The Lilydale Mental Health and Wellbeing Local has taken its next step in supporting the community, with the walk-in service now up and running.
Having been operating a free over-the-phone service since December last year, the expansion adds to the important work already being delivered to the Lilydale and Yarra Ranges community.
It is part of a network of 15 Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals established following a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
“The Royal Commission made it clear that we needed to make the mental health system more accessible – and with walk-ins now available at the Lilydale Local, it’s now even easier for people in the area to get the support they need,” mental health minister Ingrid Stitt said.
“With cost of living challenges right now, our network of Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals are an important free service – there is no barrier to care with no GP referral or Medicare card required.”
Locals provide care and treatment for adults experiencing mental illness or psychological distress in their community, including those with co-occurring substance use or addiction.
Acting as a ‘front door’ to the mental health and wellbeing system, the service offers a welcoming and inclusive space, staffed by qualified mental health professionals, including peer support workers to cater for the diverse needs of all communities.
The Lilydale Local is operated by Wellways Australia, in partnership with Eastern Health, Inspiro and Oonah Belonging Place, with care delivered face-to-face, and via phone calls, telehealth appointments, community engagement activities and outreach.
Wellways Australia told Star Mail in January the service aims to provide a space and resource for people in the middle of other available services.
“The ‘missing middle’ are people who need more support than they can get from their GP, but do not meet the high threshold for complex care services from a hospital,” a spokesperson said.
“The current waitlists across all mental health services in the region demonstrate the high demand for improved accessibility and coordination of Mental Health Services through a no-wrong door approach where participants can make choices about the type of service they want to receive.”
As a transport hub and local business district, Monbulk MP Daniela De Martino said the Lilydale location will also help provide people further out with support.
“A walk-in service at the Lilydale Local now makes it easier for residents across the Dandenong Ranges to get that bit of extra care and support when they’re struggling with their mental health in a welcoming and accessible environment,” she said.
Since the first six began operating in October 2022, the Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals have provided support to more than 10,000 people.
Since the Royal Commission handed down its final report, significant progress has been made with work underway to implement more than 90 per cent of recommendations and more than $6 billion invested in the system over the past three years – the largest investment in mental health in Victoria’s history.
People in the Lilydale and Yarra Ranges community can now access the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local at its interim site 18 Clarke Street, Lilydale for walk-in support, available five days a week.
For more information, please visit betterhealth.vic.gov.au/mhwlocal
