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Lived Experience Peak

Mental Health Lived Experience Peak Queensland (MHLEPQ) is the new mental health consumer representative peak organisation for Queensland, and will help advance lived-experience-led reform.

The Queensland Mental Health Commission oversaw the project to establish MHLEPQ since early 2020.

The mental health lived experience peak body is now fully operational and directly funded by Queensland Health. The MHLEPQ provides policy advice and system advocacy that represents the common interests of mental health consumers of all ages across Queensland.

MHLEPQ is governed by a board of seven directors, established in 2021, led by a Chief Executive Officer with the assistance of Policy Director and two Engagement Leads.

Visit the MHLEPQ website to find out more about how to get involved, including how to join for free as a lived experience member.

Why is this important

The Queensland Government is committed to ensuring the voices of people with a lived experience of mental ill-health are heard at all levels of the mental health system.

The establishment of the mental health consumer representative peak organisation aligned with key state and national strategic frameworks, including:

Establishment

Lived experience-led

The establishment of the mental health consumer representative peak body was guided by co-design principles.

This included using the lived experience-led reform work the Commission has already championed under the Stretch2Engage Framework and the Queensland Framework for the Development of the Mental Health Lived Experience Workforce, along with other relevant state and national resources.

Project team

The Commission recruited a lived experience project team to manage all aspects of establishing the mental health consumer representative peak organisation.

Steering committee

The project to establish the new mental health consumer representative peak was governed by a project steering committee co-chaired by a person with lived experience and the Queensland Mental Health Commissioner.

The majority of the project steering committee members had lived experience. Learn more about the committee and their experiences here.

The Committee met ten times between 2020 and 2021 to make decisions about the governance and structure of the mental health consumer representative peak organisation. After each meeting, a communique was produced.

The Committee’s work wrapped up after the final meeting in June 2021 handing over to the newly established Board.

Evaluation

The project to establish and auspice the new mental health consumer representative peak has been evaluated by lived experience evaluator, Jo Farmer, from Jo Farmer Consulting. The findings of the evaluation will be published soon.