Partners in Recovery
$550 M program is designed to provide better coordinated pathways to recovery for people experiencing severe and persistent mental illness.
About
Partners in Recovery will better support people experiencing severe and persistent mental illness with complex needs by getting the multiple sectors, services and supports they may come into contact with (and could benefit from) to work in a more collaborative, coordinated, and integrated way.
Through building stronger partnerships between sectors, services and supports, Partners in Recovery will promote collective responsibility and encourage innovative solutions to ensure individuals are able to access the services and supports needed to sustain and support their optimal health, wellbeing, and recovery.
Suitably placed and experienced non‐government organisations will be engaged as Partners in Recovery organisations in Medicare Local geographic regions and will be the mechanism that ‘glues’ together all the supports and services the individual requires.
Background
Around one in three Australians experience mental illness at some stage in their life. Mental illness accounts for 13 per cent of the total burden of disease in Australia, and is the largest single cause of disability, comprising 24 per cent of the burden of non-fatal disease. Around 600,000 Australians experience severe mental illness and some 60,000 have enduring and disabling symptoms with complex, multi-agency support needs.
Addressing severe and persistent mental illness requires a complex system of treatment, care and support, requiring the engagement of multiple areas of government, including health, housing, income support, disability, education and employment. The Australian and state/territory governments as well as the non-government sector, all deliver programs for people with mental illness and their carers. Building a coherent system of care is a challenging task.
Activities
It is intended Partners in Recovery organisations will work at a systems‐level and be the mechanism to drive collaboration between relevant sectors, services and supports within the region to ensure the range of needs of people in the target group are met. This will be achieved through the development of innovative solutions discussed and collectively owned by the Partners in Recovery partners within the region. Support Facilitators will undertake the day to day tasks and develop the partnerships and relationships required at the individual level to support this.
It is envisaged Partners in Recovery organisations will undertake a number of tasks, including for instance:
- as a primary role, engage and join up the range of sectors, services and supports within a region from which individuals may need assistance. They will work to build partnerships, establish (or improve) collaborative ways of working together, and establish the framework to oversee implementation of the initiative at a local level, complement, support or influence care coordination activities that may already be underway in the region;
- through development of system‐level partnerships, identify and proactively engage potential PIR clients, support carer and family engagement and reconnection as is appropriate, manage referral pathways, and manage stakeholder relationships;
- employ and supervise appropriately skilled and experienced person/s to undertake the role of Support Facilitators;
- actively participate in monitoring and evaluation processes for the initiative; and
- monitor the ongoing effectiveness of the partnerships through use of appropriate resources and tools.
Expert Assistance
Writing a good quality grant application is a critical element in the application process. An application needs to be well thought through, written concisely, have clear objectives and purpose, and show clear links to the objectives of the grant guidelines.
The grant application must answer all questions, provide all required information and respond to the merit criteria. It should also reflect your organisation’s business strategy.
Writing a good application takes time and effort, and requires particular writing skills.
Bulletpoint are expert grant consultants and can assist with all aspects of grant preparation. We also dont wait for the guidelines to be announced as we know what is required in order to be successful.
Call us on (03) 9005 6789 or email to discuss further.
Other Information
- Partners in Recovery – PIR Organisations Invitation to Apply
- Partners in Recovery – Application Form
- Partners in Recovery – Project Budget
- Partners in Recovery – Implementation Plan
- Partners in Recovery – Addendum 1
- Partners in Recovery – Case Study
- Partners in Recovery – Presentation
- Partners in Recovery – Q&As
Recipients
Medicare Local regions to be funded under Stage 1
| State/Territory | Medicare Local Region |
|---|---|
| ACT | Australian Capital Territory |
| New South Wales | Central Coast NSW |
| New South Wales | Sydney North Shore and Beaches |
| New South Wales | Eastern Sydney |
| New South Wales | Illawarra – Shoalhaven |
| New South Wales | North Coast NSW |
| New South Wales | Murrumbidgee |
| New South Wales | Inner West Sydney |
| New South Wales | Northern Sydney |
| New South Wales | South Western Sydney |
| New South Wales | South Eastern Sydney |
| New South Wales | Southern NSW |
| New South Wales | Western NSW |
| New South Wales | Western Sydney |
| New South Wales | Nepean – Blue Mountains |
| New South Wales | New England |
| New South Wales | Hunter |
| Northern Territory | Northern Territory |
| Queensland | Central and North West Queensland |
| Queensland | West Moreton – Oxley |
| Queensland | Far North Queensland |
| Queensland | Central Queensland |
| Queensland | Greater Metro South Brisbane |
| Queensland | Darling Downs – South West Queensland |
| Queensland | Metro North Brisbane |
| Queensland | Sunshine Coast |
| Queensland | Wide Bay |
| Queensland | Gold Coast |
| South Australia | Central Adelaide and Hills |
| South Australia | Country North SA |
| South Australia | Northern Adelaide |
| South Australia | Southern Adelaide – Fleurieu – Kangaroo Island |
| Tasmania | Tasmania |
| Victoria | Gippsland |
| Victoria | Grampians |
| Victoria | Hume |
| Victoria | Loddon – Mallee – Murray |
| Victoria | Lower Murray |
| Victoria | Northern Melbourne |
| Victoria | South Eastern Melbourne |
| Victoria | Eastern Melbourne |
| Victoria | Frankston – Mornington Peninsula |
| Victoria | Inner East Melbourne |
| Western Australia | Fremantle |
| Western Australia | Goldfields – Midwest |
| Western Australia | Perth Central and East Metro |
| Western Australia | Perth North Metro |
| Western Australia | Bentley – Armadale |
| Western Australia | South West WA |
Media Release
A key plank of the Gillard Labor Government’s $2.2 billion mental health reform package is a step closer with preferred applicants being selected for the $550 million Partners in Recovery program.
Minister for Mental Health, Mark Butler, said the program would provide coordinated support and flexible funding for people with severe and ongoing mental illness with complex support needs.
“The last thing people with severe mental illness, their families and carers need is to battle with multiple service systems,” Mr Butler said.
“Partners in Recovery is designed to pull together services like income support, housing, employment, medical care and education which can often lack coordination.”
So far lead organisations in 49 of the 61 Medicare Local regions are ready for stage one of the Partners in Recovery rollout, with further work occurring in the remaining regions.
“The fact that so many regions have been successful in the first round of the application process is really encouraging and confirms their readiness to use the program to pull together services and improve the systems’ response to the people who need it most.”
Mr Butler said contract negotiations with the successful applicants would now begin and funding for the program to roll out shortly after.
The Department of Health and Ageing will work with the 12 remaining regions to ensure they are ready for the full roll-out of the program.
“This will allow additional time for these regions to finalise their Partners in Recovery models and to put in place the arrangements that will ensure the strong partnerships needed for this program.”
