• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
MENUMENU
  • WayAhead Programs ☰
        • WayAhead Directory

          Search icon

          Online directory of mental health and community services

          Search Directory →
        • Anxiety Support Groups

          Free support groups for friends, family and those with anxiety or OCD

          Find a group near you →
        • Mental Health Month

          Mental Health Month logo

          Encouraging good mental health and wellbeing throughout October

          You are currently on this website
        • Small Steps

          Seminars and resources for parents and teachers of primary school children

          Learn more →
        • Mental Health Matters Awards

          Mental Health Matters Awards Logo

          Celebrating exceptional work across NSW in the mental health sector

          You are currently on this website
        • Perinatal Depression and Anxiety Awareness

          Supporting expecting or new parents and their families

          Learn more →
        • WayAhead Workplaces

          Inspire, network, support

          Connect with others interested in employee health and wellbeing

          Find out more →
        • Stress Less Tips

          Tips to reduce stress and encourage wellbeing

          How can you stress less →
        • Back to the main WayAhead website

MENUMENU
  • About WayAhead
        • At WayAhead, we work every day to educate people throughout New South Wales on mental health and wellbeing and link them to services and resources that improve their mental health.
          Our vision is for a society that understands, values and actively supports the best possible mental health and wellbeing.
        • How we work for better mental health

          We work towards better mental health and wellbeing through:

          • The co-ordination of mental health promotion activities such as Mental Health Month NSW, WayAhead Workplaces, Perinatal Depression and Anxiety Awareness Week and Stress Less Tips
          • Free anxiety support groups throughout NSW
          • The provision of mental health information – the WayAhead Directory, mental health factsheets
          • Education seminars such as or Understanding Anxiety Forums and Professional Development Workshops – for people living with a mental health condition, the public and health care professionals
          • Small Steps workshops for parents and school teachers to raise awareness and improve recognition of anxiety disorders in children.
  • Donate
Mental Health Month

Mental Health Month

Get involved in Mental Health Month

  • Get Involved in 2022
    • Apply for a Grant
    • Poster Competition
    • Sponsorship Opportunities
  • Tune In
    • What is Tune In?
    • Tips to Tune In
  • How to be a Mental Health Ally
  • Mental Health Matters Awards
    • Award Nominations
    • About the Awards
    • Looking back on our past winners
      • 2021 Award Winners
      • 2020 Award Winners
      • 2019 Award Winners
      • 2018 Award Winners
  • Events
    • Mental Health Month Event Starter Kit
    • All events
    • Add your event
  • Resources
    • Activation Guide
    • Downloadable Resources
    • Donation Merch Shop
    • Resource Orders (Open July 11th 2022)
  • About
    • About MHM
    • Mental Health Month Across Australia
    • Contact Us
    • Mental Health Month History

Mental Health Matters Awards 2018

[Show slideshow]
Tam2
Table2
Raw2
Minister2
Peeps2
Liz2
Commissioner2
Tables2
Tom2

Community champions, workplace support programs and community groups who have come together to support each other were some of the recipients of this year’s Mental Health Matters Awards.

That annual awards are run by WayAhead and presented during the annual Mental Health Month launch event in Sydney.


Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing Award

Red Dust Healing

Red Dust Healing is a specific cultural healing program, written from an Indigenous perspective, targeted at Indigenous men, women and families to address family and community violence, suicide, rejection, addictions, grief and loss, and mental health issues.  The program encompasses visual holistic learning modules, linking Indigenous and non-Indigenous cultures, to help participants with their individual insights and the journey of personal growth and wellbeing. By individualising and personalising the program through a series of cultural modules targeted at real issues that affect the lives of the participants, it makes it easier for them to engage in the program. 

The Red Dust Healing program has been delivered to over 15,000 people in over 300 communities in Australia and overseas.

Tom Powell is the Founder of the Red Dust Healing Program. Tom is a Warramunga Man from the Wiradjuri Nation in NSW.  Tom’s working life began at his father’s earthmoving and road construction business. Following his father’s death, in 1985, Tom continued to operate a grader business, studying community welfare through Dubbo TAFE College at night. In 1995, Tom commenced work with the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice as an Aboriginal Programs Officer, based in Taree, NSW.  After 13 years with the Department, Tom left his position in order to deliver Red Dust Healing.


Excellence in Service or Program Delivery Award (Joint Winner)

Connect for Kids

Royal Far West and Murrumbidgee PHN

Connect for Kids is a multi-disciplinary mental health service delivered by Royal Far West’s globally recognised telecare for kids program. The service is helping to connect children aged 0-15 years outside major cities to mental health facilities for behavioural issues, anxiety, conduct and mood disorders, and giving rural and remote areas access to early intervention, affordable and specialised paediatric health services through video technology.  The program’s structured, whole-of-child approach works with family and caregivers to assist them in providing better support to the child. The program is funded under the Commonwealth’s Primary Health Networks program (PHN) by South Eastern NSW PHN and Murrumbidgee PHN and covers assessment, therapy and capacity building across psychology, paediatrics, speech and occupational therapy.


Excellence in Service or Program Delivery Award (Joint Winner)

Bright Minds: Connected Communities

CALM

Bright Minds, Connected Communities is an extension of a grassroots project/campaign developed by dedicated young people in Lake Macquarie who identified a need for additional support for young people experiencing poor mental health and/or at risk of suicide. Through their hard work and enthusiasm, the project is now funded by the NSW Ministry of Health and involves a three-tiered approach to suicide prevention and intervention.

A Youth Support Pack to provide advocates and workers supporting young people with appropriate information and services available for referral.

Delivery of ASIST (Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training) and SafeTALK (suicide alertness training) workshops to those living with or working with young people.

Delivery of Wellbeing Workshops and Focus Group Education Sessions to students in year 7 and 9 in secondary schools.


Mental Health Promotion and Wellbeing Award

Solace Place at Iluka reserve

Port Stephens Suicide Prevention Network

Port Stephens Suicide Prevention Network is a local initiative funded by donations and created to raise awareness about the impact of suicide on loved ones and to bring our community together to inspire love, hope and remember lives lost. Members have restored a rugged neglected headland, built a seat and memorial plinth and developed walking paths. Each year people are invited to ‘Walk With Us’ in a friendly community environment, to start the conversation about our emotions and fears, and support  those who have lost loved ones through a suicide. Port Stephens Suicide Prevention Network also supports suicide prevention training programs from Wesley and Lifeline,  provides information about mental health services and are building a labyrinth as a “walking meditation” mindfulness space, to aid people in need of stress and anxiety reduction.


Lived Experience Participation and Leadership Award

Mental Health Recovery Program

Wagga Wagga Mental Health Recovery Unit

The Wagga Wagga Mental Health Recovery Unit provides a free, residential, voluntary program of psycho-education, care and support for people with a mental health issue. Referrals are accepted from any source including GPs, community mental health teams, non-government organisations and the acute mental health service. People can also self-refer. Consumers benefit from a holistic approach that includes interventions on sleep, diet, exercise, communication, relationships and emotional wellbeing. The course includes the core subjects of self-esteem, assertiveness, mental health, healthy eating, distress tolerance, cognitive behavioural therapy, living skills and personal recovery. The multi-disciplinary team includes full time Peer Support Workers who “walk beside” current consumers on their journeys to recovery. Consumers also benefit from graduates of the program who return as volunteers. Consumers are placed at the centre of their own journey through the program; this means they set their own goals, write their own weekly reports and run their own meetings.


Media Award

SBS Punjabi Program

The SBS Punjabi program is broadcast every weeknight from 9-10pm, and enjoys a committed audience on-air and online. It has a significant digital footprint, with over 180,000 people following its Facebook page.

Manpreet Kaur Singh, the Executive Producer, has been with SBS for over 25 years. She is a Walkley-nominated journalist-broadcaster who has highlighted the history, achievements and major issues concerning Australia’s Punjabi community, winning several national and international awards for her investigative reporting.

Preetinder Singh Grewal, the Digital and Audio producer, joined SBS Punjabi in 2013. He is a cancer research scientist who completed a PhD in medicine from UNSW.  A very popular broadcaster, he has covered a wide variety of stories pertaining to health and lifestyle, visa and migration, human rights, racism and entertainment.


Mental Health Promotion Workplace Award

RAW Mind Coach

RAW Mind Coach is an online learning program designed to build psychological resilience. This year the evidence-based program was rolled out to more than 5000 workers at NSW Ambulance. Proactive and preventative in nature, RAW Mind Coach performs a vital role in supporting frontline staff, through teaching mindfulness and a range of other essential skills and strategies. 

RAW Mind Coach was developed by psychologist Sadhbh Joyce, following research conducted as part of the UNSW Workplace Mental Health Research Team and the Black Dog Institute. RAW Mind Coach includes ten short interactive learning sessions, a selection of guided mindfulness exercises and a large library of resources for ongoing learning. The customisable online program has already been adopted by a number of major employers internationally, helping support workers across a wide range of challenging roles.


NSW Mental Health Commissioner’s Community Champion Award

Thi Minh Tam Nguyen

Thi Minh Tam Nguyen’s first job in Australia was at the Indo-Chinese Women’s Refuge. This work was controversial as it went against traditional values of the Vietnamese community.  After some time, Ms Nguyen qualified as an interpreter and began working with Vietnamese people living with mental health difficulties.

Through her work as a bilingual health educator in a mental health inpatient unit, Ms Nguyen runs various activities and teaches communication skills. She also shares the benefits of meditation with her clients. In 2007, Ms Nguyen was one of five Vietnamese health workers to receive a scholarship from South Western Sydney Health promotion to become a Vietnamese Mental Health Instructor. Since then, Ms Nguyen has delivered more than thirty courses for the Vietnamese community with nearly 700 attendees. She finds that even simply talking about mental health helps to break down stigma and misunderstanding of mental llness.

Ms Nguyen is a member of a Vietnamese interagency workers group that meets regularly to brainstorm solutions and projects to meet the needs of the community. Ms Nguyen is currently working on a directory of Vietnamese mental health professionals.

Footer

Stay in the loop

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

WayAhead Programs

WayAhead Directory

Mental Health Month

Mental Health Matters Awards

WayAhead Workplaces

 
Anxiety Support Groups

Small Steps

Perinatal Depression and Anxiety Awareness

Stress Less Tips

Privacy Policy | Feedback and Complaints

WayAhead is supported by the NSW Government

WayAhead is an ACNC registered
Australian Charity and QIP accredited

Registered Charity and QIC logos
At School

 

How can we share the journey at school?

  • Host a Mental Health Month assembly
  • Include Mental Health Month in your classroom activities 
  • Support students to put on their own events for Mental Health Month
  • Consider hosting a “Share a Meal for Mental Health Month” event on World Mental Health Day
  • Ensure that all students and staff know what supports are available at your school
  • Challenge ideas and language that may have a negative impact on the way people think
    about mental ill-health

 

Download the ‘Schools Pack’ with heaps of useful resources and activities

Download the ‘At School’ social post here

Check out all the Share the Journey downloads here

At Work

 

How can we share the journey at work??

  • Include mental health in discussions about workplace health and safety
  • Organise wellbeing activities and make them accessible to people
  • Consider hosting an event for Mental Health Month
  • Have someone to come and talk to your workplace about mental health and wellbeing
  • Connect with the WayAhead Workplaces network –
    a network of likeminded organisations working together to improve mental wellbeing in the workplace.

 

Download the ‘At Work’ social post here

Check out all the Share the Journey downloads here

With Family and Friends

 

How can we share the journey with family and friends?

  • Share a hobby or teaching each other something new
  • Helping each other with chores like laundry, cooking or cleaning
  • Help each other get to appointments, occasions or events
  • Organise times to check in with each other
  • Help each other plan for difficult situations
  • Create a fun challenge you can do together
  • Play games together

 

Download the ‘Family and Friends’ social post here

Check out all the Share the Journey downloads here

In the Community

 

How can we share the journey with family and friends?

  • Host a community event for Mental Health Month
  • Think about ways you can connect with people experiencing mental health issues –
    this could include having quiet spaces or transport options available for community events.
  • Make sure that mental health and wellbeing are talked about in your community
  • Consider hosting a “Share a Meal for Mental Health Month” event on World Mental Health Day in your community

 

Download the ‘In the Community’ social post here

Check out all the Share the Journey downloads here

Share the Journey

 

Connecting with others is important for all aspects of our health and wellbeing. Research tells us that feeling connected with others gives us a sense of security, support, purpose and happiness. Close connections and good relationships with others help us enjoy good times in our lives as well as cope with difficult experiences. Many of us report feeling lonely and believe loneliness is increasing in Australia. For those experiencing or living with mental illness, loneliness can have an even bigger impact, especially when you factor in the added experiences of social exclusion and stigma.

Share the Journey is all about ways we can connect with others, both for our own health and wellbeing, as well as theirs.

Sharing the journey can mean many things:

  • Telling your loved ones about both your successes and difficulties
  • Reaching out to people who might be withdrawing from others
  • Working with someone to find and access services or support
  • Asking for help with day-to-day things when you need it
  • Getting involved in group activities, like sports or book clubs
  • Sharing a cuppa with a mate

 

Whether you reach out to someone who might be feeling a bit lost or find a way to connect with others when you need some help,
building positive social connection is something we can all try and do.

Download this information as a fact sheet here

View all Share the Journey downloads here