Victoria aims to boost mental health workforce with people who have lived experience

Rick Corney works as a senior mental health peer support worker at Ballarat Community Health. (ABC Ballarat: Christopher Testa)

Rick Corney didn’t shed tears when he told the story of his experience with schizophrenia to Victoria's Mental Health Royal Commission. However, he often becomes emotional doing so now.

A senior peer support worker with Ballarat Community, Mr Corney has been described as the “poster boy for recovery”.

He lived in a small town in western Victoria when he was diagnosed more than two decades ago and for many years was uncomfortable to tell a soul about his illness.

But his life changed, in part after a visit to Ballarat when he stopped by Federation University "on a whim" and enrolled in a tertiary course.

Mr Corney went from someone who, in his words, had "lost all hope of having a future", and began helping others who were learning to recover from their own diagnoses.

"It's not like I am going to wake up tomorrow and not have schizophrenia.

"That's a lifelong diagnosis and illness that I live with but what you can do is [be a] role model to someone else."

Rick Corney has lived experience with schizophrenia and as a worker in the mental health system. (ABC Ballarat: Christopher Testa)

Mr Corney shares the message that living with schizophrenia does not prevent him from living a full life.

"That’s a very powerful message you can convey to the people who come through the door."

Government announces funding

Occasionally, Mr Corney comes across clients he believes can do what he does.

One has already become a qualified peer worker, employed with Mr Corney at Ballarat Community Health.

The Victorian Government, acting on the recommendations of the Mental Health Royal commission, is keen to tap into the lived experiences of those who have experienced mental illness too.

Victoria is investing more money to employ people with a lived experience of mental health. (ABC News: Alice Roberts)

The government will today announce $4 million in funding for more than 20 organisations around the state to employ and develop more workers with lived experience, including a new peer cadet program.

The money is being invested in services in almost every region of Victoria, in addition to metropolitan Melbourne.

Consistency still required

Mr Corney, the consumer representative on the state government’s technical advisory group on the mental health workforce, said the funding would make a big difference.

However, he believes governments must match these announcements with longer-term funding for programs and positions.

Too often, Mr Corney said, services would be funded for 12 to 24 months before being re-badged or discontinued.