MENTOR AND SUPPORT LTD. (MENTOR)

Psychosocial Supports – Lived Experience – Peer Mentoring 

Severe and Complex Mental Illness

Severe and Complex Mental Illness refers to conditions that go beyond common mental health problems and often involve multiple diagnoses, severe symptoms, and/or long-term or lifetime effects. People experiencing severe and complex mental illness may also face trauma, addiction, and substance misuse. Many are highly vulnerable, hard to reach, and difficult to engage consistently.

Key Issues

• Cost in Lives: Mental illness costs the nation billions, but the toll in lives lost or severely impacted is immeasurable. Mental illness robs more people of healthy years than any other condition.

• Lack of Progress: Outcomes in severe and complex mental illness and suicide prevention have not significantly improved in decades. Vulnerable people living with mental illness, trauma, addiction, and substance misuse remain underserved and unsupported.

• Attention: The lack of focus on severe and complex mental illness has persisted for too long. Many people are denied treatments that could enable them to live happier, more fulfilling lives.

• Service Gaps: More than 58,000 people in NSW with severe and complex mental illness are not participants in the NDIS and receive no non-clinical psychosocial supports.

• Suicide: Suicide remains the leading cause of death among young people aged 10–24. The suicide rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is nearly three times the national average.

• Societal Response: Too often, society responds with blame, neglect, or even incarceration, rather than compassion and care. This must change.

• Stigma: People living with severe and complex mental illness face fear, shame, and isolation due to stigma and silence around their conditions.

The community must act. No one should have to face mental illness alone.

MENTOR & SUPPORT

MENTOR is a mental health charity:

• Registered with the Australian Charities and Not-for-Profits Commission (ACNC)

• Deductible Gift Recipient status and charity tax concessions

• Based in Sydney, community-led, and lived experience driven

• Accepts all referrals with a diagnosis

• Operates a Peer Mentor workforce

• Complies with NSW Disability Services Standards

Our organisation is led by people with lived experience of mental illness and recovery, delivering services designed around dignity, hope, and recovery.

We support people to:

• Define their own recovery goals and aspirations

• Build meaningful lives, with or without symptoms of mental illness

• Access evidence-based psychosocial supports through mentoring and community connections

We seek State and Federal funding, as well as corporate and community partnerships, to expand these life-changing programs.

Our Solution: Psychosocial Support

Our model includes:

• Psychosocial Support

• Lived Experience Leadership

• Peer Mentoring

The goal is to help people create meaningful, contributing lives, supported by mentors with lived experience walking alongside them in recovery.

Psychosocial Support

Aim:

• Build social connections

• Foster healthy relationships

• Amplify purpose

• Empower people with choice

• Support self-determination and agency

How it works:

• Daily living skills support

• Housing access and stability

• Service navigation (NDIS, clinical care, addiction services)

• Social engagement and relationship building

• Education, training, and employment pathways

Outcomes:

• Longer periods of wellness

• Reduced crisis service use and hospitalisations

• Decreased long-term impacts of mental illness

• Cost savings to the health system

Lived Experience Leadership

We engage people with lived experience at every level: governance, management, and frontline service delivery.

Core principles:

• Mutual respect

• Transparency and fairness

• Inclusion and diversity

• Flexibility and responsiveness

• Empowerment and participation

• Safe and supportive environments

Peer Mentoring

Peer Mentors bring empathy, lived experience, and recovery expertise to support participants.

Benefits include:

• Increased engagement and trust

• Reduced stigma and greater hope

• Development of self-management skills

• Social inclusion and connectedness

• Practical support for recovery goals

Expected Participant Outcomes

1. Improved Mental Health and Wellbeing

   • Reduced psychological distress, greater resilience, fewer hospitalisations.

2. Enhanced Social Connection and Inclusion

   • Stronger community ties, reduced isolation, increased participation in programs.

3. Greater Independence and Recovery

   • Skills and confidence to achieve personal goals, education, training, and employment outcomes.

Call to Action

MENTOR is:

• Seeking state and federal funding to deliver The Psychosocial supports program.
• Accepting donations to train the Peer-Work team
• Looking for corporate and community partnerships to do community impact work
• Inviting people to join the program.

Partnering

• If you are interested in partnering with MENTOR contact Charlie, the MENTOR Executive Officer directly at charlie@mentor.org.au

• We welcome any questions or comments.

Contact Information

Please let the MENTOR team help you today!

• Email: info@mentor.org.au
• Phone: 0422 9144 20 / 02 9144 1447