Other services that can help

Other services that can help

Mental health services

The Department of Health is responsible for publicly funded mental health services.

They have a list of mental health service providers, who can provide advice and referral information.

Other services that may be able to help you are:

• Mind Australia which provides a range of referral, community and residential services. Call 1300 286 463 for assistance.
• Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC) the peak Victorian non-government organisation for people with lived experience of mental health or emotional issues. VMIAC’s work includes providing information, mutual support and self-help, individual, group and systemic advocacy, research and evaluation, and education and training.
• Support for Indigenous people: Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
• Kids Helpline a free, 24 hour counselling service for young people aged 5-25 years. Counselling is offered by phone, email and over the web
• Lifeline24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. Call 13 11 14.
• Mensline national telephone and online support, information and referral service, 24 hours a day, for men with family and relationship concerns. Call 1300 78 99 78
• Families where a Parent has a Mental Illness (FaPMI) is a program that aims to reduce the impact of parental mental illness on all family members through timely, coordinated, preventative and supportive action within adult mental health services.
• Healthtalk Australia's Mental Health and Supported Decision-Making: Lived Experience Perspectives digital resource contains stories on film and video from 29 people about their experiences of supported decision-making in the context of living with a mental health condition
• You may also qualify for the NDIS. For more information contact your Local Area Coordinator.

Other support services

Services for people who are or have experienced family violence and/or sexual assault:

• Family violence support: call the National Sexual Assualt, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service: 1800RESPECT for 24 hour information and support 1800 737 732
• The Sexual Assault Crisis Line Victoria is a state-wide, after-hours, confidential, telephone crisis counselling service for victims of both past and recent sexual assault. Call 1800 806 292 between 5pm weeknights through to 9am the next day and throughout weekends and public holidays.
• Centres Against Sexual Assault (CASA)
• Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria
• inTouch Multicultural Centre Against Family Violence
• safe steps Family Violence Response Centre
• Victims of Crime
• Women’s Information and Referral Exchange (WIRE)
• Mensline Australia

Support with drug and alcohol addiction

• Directline is a 24 hour telephone counselling, information and referral service for people wanting to discuss any alcohol or other drug related services. Call 1800 888 236.
• Youth Support and Advocacy Service : Call 1800 458 685 for free confidential help
• Family Drug Helpline is a 24 hour confidential telephone counselling service developed for families by families. Family members and friends can call 1300 660 068 for information, support, strategies and referrals
• The Department of Health have a list of alcohol and drug addition services on their website.

Complaints about your mental health treatment

Our service can support you to have more say over your treatment, but other services can assist you to make a complaint about your mental health treatment:

• The Mental Health Complaints Commissioner is a dedicated specialist complaints body which investigates and endeavours to resolve complaints about publicly funded mental health service providers.
• The Health Complaints Commissioner helps people with concerns about their health service providers, including privacy of health information.
• The Victorian Ombudsman enquires into or investigates administrative actions taken by a government department, public statutory authority, or any member of staff of a municipal council.
• Community Visitors are volunteers who monitor and report on the adequacy of services provided in mental health services.

If you have not been treated fairly by the police you can make a complaint about police.

You can also make a complaint about harassment or discrimination, if this has happened to you.

Legal services

Victoria Legal Aid has free information about the law and legal problems such as family breakdown and family violence, child support, Centrelink problems, fines and criminal matters. Victoria Legal Aid lawyers may also be able to provide representation at Mental Health Tribunal hearings.

The Mental Health Legal Centre provides a free and confidential legal service to anyone who has experienced mental illness in Victoria where their legal problem relates to their mental illness.

Your local community legal centre can give you legal information and advice. Most services are free.

The Law Institute of Victoria can refer you to a private lawyer who can give you legal advice and represent you in court.

You can also find a private lawyer near you through the Law Institute of Victoria’s Legal Referral Service. All law firms included in the Legal Referral Service provide a free 30-minute interview. If you book an interview, write your questions down beforehand, so you get as much out of the free 30 minutes as possible. If you discuss getting further help from the lawyer, make sure you know how much it will cost.

Guardianship and administration orders

The Office of the Public Advocate is an independent statutory office, working to promote the rights, interests and dignity of Victorians with a disability. It provides advice about advocacy, guardianship, powers of attorney, and consent to medical and dental treatment.

Victoria Legal Aid has further information about Guardianship and administration matters.