Exciting Project New Project for VICSERV and Member Organisations

VICSERV, the peak body for Victoria’s community mental health sector, is pleased to advise that it has engaged ConNetica Consulting to undertake an exciting new project. The aim of the project is to develop a framework for the ongoing development of mental health services and the PDRS sector in Victoria.

Victoria has a well-developed service system and many providers are leaders in the provision of community support and rehabilitation. However, with national reforms to health care currently being considered, it is vital that VICSERV and its members can identify new opportunities for sector development and considers the implications of emerging new directions for the future development of PDRS Services as part of the broader community sector.

To this end, VICSERV has engaged ConNetica to develop a discussion paper that will assist member organisations to:

• Understand the broad implications of mental health reforms
• Define critical features and characteristics of a contemporary and comprehensive service system including articulation of:
• The scope and roles of community based care and support services across the PDRS sector and more broadly
• Funding and accountability arrangements that contribute to the achievement of agreed outcomes
• Identify options for strategically positioning the sector and VICSERV members to contribute effectively in the changed environment
• Advance the thinking of individual organisations about the implications and opportunities that could emerge

The key ConNetica staff assisting VICSERV with this project are John Mendoza and Sebastian Rosenberg. John was previously CEO of the Mental Health Council of Australia and is currently Chair of Federal Government’s National Advisory Council on Mental Health. Sebastian was Deputy CEO of the Mental Health Council from 2005 to 2009 and is currently Senior Lecturer at the Brain and Mind Research Institute at the University of Sydney.

The Project commences in mid-February and is due for completion by August 2010. An experienced industry reference group will advise VICSERV throughout the project.

Full details on the project including the consultations with VICSERV members and stakeholders will be available shortly.