National Advisory Council on Mental Health
The National Advisory Council on Mental Health (NACMH) was established in 2008 as an election commitment. The NACMH’s tenure expired on 30 June 2011.
The NACMH provided independent and confidential advice to Government on mental health issues as requested by the Commonwealth Minister for Mental Health and Ageing. It provided a formal mechanism for the Australian Government to gain independent advice from a wide range of experts to inform national mental health reform.
The NACMH meet eleven times over their three year tenure, with the final meeting held on 28 June 2011.
NACMH Membership
Membership of NACMH included individuals with particular expertise and experience in mental health, broadly encompassing the cross-sectoral nature of mental health service delivery. Members did not represent particular organisations or individual professions.
In 2010-11, the appointed NACMH members were:
The Hon Mark Butler MP, Chair, Minister for Mental Health and Ageing
Monsignor David Cappo AO, Deputy Chair, Vice-Chair, Australian Social Inclusion Board
Mr Michael Burge, consumer consultant/advocate for the Toowoomba District Mental Health Service
Associate Professor Neil Cole, mental health consumer, and a former Victorian Member of Parliament
Mr David Crosbie, Chief Executive Officer of the Community Council of Australia and former CEO of Mental Health Council of Australia
Professor Allan Fels AO, Dean of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, and carer of a daughter with mental illness
Professor Ian Hickie AM, Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Sydney, and Executive Director of the Brain and Mind Research Institute
Professor Lyn Littlefield OAM, Executive Director of the Australian Psychological Society
Professor Helen Milroy, descendant of the Palyku people in the Pilbara, Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, and Associate Professor and Director for the Centre for Aboriginal Medical and Dental Health at University of Western Australia
Ms Dawn O’Neil AM, Chief Executive Officer of beyondblue and former CEO of Lifeline Australia
Dr Rob Walters, General Practitioner, and former Chair of the Australian Divisions of General Practice
Ms Adele Cox, a Bunuba & Kija (Gija) woman from the Kimberley region of Western Australia, and member of several Councils and Committees including the WA State Forensic Mental Health Council, the Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council, and the National Indigenous Youth Movement of Australia (from 28 January 2010)
Past Member:
Adjunct Professor John Mendoza (Chair), former Chief Executive Officer of the Mental Health Council of Australia, and co-author of the Not for Service report.
Page currency, Latest update: 27 September, 2011