National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy
An overview of the Strategy
As part of the Social Inclusion Agenda, the Australian Government is developing a National Mental Health and Disability Employment Strategy (the Strategy). The Strategy will be developed in close consultation with consumers, peak bodies, employers, state and territory governments and experts.The Strategy aims to address the barriers that are faced by people with a disability and/or mental illness that make it harder for them to gain and keep work.
The Hon Bill Shorten MP, Parliamentary Secretary for Disabilities and Children's Services and the Hon Brendan O'Connor MP, Minister for Employment Participation are jointly overseeing the development of the Strategy. The Terms of Reference for the Strategy were released on 15 February 2008.
Public consultation and submission process
To ensure the Strategy is practical and effective, the Government conducted a public consultation and submission process. A discussion paper was released to facilitate input to the Strategy from stakeholders. The submission process closed on 30 June 2008.The response to the process was strong with 13 face to face consultations held around Australia facilitated by the Hon Bill Shorten MP and the Hon Brendan O'Connor MP to hear first hand what barriers exist for people with disability and/or mental illness and what needs to be done to address them.
A total of around 740 individuals, covering some 380 organisations, attended the sessions. Over 300 submissions were also received.
Both the written submissions and the public consultations have identified positive and practical ways to help address barriers to gaining and retaining employment.
What happens next?
A Strategy Advisory Committee comprised of peak consumer, provider, employer and union organisations, and other relevant experts will consider the outcomes from the consultations. The Strategy will be released at the end of 2008.Resources
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