Peel Mental Health Taskforce
The Peel Mental Health Taskforce brings a renewed focus on mental health service delivery to consumers living in the local government areas of Mandurah, Murray and Waroona.
The taskforce is committed to removing access barriers to mental health services and improving the patient journey of mental health consumers living in the Peel region.
Established late 2021, the taskforce is focused on delivering strategies and projects that reduce mental health service duplication, increase collaboration and improve patient journeys.
The target group is the youth population aged 12 to 25 years.
Read an update on the taskforce's progress.
Membership
The taskforce comprises high level representation from organisations, including:
- South Metropolitan Health Service
- Mental Health Commission
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services
- WA Primary Health Alliance
- WA Police
- Department of Education
- Department of Communities
- Peel Development Commission
- Peel Health Campus
- mental health service providers, including Aboriginal representatives
- consumers and carers with lived experience.
The taskforce has authority to take action and bring together resources to achieve results and is an avenue for interagency communication, collaboration and joint-decision-making.
The taskforce is informed by three consultation sub-groups:
- Services engagement
- Aboriginal health workers
- Consumer and carer representatives
The partnership approach involves representatives from over 60 agencies, with communications shared regularly and input on various initiatives sought.
Wandjoo Gateway
Under the governance of the Peel Mental Health Taskforce, a ‘no wrong door’ approach was developed and piloted in early 2024, with plans to roll out the approach in public high schools in early 2025. This approach seeks to support and advise workers when referring and navigating young people aged 12 to 25 years with mental health concerns.
A ‘no wrong door’ approach aims to remove exclusion criteria to enter the mental health system. If a presenting client is not appropriate for a particular service, they are held by that service and helped to navigate the system to find the right service for their needs, with a warm handover once accepted.
The model aims to:
- streamline processes
- keep the young person engaged and empowered
- provide tools to better understand how to proactively look after their mental health
Following consultation with local Bindjareb Aboriginal leaders, young people and service providers, the program has been named Wandjoo Gateway. Wandjoo is a Noongar term meaning welcome, symbolising the warm and open welcome young people should receive when seeking support for mental health issues. The spelling of Wandjoo is used by local Bindjareb people.
Contact us
For further information on the progress of the Peel Mental Health Taskforce and Wandjoo Gateway pilot, please email Peel Mental Health Taskforce.