University of Sydney’s Brain and Mind Institute
• Raising the carer perspective at the Alcohol and Other Drug Services Commissioning Design Phase Workshops

Please note that we still have a couple of spots left for the DoNOHarm training we will be hosting on the 1st of November. If you are interested in joining this free training on safe story-telling (with morning tea provided) click here and sign up before it’s too late.

As always, your voice is vital to the work we do and if you have anything you wish to share please feel free to contact us via email mhcarers@carersact.org.au.

All the best,

Catherine Joseph and Catherine Vonarx,

The Mental Health Carers Voice Team