Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission

6 June 2025

Changes to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission Update 2

The Mental Health and Wellbeing Commission has been advised by the Department of Health of significant changes that will impact our operations and functions. This is tied to the State Budget, announced on 20 May, which includes drastically reduced funding in 2025–26.

We have been informed that from 1 January 2026 proposed changes to the Mental Health and Wellbeing Act will come into effect to reshape and reduce the role of the Commission.

The proposed changes include the Commission moving from having four Commissioners, including a Lived Experience Consumer Commissioner and a Lived Experience Carer Commissioner as it does now, to a single commissioner model.

While we don’t have the details of all the proposed legislation changes, the Department of Health has said the Commission will continue to play an important role with clearer priorities, including vital safeguarding responsibilities and a strengthened focus on complaint resolution and compliance.

We remain steadfastly committed to these responsibilities and areas of focus.

We are concerned, however, that updates to the Act will not reflect the Government’s public commitment to implementing all the Royal Commission recommendations and specifically Recommendation 44 which was the establishment of the Commission in its current format to:

• hold government to account for the performance and quality and safety of the mental health and wellbeing system;
• support people living with mental illness or psychological distress, families, carers and supporters to lead and partner in the improvement of the system;
• monitor the Victorian Government’s progress in implementing the Royal Commission’s recommendations; and
• address stigma related to mental health.

While we acknowledge the significant investments by the Government into mental health and wellbeing, access to detailed progress on each recommendation of the Royal Commission is critical.  It is important for people with lived experience to maintain hope and to effectively engage and provide feedback on reform efforts.  Independent monitoring and reporting on the performance, quality and safety of the system is also integral to determining the impact of reform.

We are unclear how the Government intends to be accountable for the commitments it has made, and we are concerned about the message this sends to people with lived experience about how their perspectives will inform meaningful and lasting change.

This uncertainty is difficult. We urge the Government to provide a clear picture regarding how and when it will deliver all the recommendations of the Royal Commission and improve mental health and wellbeing outcomes for all Victorians.

Compliance actions  

The Commission is committed to exercising its powers to improve the quality and safety of the mental health system, highlighting areas for improvement, rectifying non-compliance and reducing harms.

The Commission has issued a compliance notice. This notice was issued in line with our Approach to Complaint Handling and Compliance Monitoring which was published last year.

This notice was issued as the Commission was satisfied that the designated public health service had not complied with the terms of an undertaking that was made in response to an investigation.

It’s okay to complain

We would also like to remind all consumers, carers, families, supporters and kin that it is okay to complain.  Please continue to reach out to us if you have a complaint regarding a public mental health and wellbeing service.  We are here for you.

Do you have questions about the changes occurring?

We recognise that uncertainty is concerning and if we are able to provide further clarity on any questions you have, we are keen to do so.

If you have any questions regarding the changes planned for the Commission, please email us at info@mhwc.vic.gov.au and we will do our best to answer them.

We have created a page on our website: mhwc.vic.gov.au/changes and we will provide answers to your questions as well as further information as it becomes available.

NDIS Legislation Presentation

The National Disability Insurance Agency last week provided stakeholders with a sharable presentation about the recent proposed legislation to the National Disability Insurance Scheme. The PDF presentation is attached.

Plain English/easy read material that explains what is included in the Bill, is also available on the DSS website.

The proposed legislation is the first important step to put in place the scaffolding needed to start making the NDIS stronger and to improve outcomes for NDIS participants.

The purpose of the legislation is two-fold, it:

• Creates the scaffolding needed to progress key NDIS Review recommendations, in partnership with people with disability and the disability community.
• Clarifies the intention of existing legislation to improve the delivery of the Scheme now. These adjustments will make legislation clearer and reinforce the original intent of the Scheme.

The proposed legislation is informed by feedback from people with disability, their families, carers and the broader disability community over many years—and importantly, it is informed by the NDIS Review.

In addition, the NDIS Amendment (Getting the NDIS Back on Track No. 1) Bill 2024 is available on the Parliament of Australia website and further information is available on the Department of Social Services websi