It’s a phrase we hear many times and one we particularly reflect on while commemorating Human Rights Day on Saturday 10 December.
This year marks the 75th Anniversary since the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. This declaration enshrines “Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of (them)self and of (their) family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond (their) control.”
Since then we have made significant progress in mental health but we still have a long way to go. We have seen the closure of institutions called asylums with the people moving out into the community. Unfortunately, the investment in community supports has failed to match the need for support and employment rates for Australians with disability remain one of the lowest amongst OECD nations.
The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) was developed in recognition of the need to direct more attention to addressing the rights gap for this group. A key aim of the Convention is to move from a medical model of mental health to a social model.
With this we have also seen a welcome growth in lived experience in the governance, delivery and design of mental health supports. There has also been increased focus on community psychosocial support which is particularly valuable in helping people to build a better life in the community including attention to housing, relationships, employment and other key aspects of life in a wealthy country that many of us take for granted. This approach is a win-win as people who are supported to be more well and lead better lives need less hospital and crisis services.
Sadly though, despite the inroads in understanding the role of lived experience, community and wrap-around services in a person’s recovery, for the vast majority mental illness is still seen as a medical issue that can only be resolved through clinical intervention. Investment in mental health and system design also reflects this imbalance and the dial has not shifted despite Australia signing the UN CRPD nearly 15 years ago.
It’s not about one type or service or another, we need both as a person with lived experience told our recent focus group;
“I went to an NGO and I met people who really understood what I was experiencing, and I can’t talk highly enough about the impact that had. I still needed medication. I still needed clinical help. But now I had people who I could identify with.”
Right now our State Government is reviewing the Mental Health Act. Our focus has been to advocate for a human rights focus which most people agree should include reducing negative things such as involuntary treatment or trauma. But less well understood is that it also should be prioritising supporting people to gain positive things as envisioned by the rights described in the UNCRPD. People’s lived experience needs to be at the heart of how we achieve this big change.
Over the years we have learnt so much from the voice of lived experience and what it tells us over and over again is that people want to be heard, and acknowledged. When we say mental health is a human right we also say it must come with agency.
The MHCSA Lived Experience statement says;
The MHCSA acknowledges those with Lived Experience, past and present, who have worked tirelessly and advocated for the acknowledgement, and acceptance, of the value lived experience brings.
This Human Rights Day we want to reflect on that last part – ‘the value lived experience brings.’
Our sector and services are so much better for the voice of lived experience. And as people with disabilities enjoy their rights more, our country becomes richer.
(Even the Productivity Commission agrees on that last point! They said in their biggest Report ever that fixing mental health would make Australia $264 billion richer.)
This International Human Rights Day we have joined 150 organisations and individuals calling for a parliamentary Inquiry into a Human Rights Act for South Australia. Read more about it here.
