In September 2023, the Mental Health Professionals’ Network’s (MHPN’s) Board of Directors agreed unanimously to MHPN’s organizational support for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to Parliament.
MHPN also supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart and its call for three pillars of reform; Voice, Treaty, and Truth-telling, which are the result of the largest consensus of First Nations peoples on a proposal for substantive recognition in Australian history.
The road to the Uluru Statement from the Heart is a long one, even without mentioning the decades of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander activism that came before.
“MHPN believes that the Voice will give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities more say over policy matters that affect them and can also provide a significant difference to their quality of life,” said MHPN Chair John Rasa.
“As an organization formed to support the mental health workforce, MHPN hopes that the introduction of a Voice to Parliament leads to improved outcomes for the social and emotional wellbeing of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
MHPN encourages all members of the mental health practitioner workforce and wider community to support the Voice at the forthcoming Referendum.
