We are pleased to share our seventh bulletin update on the progress of the Crisis & Emergency Response Reform Project.

We are well underway with our Phase 3 service design activities, with a strong focus on engagement over the past fortnight. Thank you to everyone who has shared their time, insights, and lived experience to help shape the future design of crisis services and the broader system.

Project activities in the past fortnight

Service Design Workshops

Over the past fortnight, we have been actively progressing through our Service Design engagement series. During this period, we have facilitated a range of engagement activities including:

• 7 service design workshops led by the Lively Collective with participants with lived and living experience (LLE) - average 7 participants per session;
• 3 workshops with sector-wide stakeholders - average 28 participants per session; and
• 10 consultations with service providers and peak bodies - total of 28 participants.

These sessions have yielded valuable insights, and we extend our sincere thanks to all participants for their generous contributions. LLE participants have included consumers, carers, family members, and supporters, ensuring a broad range of perspectives have been captured. We have been delighted with the positive feedback we have received from participants and look forward to further collaborating to inform service design.

Our workshops have focused on specific elements of service design, particularly the five new or redesigned service models: Clinical Assistance, Telehealth, Outreach, Stabilisation, and Safe Spaces. In addition, two workshops have been undertaken with participants with lived and living experience (total of 32 participants) explored higher-level system design, enabling us to revisit and integrate emerging findings into the next phase of our work.

Our sector-based workshops have fostered rich discussions, benefiting from the diverse expertise represented in the room. Participants have included stakeholders from Area Mental Health & Wellbeing Services (AMHWS), peak bodies, emergency services, tertiary services, and others across the broader mental health and social service system.

As these engagements have progressed, we have undertaken real-time thematic analysis and synthesis, identifying key themes that reflect the perspectives and priorities of participants.

Next steps

As we move toward the conclusion of the engagement activities, we will consolidate the insights gathered from all research and consultation activities. This synthesis will inform the refinement and finalisation of the five new or redesigned crisis service models, as well as the broader design of the future service system.