BEING Seen, BEING Heard, BEING Involved

Committees Offer the Opportunity to Contribute, Collaborate and Support Systemic Change

The primary focus of BEING – Mental Health Consumers is to ensure the voices of people living with mental health issues are heard by decision makers, service providers, and the community, and recognised for the valuable expertise they bring to system and service reform.

Central to this goal are our consumer-led committees, where people with lived experience of mental health issues gather together, share their knowledge and guide our advocacy work, programs and policies.

The expertise of people with lived experience is highly valued and committee members are paid for their participation.

Committees are exciting forums, where ideas are exchanged and where lived experience has an avenue to shape policy into the future.

Committee members tell us they find the work rewarding and inspiring, and members enjoy being part of a structure that values their experiences and knowledge.

“Being on a committee is a really significant part of a journey toward recovery,” a BEING-Mental Health Consumers Co-design Committee Member said of her experience.

“My own health took me out of participation on many levels, and it was hard to keep holding hope. But joining a committee was a small step toward building skills and confidence to be a part of a group, to build hope through purposeful action,” the BEING-Mental Health Consumers Co-design Committee Member said.

The BEING – Mental Health Consumers Co-design Committee assists with co-design of policies and procedures, advocacy work and the establishment of new programs.

To ensure the legitimate representation of the views of consumers from various demographics and locations across NSW, BEING – Mental Health Consumers has also  established a number of specialised committees.

We are forming a new BEING – Mental Health Consumers Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Advisory Committee, to ensure the voices of people living with mental health issues from our multicultural communities are heard and become central to all policies.

A BEING – Mental Health Consumers Rural and Remote Communities Committee is also starting soon, to draw in the voices of people outside of our big cities who live with the unique challenges of distance.

To better represent the particular challenges and strengths of young people who live with mental health issues and emotional distress, we are seeking members for our BEING – Mental Health Consumers Youth Committee.

We are currently seeking members for all committees and we highly encourage people with lived experience of mental health issues to join and become part of a structure that brings the voice of mental health consumers to policy makers and service providers.

If you would like to learn more about committee work and how you can get involved, visit our Committees page.

To apply for a position on any of our committees, download the Expression of Interest form using the links below and email your application by 30 April 2021 to info@being.org.au.

BEING – Mental Health Consumers Co-design Committee

BEING – Mental Health Consumers Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Advisory Committee

BEING – Mental Health Consumers Rural and Remote Communities Committee

BEING – Mental Health Consumers Youth Committee