CEOs support new Mental Health and Wellbeing Act

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 "A Crucial Gateway to Reform": Joint Statement from MHV, VMIAC, Tandem, the Mental Health Legal Centre and Orygen.

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Bill 2022 is due to return to the Victorian Parliament this week.

The Bill establishes the legal architecture of Victoria’s new, vastly improved mental health system, and its swift passage into law is necessary to enable the full suite of reforms envisaged by The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. 

Mental Health Victoria, the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC), Tandem, Orygen, and The Mental Health Legal Centre support the Bill’s passage as a critical enabler for mental health reform in Victoria. 

As we work together in the process of mental health care reform, we welcome the efforts of the Victorian Government and all Parliamentarians to work together to realise a better mental health care system for all Victorians. 

We look forward to working with all stakeholders — consumers, families, carers, clinicians and members of the mental health and allied workforces — in a respectful, collaborative partnership, as we respond to this once in a generation opportunity to make the mental health care system better for all who access and work within it today, and in the years ahead.

The passage of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act 2022 is a crucial first step to enable this vital work to begin. Victorians cannot afford any delays to the vital work of reform. 

Signed,

Marcelle Mogg, CEO, Mental Health Victoria

Marie Piu, CEO, Tandem

Craig Wallace, CEO, the Victorian Mental Health Awareness Council (VMIAC)

Charlotte Jones, CEO, Mental Health Legal Centre 

Professor Pat McGorry AO, Executive Director, Orygen

View the signed statement here