Royal Commission into Victoria's mental health system (RCVMHS) recommendations focus on the challenges that families, carers and supporters can experience, and makes recommendations to rebalance the relationship between the system and families, carers and supporters. The future system will be accountable to families, carers and supporters. To support accountability, new family and carer governance and leadership roles will be created to ensure the needs, experiences and outcomes of families, carers and supporters are considered and shape the system. The system will also be explicitly responsible for supporting families, carers and supporters across and will provide them with access to dedicated supports, including from eight family- and carer-led centres, and young carers will have access to tailored and intensive supports.

State of Victoria, Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, Final Report

In March 2021, the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System publicly released its final report. The report placed those with lived and living experience – families, carers, kin and supporters and consumers – at the heart of the reforming system.

Recommendation 31 of the final report recommended the establishment of eight Family and Carer-led Centres. This recommendation stated that these centres would provide a service to the families, carers, kin and supporters of those who experience mental health challenges, psychological distress, mental illness, or substance use issues. In delivering the recommendation, the Royal Commission stated that ‘the work of families and carers is crucial, not only for the people they look after but also for the functioning and sustainability of the mental health system as a whole’ (p.76 Vol 3).

In response to recommendation 31, eight family and carer-led centres have now been established across regional and metropolitan regions in Victoria. The centres are the first of their kind and are now known as the Mental Health and Wellbeing Connect centres (the Connect centres). The Connect centres help fulfill the Royal Commission’s vision to better support families, carers, supporters, and kin – both in their own right and to help them carry out their caring responsibilities.

The Connect centres represent a new and innovative approach to providing mental health and wellbeing services in Victoria. They contribute to the diverse range of new lived experience-led services which will make up Victoria’s reformed Mental Health and Wellbeing system. Providing a warm welcoming space based on peer connection which is easily accessible and available to families, carers, kin, and supporters of all ages, the Connect centres ensure quality connections with and between those accessing these services.

To facilitate successful health and wellbeing initiatives, comprehensive engagement and consultation with a wide array of stakeholders is required (Roper, Grey & Cadogan, 2018, p.5). The establishment of the Connect centres involved thorough consultation, co-design and a partnership approach to system design. The ‘base model’ for the Connect centres was shaped through consultations with Lived and Living Experience (LLE) community members including families, carers, kin and supporters. This consultation process was primarily led by Tandem, the Victorian peak body representing mental health families, carers and supporters. The information gathered through the co-design and consultation process was translated into a government commissioning framework to appoint the funded delivery partners and commence implementation.

In establishing the Connect centres, a partnership approach was also utilised between the Department and Tandem. The strong working relationship was rooted in the shared pursuit of finding common ground, fostering innovation and enabling a deliberate shift from traditional decision-making processes. This approach also ensured that LLE knowledge and perspectives were centred in the development of the Connect centre model.

The Connect centre model, as indicated by the Royal Commission, emphasises the importance of overarching structures and support components for the Connect centres. The Connect Coordination Victoria (CCV) team is located within Tandem, and partners with service providers to offer leadership and practical assistance to ensure implementation of the Connect centre Service Development Framework. CCV will support the Connect centre workforce by building capacity, establishing practice standards and ensuring statewide consistency. Another component is the Connect Development Group (CDG) which is the overarching practice and policy governance group, which is primarily comprised of designated LLE Family and Carer members. The CDG is tasked with evolving the Connect centres in response to the changing needs of families, carers, kin and supporters, innovate Family/Carer LLE discipline practices, and influence the broader mental health and wellbeing system. This will be achieved through ongoing cycles of monitoring and co-evaluation, creating sustainable roles within the Connect centres’ workforce, and strengthening the evidence base for the Connect centres model and practices.

The Connect centres have now been fully established across the state. The service delivery model will continuously evolve and be improved in response to needs of families, carers, kin and supporters through local engagement and codesign, and the growing evidence base derived from data collection and evaluation.