Category Archives: News

Katherine Whetton Chief Officer Mental Health and Wellbeing – Mobile Pill Testing Service Update 30 January 2025

Mobile pill testing service update
Image shows a festival stage and crowd dancing
Victoria’s pill testing service commenced at Beyond The Valley festival in December. During the four day festival, staff tested more than 600 samples and spoke to more than 700 festival goers.
Of these, 70 per cent said that it was the first discussion they have had with a health professional about drug and alcohol safety. About 40 per cent of those using the service said they planned to use a smaller amount of drugs after using the service.
The mobile drug checking service will attend up to 10 festivals and events throughout the 18-month implementation trial.
The Victorian Government has announced the next festivals and events to have pill testing during the 2024-25 music festival season. The service will operate at:
  • Hardmission at Werribee Racecourse on 8 February 2025
  • Pitch Music & Arts Festival in Moyston from 7 to 11 March 2025
  • Ultra at Flemington Racecourse on 12 April 2025
  • The Warehouse Project at Port Melbourne Industrial Centre for the Arts (PICA) on 25 April 2025.
Pill testing helps people make more informed choices by showing them what’s really in their drugs. Understanding the risks helps them make safer choices, significantly reducing the chance of accidental overdoses – the leading cause of drug-related deaths in Victoria.
A fixed site service is due to open in mid-2025 and operate from inner Melbourne, close to nightlife and transport.
Read more on the Better Health Channel.

Inner South Family and Friends Carer Support Group Meeting 11 February 2025

Please note our new office address and venue for our February Meeting, 607 St Kilda Road is just a little closer to St Kilda junction. Our monthly meetings will generally be held at 607 (not 549 as previously). However for our March or April meetings we may invite individuals who are local candidates for the 2025 Federal Election. If so, that meeting may be held in a venue other than 607 St Kilda Road. Please diarise the dates of our meetings – always the 2nd Tuesday of the month – eg 11 March, 8 April, 13 June. Please remember – politicians need voters, so if we do hold a forum with candidates, please bring your family, friends and anyone who may be interested to meet the local candidates. They will be able to meet local candidates informally and the mental health world may respond more favourably when they see those impacted by mental health are a large group. Politics is a power in numbers. 

ISFAF MONTHLY MEETING 7pm for 7.30pm TUESDAY 11 FEBRUARY 2025 

GUEST SPEAKER:  MICHAEL WHITE, Carer Engagement Team, Alfred Health Carer Services (AHCS).
TOPIC: CARER GATEWAY AND CARER SELF CARE
All Carers, family and friends of individuals are welcome to attend, as are all members of Staff (‘Team AMAH’)  A  light supper provided by our committee is served from 7.05pm, enabling mingling among individuals sharing similar challenging journeys. ISFAF monthly meetings are free. No need to book. However, a small contribution is always extremely welcome. 

VENUE: Level 1, 607 St Kilda Road, Melbourne – a little to the St Kilda side of Wesley College. Lots of free parking in the centre lanes of St Kilda Road and in High Street, with many trams stopping at the door. If you are having trouble with transport, seek further information or just need a chat, about ISFAF. The ‘mental health world’ and/or issues faced by carers please phone: Judi mobile 0425 723 746 or Eleni mobile 0412 018 722  For security, we are required to pay a concierge at the door of the building. Latecomers may not be able to enter. 

 We are grateful to Alfred Mental and Addiction Health (AMAH) for their continued generous support, Including providing us with a lovely office, office facilities and venue for our meetings. 

Turning Point Free Seminar Series

 

Psilocybin-assisted psychotherapy has shown promising safety and efficacy in treating depression, substance use disorders, and end-of-life distress. Although many trials report reductions in anxiety symptoms, no study to date has directly tested psilocybin’s effectiveness in treating a primary anxiety disorder. Relatedly, while both psychedelic therapists often claim that prior personal experience with psychedelics is crucial for developing therapeutic competence, no study has assessed this before.
We conducted two world-first studies with psilocybin: one focused on therapist training and the other on treating Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD). In the therapist training study, 14 therapist volunteers underwent a structured protocol involving preparation, psilocybin dosing (25 mg), and integration, with changes in self-reported professional competencies assessed. The GAD trial was a randomized active-placebo-controlled study with 73 participants, assessing the efficacy, safety, and tolerability of a brief treatment protocol involving nine psychotherapy sessions and two psilocybin sessions (25 mg and 30 mg). Additional measures included quality of life, depression, and substance use.
This talk will provide an overview of the rationale, design, key outcomes, and lessons learned from both studies, and flag new and innovative research on psilocybin from our group.
Dr Paul Liknaitzky is Head of the Clinical Psychedelic Lab, and Senior Research Fellow within the Dept of Psychiatry at Monash University. He has played a central role in establishing the field of clinical psychedelic research in Australia, and is the Principal Investigator on a program of psychedelic trials.
Liknaitzky leads the country’s largest and most experienced group of psychedelic researchers and clinicians, and collaborates with numerous psychedelic groups nationally and internationally. In Australia, Liknaitzky established the first psychedelic lab, coordinated the first applied psychedelic therapist training program, obtained the first industry funding for psychedelic research, and co-convenes the Australasian Research Group on Psychedelic Science. Liknaitzky’s work is focused on investigating novel applications for psychedelic therapies, translating evidence into best clinical practice, exploring under-examined risks, delivering next-generation therapist training, and improving access and affordability.
Date: Wednesday 26th February 2025
Venue: Online
Time: 1:00pm – 2:00pm AEST
Cost: Free
Register: click here to register
If you have enquiries regarding registration please call (03) 8413 8413.

Urgent Care Clinics

Urgent Care during the holiday season 

If your patients require urgent but non-life-threatening care during the holiday closure period, direct them to Victoria’s Urgent Care Services for faster help.

Patients can get the right care at the right time with Victorian’s range of Urgent Care Services, which are available across Victoria.

Benefits

  • Free and open to all, no Medicare card needed
  • No appointment or GP referral required
  • Staffed by urgent care doctors and nurses
  • Faster care with no waiting in a hospital emergency department

Available services

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theMHS Envisioning 2050

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

Submit an abstract for a chance to present at TheMHS Conference 2025 ‘Envisioning 2050: Towards a better Mental Health System’

What will the world be like in 2050 and what will the impact of these changes be on our mental health. This conference will explore how the world might evolve and what we need to do to consolidate the things we already do, and the new things we need to do to reach towards this utopian vision of an ideal mental health system. We invite you to consider this theme when submitting your abstract.

Click here to read the full vision statement for TheMHS Conference 2025.

The abstract submission process through our online portal is simple and easy. Please visit our website for more information about the abstract submission process and requirements or submit directly through the link below.

Abstract submissions close Friday February 28, 2025.

Let’s engage with the bold and improbable ideas needed to move us to action.
SUBMIT YOUR ABSTRACT HERE

CO-HOST

EVENT SPONSOR

News from Heidi Everett

Northcote Library Author Talk – Thursday 9 January 6PM
My Friend Fox talk/music about mental health, creativity, recovery, disability, optimism in the reality of the mental health system.
Footscray Library Author Talk  – Wednesday 19 February 6PM
(same vibe as Northcote – Footscray Library will add to their What’s On soon)
Bendigo Arts & Lived Experience Collective.
Monthly optimistic creative and advocacy meetup at Bendigo Library with Forest Keegal.
Mojo Festival of Arts 2025! First off the blocks is Rad Cactus comedy. Callout for people with c-MH for creative development workshops and new neurodivergent comedian performances starting soon in Melbourne (free).

Schizy Inc – www.schizy.org

Lost Women film project – callout
Seeking women aged 50+ with schizophrenia in the public mental health system who are re-identifying as autistic to be part of this documentary.
EOI: skybeanz@gmail.com

Mental Health Emergency added to 000.
With over 36,000 signatories from across Australia, we’re not letting this go.

PETITION HERE

Due to a disability affecting my working memory (Apple would say my CPU is ‘vintage’), feel free to hustle me through the year to stay connected and receive invites to more opportunities like these.

Please share with anyone you know in the world of c-MH (complex mental health) who would be interested in this stuff.
Happy new year,
Heidi E
Author, Producer, Creative, Advocate.

Inner South Family and Friends end of year Christmas Dinner

End of Year Christmas Dinner 6.30pm Tuesday 10 December 2024 at Cusina, 130 Erskine Street Middle Park

Bookings close 5 pm Wednesday 4 December.  Free parking is available in Erskine Street.

TO BOOK

  1. Deposit $14 for pensioners or $28 for non-pensioners to ISFAF Community Account, BSB 033169   A/c No:  258307  to reach ISFAF account by Wednesday 4 December

Please ensure that your deposit shows your name and names of any others in your booking.

  1. Email confirmation to burstyner@gmail.com

In your email, include

  • Name, phone number and email of each individual attending (pref. mobile phone no.)
  • Choice of main course for each person and their special dietary needs, if any.

Cusina is a gourmet restaurant with a highly regarded chef. The 2024 ISFAF dinner at the same venue was reported last year as having been ‘the best ever’. Food will be cooked specifically for us on the night. We are a big group. To assist the chef, we must advise the restaurant of main courses by the previous Wednesday night.

Accordingly please let us know in your email which ONE of the following main courses you wish to have:

  • any ONE pizza shown on  the menu. The list of pizzas is shown below at: https://www.opentable.com.au/r/cusina-middle-park
  • ONE of the following pasta dishes:
    • beef ragu pappardelle (pappardelle pasta with slow cooked beef brisket in red wine and paprika sauce ),
    • spaghetti with prawns in lobster bisque,
    • gnocchi with pumpkin and gorgonzola
  • chicken cacciatore : boned chicken thighs with roasted capsicum olives and onion with a touch of Napoli sauce served with roasted potatoes  (GF)
  • fish of the day: wild caught barramundi fillet roasted tomatoes, potatoes ,olives and caramelised red onion (GF)

If anyone in your booking has special dietary needs you must also let us know the specific needs in your email.

All of the above pastas and pizzas can be made GF if you advise ahead.

Please note that the meal is highly subsidised by AMAH.  Drinks other than tap water are not included in the above cost. Any drinks other than tap water are to be ordered and paid for individually at the bar upon order.

Confirmation of booking will be emailed to individuals whose deposits show up in the above account AND who have emailed isfaf@alfred.org.au  with their choice of main course (and any special dietary needs)

Extracts from Mental Health Australia CEO Weekly Update 13 November 2024

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