The introduction of Medicare rebates for psychological services provided in the community has significantly enhanced access to evidence-based treatments for people with mental illness. The enhanced availability of community-based psychological treatment through private service providers represents a change to the landscape of mental health service delivery in Australia and has created a potential ‘space’ for enhanced interaction between public mental health services and private practitioners such as psychologists. There has been little attention in the literature to how the public and private sectors are navigating this space to achieve best outcomes for clients. This paper describes the experience of psychologists in both the public and private sectors in terms of their experience of the interaction between sectors. A model will be presented outlining best practice public-private sector collaboration along with recommendations for how these improvements could be achieved.

Service integration and collaboration are vital to improving whole-of-life wellbeing outcomes for people with multiple unmet needs, such as mental health, physical health, homelessness and substance use challenges. The National Framework for Recovery also guides services to work together in ways that are person-centred, socially inclusive and promote recovery. Based in Western Australia and delivered in 2014-15, the Collaboration 2 Recovery (C2R) project utilised an action research methodology to build capabilities for regional, inter-sectoral service partnerships focused on whole-of-life, person-centred, wellbeing outcomes.

Consumers, carers and service providers from across mental health, substance use and primary care sectors contributed to a survey and participatory forum in two metropolitan regions. Forums drew on regional expertise to explore practical strategies for referral and support relationships for better outcomes. This paper reports on the outcomes of C2R’s action research, including key barriers and enablers to person-centred service referral and coordination partnerships, and regional strategies that were identified to improve partnerships for better outcomes. The C2R project was delivered by Consumers of Mental Health WA (CoMHWA) as part of Perth Central and East Metropolitan Medicare Local (PCEEML)’s Partners in Recovery Innovation and Collaboration grants.

In 2013 the new initiative “Partners in Recovery” rolled out across Australia with the primary aim of seeking to improve the system response to, and outcomes for, people with severe and persistent mental illness who have complex needs. The PIR partnership model allowed each consortium to develop a regionally relevant service framework within the broad program guidelines. Consequently the development and growth of the program has been different in each area. Neami National is a provider in 12 PIR consortiums across Australia and has had the opportunity to compare and contrast different governance and operational processes.
PIR as a program continues to engage with consumers that have been previously disengaged from services or not had adequate service access in the past. As the national mental health landscape is remodelled it is timely to explore what is working and why. This paper presents key observations from the PIR program that can guide best practice service coordination in the future. Key elements examined include: 1) the black, white and grey of flexible funding, 2) Supports Facilitator, a promising role, balancing system reform and direct consumer work, and 3) the benefits and challenges of working in a regional consortium arrangement.

At the heart of the Federal Government’s implementation of the national Partners In Recovery program lies the role of the Support Facilitator (SF) who must work from the client’s needs in order to bring together services which support the client’s recovery. They do this within a service context whose recent history is characterised by fragmentation and competition. One of the key aims of PIR is to create a joined up system and SFs are key to this change (Department of Health, 2014). We sketch a history of these types of roles in mental health and show their importance in a service environment increasingly centred around personalisation (Fulford, 2011). The results draw on 41 interviews with SFs and others involved in PIR in Western Sydney to understand the reality of their work and how they negotiate their role as recovery oriented connector and system changer. We articulate the main barriers and enablers to their work, how SFs themselves conceptualise their role and how they are viewed by others. Our results provide key points of learning relevant to all community mental health roles. These must be addressed to facilitate such roles as effective tools for enhancing recovery for individuals experiencing mental ill-health.