National Mental Health Month: an important reminder to all Australians that we need to pay due attention to raising much-needed awareness about mental health, to advocating for mental health, to educating ourselves about mental health, and to promoting mental wellbeing in our communities.
MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRPERSON
The Mental Health Foundation Australia is very excited to launch the National Mental Health Month Awareness Campaign 2020, occurring between the 1st and 31st of October. With 2020 being particularly hard on the mental health of Australians with the Bushfires and Covid-19, we believe National Mental Health Month can be an effective step towards getting Australians back on track with their mental health.
This year, the Foundation has organised numerous events across Australia, focussing on many different aspects in the area of mental health. To facilitate this task, the Foundation has implemented Australian Multicultural Ambassadors and Australian Youth Ambassadors programs, comprising of a dedicated network of volunteers across the country, with the aim to reduce the stigma associated with mental health issues within culturally and linguistically diverse communities and generally within the Australian community. We are thankful to Mr Huss Mustafa and Commonwealth Bank for sponsoring this program and allowing for many multicultural communities to be reached all throughout Australia in our mission to provide ‘better mental health for all.’
During the National Mental Health Month Awareness Campaign in 2020, the MHFA has organised Mental Health Wellbeing Walks across all states and territories on the same day and at the same time. We anticipate this to be the most successful event during National Mental Health Month, providing the opportunity to reach out to many Australians of many cultural backgrounds.
National Mental Health Month 2020 consists of a plethora of events across Australia, to attract as many individuals to get involved as possible. We anticipate a very positive mental health awareness campaign of many to come. The Foundation believes with each year, our work can raise more mental health awareness and reduce the frequency of debilitating mental health illnesses many Australians struggle with. I thank all my board members, staff members, multicultural and youth ambassadors, volunteers and well-wishers of the Foundation for their hard work and dedication towards organising all the events within this year’s National Mental Health Month awareness campaign. With your support, we can achieve many great things for this nation’s future regarding the reduction of mental health issues and the stigma that shadows them. Remember, #MentalHealthMatters.
–Vasan Srinivasan (Chairperson:Mental Health Foundation Australia)
Mental Health Matters – Events
The theme for this year’s National Mental Health Month Awareness Campaign is Mental Health Matters. This theme encapsulates and highlights the gravity of the topic of mental health, and how important it is to address in the Australian community. With this theme in mind, we aim to extend our campaign even wider than previous years, with events planned to embrace many different community groups and people of all ages to raise awareness that #MentalHealthMatters.
Visit the website for more information: https://www.mhfa.org.au/CMS/national-mental-health-month-2020
