The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to build a coordinated mental health system with the voices, rights and recovery of people experiencing mental health issues at its centre.
We have made 57 recommendations for change to create a better system for Victorians.
- Download Paving the roads to recovery: Building a better system for people experiencing mental health issues in Victoria (2020) (pdf, 1.5 MB) or the accessible Word version (782.5 KB).
- Download the Summary of Paving the roads to recovery (pdf, 277 KB) or the accessible Summary of Paving the roads to recovery word version (docx, 181 KB).
- Download the Simplified list of Paving the roads to recovery recommendations (pdf, 119 KB) or the accessible Simplified list of Paving the roads to recovery recommendations word version (docx, 177 KB).
Through our work, Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) sees the intersection between people’s mental health and their legal, social and economic issues. Last year, we worked with over 25,000 people who identified as experiencing a mental health issue or disability. From our duty lawyer services to our legal help line to our specialist mental health services, VLA has a unique perspective on how Victoria’s mental health system intersects with other systems, supports and services that impact on mental health, including housing, disability services, employment, income support, criminal justice and family violence.
People experiencing disadvantage should be able to access the mental health supports that work for them, when they need them, before their issues escalate to a crisis point. Early access to high quality, effective services will prevent people’s mental health issues and legal problems spiralling out of control.
Consumer leadership and engagement must be embedded to ensure people directly affected by the mental health system have the power to shape a new, fairer system.
People's lived experience at the centre
Our recommendations to the royal commission are informed by the stories of people with a lived experience of the system, including Edwin.
Our clients' stories paint a picture of diverse lives, strengths and challenges. The experience that unifies them is that, at points in their lives, the mental health system – and the systems that intersect with it – has failed to understand and meet their needs. The hardship that our clients and consumers have experienced as a result of these system failures reminds us all that widescale, systemic change is essential and urgent.
Now is the time for a total rethink and genuine culture shift. We need more services, better services and importantly, we also need alternative services. Let those of us most impacted by the system lead the way in designing a new system that works for us. We want services that are amazing – that you would consider good enough for yourself or your families and friends – Wanda Bennetts, Senior Consumer Consultant, Victoria Legal Aid.
Six priority areas for reform
In our submission to the royal commission in 2019, we identified six priority areas for reform which we believe will contribute to a mental health system that will support people’s recovery and agency.
- building a recovery-focused mental health system
- embedding consumer leadership and advocacy as part of a rights-focused system
- reducing the harm of criminal justice involvement for people experiencing mental health issues
- improving responses of other systems and services to mental health, including NDIS, housing, child protection, family violence and discrimination
- reducing inequalities and developing tailored, culturally safe practices
- strengthening governance, accountability, data and transparency.
We look forward to continuing to work with the royal commission and with our consumers, clients and partners across the legal, health and community sectors, to help build a system that supports people's choices and their recovery in ways that enable them to live the best lives they can, as determined by them.
Read our submission and other work
- read our submission Roads to Recovery: Building a Better System for People Experiencing Mental Health Issues in Victoria – July 2019 (docx, 1.8 MB)
- read a Summary of Roads to Recovery: Building a better system for people experiencing mental health issues in Victoria (pdf, 82 KB) or the accessible Summary of Roads to Recovery: Building a better system for people experiencing mental health issue in Victoria (word version) (docx, 75 KB)
- read our CEO Louise Glanville’s witness statement (pdf, 555 KB)
- read our Response to a commissioner’s question on differences in legal representation in NSW and Victoria (pdf, 188 KB) or the accessible Response to a commissioner’s question on differences in legal representation in NSW and Victoria (accessible version) (docx, 56 KB).
- An independent evaluation of demonstrates it has been very successful, but it’s not able to help everyone who needs support.
- We suggested 10 themes which should be in scope for the royal commission.
- Read more at the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System .
Disclaimer: The material in this print-out relates to the law as it applies in the state of Victoria. It is intended as a general guide only. Readers should not act on the basis of any material in this print-out without getting legal advice about their own particular situations. Victoria Legal Aid disclaims any liability howsoever caused to any person in respect of any action taken in reliance on the contents of the publication.
We help Victorians with their legal problems and represent those who need it most. Find legal answers, chat with us online, or call us. You can speak to us in English or ask for an interpreter. You can also find more legal information at www.legalaid.vic.gov.au
Reviewed 12 May 2022