90-minute webinar featuring leaders from the mental health consumer movement, live Q&A and a look our newly commissioned artwork by lived experience artist Lissy Elliott. Join the National Mental Health Consumer Alliance for the launch of our first Strategic Plan, Reimagining Mental Health — a bold, consumer-led roadmap for national mental health reform. This marks a defining moment in the Australian mental health consumer movement. For over six decades, people with lived experience have led courageous advocacy, transformed public discourse, and laid the foundations for more just, compassionate, and person-led systems. In this 90-minute webinar, you’ll hear from the leaders of this movement as we reflect on the history of consumer activism, celebrate hard-won reforms, and name the barriers that remain. We’ll explore the current policy landscape, our push for a Human Rights Act, and our vision for a future where every person with mental health challenges determines their own needs and wants. There will be a live Q&A and you will hear about opportunities to get involved as a consumer representative or how to stand in allyship with mental health consumers. Whether you’re a consumer, ally, policymaker, peer worker, or sector leader — this event is your invitation to be part of a growing national movement for change.

Navigating My Way is a set of written, visual and video resources that have been developed through a co-design process centering lived experience. This project was funded by the NDIS Quality and Safeguards Commission, and was developed by VMIAC, the peak body for mental health consumers in Victoria. ​ This project is designed to support NDIS participants with psychosocial disabilities in growing their knowledge of their rights when working with service providers. The resources aim to build skills and confidence in self-advocacy, including how to communicate their needs, provide feedback and make complaints. ​ Navigating My Way also aims to empower service providers and support worker to better understand participants with a psychosocial disability, and to create a better complaints culture. Service-provider specific resources are available as part of the project.

Learn about the formation of the National Mental Health Consumer Alliance - the national peak body representing the lived experience voice in mental health reform, of which MHLET is a proud member. The National Mental Health Consumer Alliance was officially recognised in 2024 as the national peak body representing people with lived experience of mental ill-health. The Alliance brings together state and territory consumer peaks - including MHLET - to strengthen the lived experience voice across all levels of mental health reform in Australia.

Anxiety is a leading mental health concern and evidence increasingly links its development and maintenance to social media use. Anxiety symptoms are mainly caused by fear of judgment, compulsive scrolling, and distress after online interactions. Lived Experience Australia in collaboration with Flinders University and Queensland University of Technology (QUT) are seeking to assess the feasibility and acceptability of using real-time social media and sleep data to identify behavioural patterns associated with anxiety symptoms, to improve diagnosis and early detection of anxiety-related conditions. We aim for the results of this survey to inform further research to test a scalable AI-based mental health solution to anxiety associated with social media use, including AI training, real-world testing, and clinical integration. The survey will ask about the following: •General demographic information and your usual patterns of technology use •Your social media experiences •Your preferences for AI-based support and your views on acceptability of using this type of support •Your co-design ideas and feedback on usability of a hypothetical App to help address anxiety associated with social media use This project is being undertaken by Professor Sharon Lawn, in her Flinders University role. Sharon is also Executive Director of Lived Experience Australia and has been working with a Lived Experience Co-design Group to develop the survey for this project. Results of this project will be available in a downloadable summary on the research page of Lived Experience Australia website from February 2026. If you are 18 years of age or older, have access to a smartphone for social media and have any experiences of anxiety associated with social media use and would like to share your perspectives, please complete the survey by clicking the button below.

The 2025 Equally Well Conference will bring people together from across the mental health sector to share innovative projects and research focusing on the shared goal of improving the physical quality of life for people with a lived experience of mental health challenges. ​ Register now for his free event and be part of a dynamic and inclusive experience where people with lived experience, academics, health leaders, clinicians, policy officers, and advocates come together to showcase bold, collaborative approaches that are transforming health equity and saving lives. Together we are redefining what quality mental and physical health care truly means. ​Where: Pullman Adelaide, 6 Hindmarsh Square. 21-22 November 2025 Submit and Abstract to present your great work advancing physical health for people living with mental health challenges under our theme Equally Well for all – working together, Apply for a Lived Experience Bursary supporting consumers and careers. Nominate for an Equally Well Achievement Awards are an opportunity to formally recognise organisations, projects, initiatives and individuals who are making an impact on improving the physical health outcomes of people living with mental health challenges and supporting the Equally Well mission.