With You

What do lawyers working with people experiencing poor mental health or suicidality in Australia need to know?

Mental Health Training - Consultation and Design

Our team is speaking to people across Australia to design training for lawyers who work with people experiencing poor mental health or suicidality. We believe the people most affected by services should have the biggest say in what they look like.

We want to speak to:

People who have experienced poor mental health or suicidality and sought help from a legal assistance service
Carers, family members and supporters of people who have
Lawyers, support staff and other professionals, particularly people with experience working in the legal assistance sector

The legal assistance sector includes services such as Community Legal Centres, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services, Family Violence Prevention Legal Services and Legal Aid Commissions.

We are holding interviews and focus groups led by consumer perspective experts. These can be held online or face-to-face depending on your preference.

In recognition for your participation, people who have experienced poor mental health or suicidality and used lawyers, and carers, family members and supporters will receive an $100 digital voucher for participating in a one-hour interview, or a $200 voucher for participating in a two-hour focus group session.

Participation is voluntary, and you can withdraw from the project at any time.

Do you want to participate?

Each consultation will be audio recorded. Our team will review these recordings for key topics lawyers need to be trained in, approaches to each topic, and key points about how lawyers can put strategies into practice.

After we review the recording, we will delete it, along with any other data we collect. We will not publish anything you tell us about your own experience and will not share anything you tell us about your own experience other than if we are required to do so by law. This is not a research project.

If you, or someone you know, might be interested in participating in this project, please register your interest here: https://forms.gle/5p9E3gnAmxC6pr578

You can also email our team at MHTP@maylea.com.au. As the initial consultation phase of the project has finished, the phone number that was listed here is no longer in use. However, if you want to speak to our team on the phone, please email and we will organise a time to call you.

If you prefer, you can give feedback through our anonymous survey: https://latrobe.questionpro.com/WithYou

If you want an interpreter we can organise one for you.

More information

This project is funded by the Commonwealth Government, via Legal Aid NSW on behalf of a national consortium of Legal Aid Commissions.

The project team is led by Chris Maylea, with oversight and support provided by Jennifer Chen from Legal Aid NSW. The wider team includes:

Esther Le Couteur
Laura Cashman
Rebecca Leon
Melanie Sherrin
Vrinda Edan
Damien Linnane
Ailsa Rayner
Pan Karanikolas
Piers Gooding

Feedback and complaints

With You is committed to responding meaningfully to complaints and feedback about the project.

Feedback or complaints about the project can be directed to the core project team at the MHTP@maylea.com.au email address or directly to members of the team.

Should you wish to make a complaint regarding the core project team, or escalate a complaint further, you can get in touch with Jennifer Chen, Mental Health Training Project Manager at Jennifer.Chen@legalaid.nsw.gov.au.

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