MHYFVic advocates that services promoting and restoring the well-being and mental health of young people and families need to be of high quality and easily accessible.
This covers the whole range from universal services like schools, kindergartens and day care through to specialist services for identified mental illnesses. It also includes services that lie between these extremes, such as local doctors [G Ps), and programs for such problems as stress management, marital and parenting difficulties, domestic violence and substance abuse.
MHYFVic supports Projects to identify which services are most effective in building the well-being and mental health of young people and families, and uses this information in lobbying for improvements. We do our lobbying through meetings with government officials, written submissions and public forums such as workshops and the annual Winston Rickards Memorial Oration.
MHYFVic also believes in giving a voice to those who use the services as they are in the best position to give feedback on how well the services work. We ask all members, particularly consumers and carers within the service system, to inform MHYFVic of problems they encounter or issues they feel need to be addressed so that we can include these in our advocacy.
This is done by mail to PO Box 206, Parkville, Vic 3052, or email to admin@mhyfvic.org
Young People, as consumers, along with parents and carers, all have important roles in MHYFVic‘s advocacy to improve services.
MHYFVic, as a lobby group, gains strength through collaboration. Young people, parents and carers, professionals and other members of the public unite as members on a broad range of issues. Our advocacy is generally in keeping with what other mental health lobby groups believe (for examples see our Linkages page), which strengthens our communal voice.
Although we share a common voice with many other mental health organizations we are different because we do not limit ourselves to just one age group or issue, one professional discipline or one support base, but care about the whole spectrum of issues affecting the mental health of young people and their families
