NSW CAG governance
NSW CAG is governed by a Board comprising a minimum of 7 and a maximum of 11 Trustees. The role of the Board is to govern the organisation, primarily through setting the strategic vision and monitoring NSW CAG's progress towards the strategic goals set. At least 50% of NSW CAG's Board is comprised of mental health consumers.
Board of Trustees are elected by NSW CAG's members at our annual AGM. Trustees are elected for a term of 3 years, with office bearer positions re-elected at each AGM. All positions on the Board are on a voluntary basis.
Trustees
Chair - Allison Kokany (consumer)
Appointment Date: 27th October 2009
Allison has worked for Hunter New England Area Health Service as a Consumer Consultant for the past five years. During this time she has been involved in several areas within the field of Mental Health Advocacy.
She has been involved with the Mental Health Outcome Assessment Tool (MH-OAT CCC) for the past 3 years, and has recently taken on the position as Co-Chair of this committee. During this time she worked on the working parties to establish the MH-OAT forms and subsequent guidelines.
She was also a member of the Mental Health Consumer Perceptions and experiences of services technical working group (MH-CoPES TWG) for Stage 1 of the MH-CoPES Project.
In 2004 she became a committee member for the ‘NSW Institute of Psychiatry (NSW IOP) Consumer Advocacy Course Committee', and has been teaching for the NSW IOP in the Consumer Advocacy Course.
In 2004 she became involved in establishing a forensic consumer group at Morisset Hospital.
She was Chairperson of ‘The Greater Newcastle Community Forum on Health' for its inaugural year 2006.
At the end of 2006 she became a member of the Consumer Workers Forum (CWF) Committee.
She has joined the board of NSW CAG to continue her advocacy work, to ensure that there is a body that is an advisory group for NSW Consumers and Consumer workers.
Her vision for NSW CAG is: not only to be a group that will be a voice on behalf of consumers, but also to advise other Government and Non Government organisations about issues concerning mental health consumers; and to encourage other groups within the consumer movement to work together as one voice, in the same direction, with each of the groups covering their particular area of expertise.
In working together it may be possible to see the NSW Consumer Movement in the forefront in instigating change within the mental health system in our state.
By making care for mental health consumers a more pleasant and accessible system that truly caters for our needs, it could be possible to show the way to the rest of Australia, for the good of all mental health consumers.
Secretary and Public Officer - Richard Saliba
Appointment Date: 19th December 2008
Richard is currently the General Manager, Finance - Australia for an ASX listed property group. He is a Chartered Accountant with over 10 years experience in both business and professional practice.
His main reason for becoming involved with NSW CAG is that he identify with its vision to be a voice for mental health consumers and he hopes to use his skills to assist in the governance of the association.
Member - Anne Francis (consumer)
Appointment Date: 19th December 2008
Anne has been a mental health clinician since training as a psychiatric nurse in the early 1970s. In her professional life she has fulfilled the roles of: Case Manager, Inpatient and Community Nurse Unit Manager, and Clinical Service Manager in community rehabilitation. Currently she works as the Coordinator of Consumer and Carer Participation Strategies for Greater Southern Area Health. She also comes from a family with a long history of major depressive illness and has suffered severe and disabling episodes for most of her adult life. The realisation that she was not only a clinician but also a consumer came home to her after she was admitted to hospital for the first time in 2002.
This experience provided her with insight into the disempowerment of consumers by services which are meant to offer the best opportunity for recovery. On returning to work she set about restructuring a community rehabilitation service to an evidence based recovery program. In 2007 the opportunity to take up her present role necessitated a move to Queanbeyan but it was an opportunity to good to be missed, and she now works with a group of consumers and clinicians committed to a "recovery" model of care.
She sees membership of NSW CAG as integral to the promotion of consumers rights and the opportunity to provide a consumer voice for those people who do not have an opportunity to speak for themselves.
Member - Jenny MacKellin
Appointment Date: 27th October 2009
Jenny has been a carer for over 20 years. She has been a NSW CAG board member since 2003. Jenny is keen to reduce the stigma of mental health in the community. She is an instructor for Mental Health First Aid which educates the community on mental health issues.
Jenny is passionate to see improved mental health services and access to services throughout the state, and improved participation of consumer and carers in all levels of the mental health services.
Member - Lynda Hennessy (consumer)
Appointment Date: 19th December 2008
Lynda got involved with consumer participation in 1997, joined the AMHCN, the Eastern Suburbs Consumer Consultative Committee, Aftercare Consumer Group. She has been a board member of the Australian Mental Health Consumer Network (AMHCN) in 2001 and 2002 as the NSW delegate. She is the SESIAHS representative of the NSW Mental Health Outcomes and Assessments Tool (MH-OAT) Consumer Consultative Committee. She has been employed by the SESIAHS since 2002 as the POW Consumer Support Worker for 2 years, and then as the Area Consumer and Community Participation Coordinator, the main role writing action plans, policy, memos, letters, consumer representation on area meetings and coordinating 13 consumer workers. Lynda is focusing this year on quality improvement activities relating to equip four criteria 1.6 Consumer and Carer Participation. She is also a mother and grandmother and has a partner.
Member - Paula Hanlon (consumer)
Appointement Date: 27th October 2009
Member - Tim Heffernan (consumer)
Appointment Date: 27th October 2009