Partnership now official

FIVE years after Mitch McPherson established Stay ChatTY in memory of his little brother, the not-for-profit has formally joined forced with Relationships Australia.

Echoing the theme of this week’s Mental Health Week, which is “stronger together”, both organisations will continue to deliver suicide prevention programs across Tasmania.

Mr McPherson founded Stay ChatTY after his brother Ty died by suicide in 2013 and joined up with Relationships Australia Tasmania unofficially the following year.

“Over the past five years, our work together has become more integrated and for several years both organisations have delivered suicide prevention prog r am s across Tasmania,” Relationships Australia Tasmania chief executive Mat Rowell said.

“To maximise our donations and funds raised, the boards of both organisations have agreed to formalise our partnership and join together to reduce duplication and in order to streamline the way SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY operates.”

Mr McPherson said the partnership meant Relationships Australia Tasmania would provide governance and day-to-day operational support in delivering SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY programs.

“Every dollar raised for SPEAK UP! Stay ChatTY will be used to deliver suicide prevention programs and furthering our mission,” he said.

Last month, Education Minister Jeremy Rockliff announced a $1 million grant to the Stay ChatTY program enabling it to continue delivering its mental health message to Tasmanian students.

HEALTH Minister Michael Ferguson has pointed to significant resistance among unnamed forces as blocking his government’s mental health strategy after the peak body for community mental health services expressed concerns about the pace of change in the state’s “fractured” system.

In 2015, Mr Ferguson announced Rethink Mental Health — a plan which partly aimed to join public mental health services into a statewide system with a focus on early intervention.

Mental Health Council of Tasmania chief executive Connie Digolis yesterday said she was satisfied with the plan but called for more attention to prevention and intervention.

“I think that it would be great to see that we move towards greater focus on prevention and intervention and actually integrating mental health services and doing all that we can to keep people out of hospital,” Ms Digolis said.

“There’s no question that we have … quite a fractured mental health system, we have federal funding, state funding, primary, public, private, we need to bring all of those systems together and look at being able to join them up, and that takes some work.

“We would have loved to have seen it move faster. Let’s remain hopeful it can pick up speed.”

Mr Ferguson hit out at “significant resistance” fought in the past when looking to link up the state’s health system but would not be drawn on where the resistance had come from.

“There has been an increase in demand for mental health services … What has been the dominant narrative is that we must have more acute hospital beds in hospitals,” he said.

“Rethink charts a different course.”

He added: “I’m very pleased to tell you today that that resistance is not our problem.

“There’s a new sense of unity and a shared commitment to addressing this using the resources that were promised at the election.”

Mr Ferguson and Ms Digolis spoke yesterday — World Mental Health Day — after announcing developments in the state’s mental health peer workforce strategy.

The Government has handed the Mental Health Council of Tasmania $120,000 over two years to work towards developing peer workers who have lived with mental ill-health and are said to provide better care and support.

Mr Ferguson said there would be another announcement “in the coming weeks” on community-based mental health.