Living Well: A Strategic Plan for Mental Health in NSW 2014-2024
The Strategic Plan sets out actions and future directions for reform of the mental health system in NSW. It maps a demanding agenda for change that puts people – not processes – at the heart of its thinking. It asks that the NSW Government recommit to completing the process of reform begun with the Inquiry into Health Services for the Psychiatrically Ill and Developmentally Disabled (Richmond Report) in the 1980s in particular by taking two important steps - closing the remaining stand-alone psychiatric institutions and shifting the focus of mental health care from hospitals to the community.
The Plan does not directly govern the operation of services but instead lays out directions and principles for reform which agencies and service providers must find ways to embed in the supports they offer to people in our community.
The Report and the Plan are companion documents and should be read together.
Download PDF versions of the Strategic Plan or read a summary, list of actions or an Easy English version.
Read the Commissioner's message about the Strategic Plan
Read the Commission’s media release about the release of the Strategic Plan, the Premier’s media release and the Government’s announcement and fact sheets.
The NSW Government has responded to the Strategic Plan by endorsing the Commission’s vision for a mental health system focused on community-based mental health support, backed by an $115 million commitment to a suite of mental health programs and initiatives that will make it easier for people who experience mental illness to live and be supported in the community.
Read the Deputy Commissioners' letters:
- Prof Alan Rosen AO
- Bradley Foxlewin
- Fay Jackson
- Dr Robyn Shields AM
