On 10 July, we announced national community health and support services provider, EACH, as the lead agent in the next stage of the reform journey, following a competitive tender process.
EACH will work with a consortium of providers to establish 4 hubs in Rockhampton, Emerald, Gympie, and Hervey Bay by 1 October and to coordinate 16 other spoke sites across the region to deliver primary mental health care, psychosocial, alcohol and other drugs, and early intervention and prevention services.
EACH will also refer on to the four new in-person adult mental health Medicare Mental Health services which opened in July on the Sunshine Coast, Rockhampton, Gladstone and Bundaberg; eight headspace sites already operational across the region; and 16 services specifically tailored to Aboriginal community members.
These place-based services will also work alongside Head to Health, the national mental health and wellbeing phone support line, which has been operating in our region since 2022.
This approach addresses feedback received through CCQ’s extensive community and provider consultation process for MHAOADSP reform, highlighting that people were finding it hard to navigate the mental health system and find the care they need.
From July to September, CCQ is partnering with EACH to establish the new model and transition clients of current service providers whose contracts are due to finish on 30 September.
Our primary concern is that this transition is as smooth as possible for anyone currently receiving care.
Once in place, this extensive network of 49 MHAODSP services across the region, all funded by CCQ through the Australian Government’s PHN Program, will help to ensure there is ‘no wrong door’ for anyone seeking support wherever they live through one of the largest regional mental health, alcohol and other drugs support networks in Queensland.