COORDINARE - South Eastern NSW PHN has been recognised at The Mental Health Service Awards of Australia and New Zealand in Brisbane for its work to build resilience in the region’s mental health peer workforce.  

COORDINARE's mental health lived experience workforce development program received a Highly Commended award by the judges, who described the co-design aspect of the program as excellent.     

The Mental Health Service Awards of Australia and New Zealand are held annually to recognise innovation, research excellence, best practice and lived experience leadership in mental health services.  

Prudence Buist, COORDINARE's CEO said: "We are delighted to be acknowledged for this investment in South Eastern NSW’s mental health peer workforce.  

“Today in South Eastern NSW, Peer Work is no longer seen as aspirational, it is embedded and expected. The workforce has tripled since 2021, service delivery by Peer Workers has doubled, and access for First Nations consumers has increased five-fold. Peer Workers describe feeling more supported, more connected, and more confident to stay in the work. 

“Peer Workers with lived and living experience support people with care, empathy, intentional support, advocacy, and hope. Services are investing in career pathways for Peer Workers, and we are also building dedicated First Nations Peer networks to strengthen this vital workforce and honour the cultural strengths of local communities. 

“This transformation has only been possible through genuine partnership — with Peer Workers, commissioned services, the PHN, and the strong co-leadership of both the Illawarra Shoalhaven and Southern NSW Local Health Districts,” said Ms Buist. 

COORDINARE’s lived experience workforce development initiative includes a regional Lived Experience (Peer Work) Framework which is the only regional strategy of its kind in Australia, formalised Regional Peer Networks, and a sustained investment in workforce capability and organisational readiness.  

COORDINARE's Regional Peer Workforce Program Lead, Courtney Cross said: “A sustained investment in workforce capability and organisational readiness is crucial to ensure peer work is meaningfully integrated and valued in service delivery as well as organisational cultures and decision-making processes. It shifts the responsibility from individual Peer Workers having to self-advocate to organisations, to holding a shared responsibility for embedding peer work principles and practices. 

"Peer work as a practice is based on shared humanity, solidarity, and hope. We want to ensure this workforce is well-supported, connected and equipped with the skills to create meaningful and enduring changes in both the lives of the people they work with, as well as the systems and services they work within,” she said.  

More information about COORDINARE’s mental health lived experience workforce development program is available here. 

This program is supported by funding from COORDINARE – South Eastern NSW PHN through the Australian Government’s PHN Program.