EP#34: Supporting Mental Health in a Crisis

2020 will be forever remembered as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic. But in Australia, the ferocious bushfires of 2019 that burned well into the new year will never be forgotten. The strain of such significant events was recognised early and the National Bushfire Recovery Agency and the Mental Health Commission worked quickly to deliver necessary support. But more was to come as the full impact of the COVID-19 pandemic was realised.

In this episode of Work with Purpose, we are joined by Andrew Colvin, the national coordinator of the National Bushfire Recovery Agency, and Christine Morgan, the chief executive officer of the National Mental Health Commission and the National Suicide Prevention Adviser to the Prime Minister.

Morgan explains how the stigma around mental health has changed since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. How do people view mental health now compared to 2019? What can we do to further improve the stigma around mental health?

Colvin discusses mental health in relation to the 2019, 2020 Australian summer bushfires. How do we overcome trauma, grief and tragedy? How should the APS make themselves available to Australians in times of need?

Together Morgan and Colvin discuss these questions as well as explain how the National Bushfire Recovery Agency and the Mental Health Commission work together when it comes to bushfire relief.

Discussed in this episode:

·        What COVID-19 taught us about mental heath.

·        How the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the National Bushfire Recovery Agency.

·        Advice on what you can do to improve the stigma around mental health.

·        The work the National Bushfire Recovery Agency has done since the 2019/ 2020 summer bushfires.

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