On learning and leading: Take five with WAAMH’s CEO

  
5 min read

As International Women’s Day approaches, we sat down with WAAMH’s CEO, Taryn Harvey, to delve into her motivations, her optimism for the future of mental health care in WA, and her unique role as a leader of a peak body. 

   

How did you come to be at WAAMH?

I started my career in 2000 as a graduate policy officer with the then Department of Families, Housing, Community Services & Indigenous Affairs in Canberra.  I worked in a team overseeing early reforms to disability employment services, including a trial of individualised, outcomes-based funding – which the government believed would improve the employment participation rate for people with disability. 

Being so focused on reform was a fantastic grounding for me.  It meant that from the very beginning of my career, I was learning how to have challenging but respectful conversations and develop trusting relationships with diverse stakeholders.

After a few years in Canberra, I returned to Perth and continued working as a policy officer in the department’s WA office.  This gave me an opportunity to expand my network and connect with local providers.  I was encouraged, and expected, to draw on the practical insights of this network to inform my policy work – another essential grounding and an opportunity to understand the system I worked within in a new way. 

I took up my first role with a peak body at National Disability Services WA, and my first opportunity to lead an organisation came in 2010 as CEO at Developmental Disability WA (DDWA).  During my time there, I worked closely with WAAMH on advocacy campaigns to reform WA’s former Criminal Law (Mental Impaired Accused) Act.  Under this Act, people with mental impairments, including mental ill-health, or cognitive or intellectual disability, could be held in custody indefinitely, even without trial.  They were also denied procedural fairness. Being part of this important reform and seeing the repeal of the act was a career highlight for me.

 

How long have you been with WAAMH and what changes have you witnessed?

I joined WAAMH in 2018, knowing from my time at DDWA that it was a courageous organisation, that was prepared to stand up for what it believes in – even on challenging and complex topics where there is resistance to change. 

The biggest changes I’ve seen over the last seven years have been the introduction of the new Criminal Law (Mental Impairment) Act 2023; significant changes to our training programs; and the expansion of the Individual Placement and Support employment program, which we play a leading role in supporting right across the country.

Another important development I’ve witnessed has been our confidence in coordinating and supporting impactful advocacy campaigns that put people with Lived Experience of mental health challenges at the fore.  Our Prevent Support Heal campaign of 2019 – 2020 might not have secured the long-awaited structural changes we have advocated for over many years, but it showcased WAAMH’s ability to bring people together around a shared vision for a better system, and offer genuine, co-designed solutions to government.

This year, I’ve also been overseeing a rebrand as we celebrate our 60th Anniversary – so that’s always a big change for a CEO to lead.  I look forward to sharing that with everyone later in the year. 

 

On an average day, what does your role as CEO of a peak body involve?

Every day is different!

As the CEO of a peak, you typically do hands-on work – particularly advocacy and member engagement – as well as the high-level decision-making, operational oversight and leadership side of things, because peak bodies generally aren’t large organisations.  So, there really is no average day – just plenty of diversity, which really reflects the unique position of a peak body.

 

In your own words, what is WAAMH’s mission?

It’s my belief that life may be unfair, but we don’t have to make it more unfair.  Our systems and policies should work for people – creating the conditions that empower them to take control of their mental health so they can flourish, rather than making it harder for them to be mentally healthy.  So, I see WAAMH as that optimistic and courageous champion, that calls out what’s possible, in terms of our systems working better for people. 

At its heart, our mission is to create conditions where people have as much control over their own mental health and recovery as possible.  That includes supporting, strengthening and showcasing the unique capabilities of the non-government, community-based mental health sector.  Our sector can support Western Australians to take control of their mental health and help them achieve the best possible, long-term outcomes in their recovery. 

 

What does this mission mean to you?

Oh gosh, what a big question! It’s important to me personally because fairness is one of my personal values.  I want to help make things fairer for people. 

It’s also important to me because I fundamentally believe that things can be better, and that we owe it to people to strive for more.  I’m deeply conscious of, and motivated by, the historic legacy of de-institutionalisation.  When we closed institutions, we said we would build a new system that would help people access the support they need in the community, but we haven’t delivered on that. 

Through my work, I’ve met so many people who have needed the system to work better for them, and who have worked hard to advocate for change for themselves or on behalf of others.  So, that inspires and motivates me to pursue our mission.

Like many people who work in our sector, I also bring my own experience as a family member of acquired brain injury, intergenerational trauma, and long-term mental health issues.  So, I very much understand how these experiences shape people’s lives, their families, their life outcomes, and their ability to get what they need to navigate systems.   And also, the cumulative impact of these experiences for people.

 

Looking ahead, what would you like to see for WAAMH’s future?  

It is my fervent hope that we finally see a substantial response to the nation-wide problem of people being unable to access community mental health supports outside of the NDIS, now often referred to as unmet needs for psychosocial supports.  This is core business for our sector, it’s something that no other part of the mental health system does, and something people have been striving for since institutions were closed. We hoped that the government’s 10-year mental health and alcohol and other drugs strategy would be a blueprint for this reform, however that wasn’t the case.  Now, the issue is on the national agenda and part of negotiations between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories, as we discuss a new national plan for mental health and suicide prevention.

In terms of other advocacy priorities, WAAMH will be getting more involved in infant, child and adolescent mental health, which we know is going to be in focus locally and nationally.  Just like the adult mental health system, there are calls for a more holistic and comprehensive children’s mental health system, and this is where our sector comes in once again.

I’m looking forward to WAAMH re-claiming space and being bolder about celebrating our own successes and our rich legacy, particularly through our 60th Anniversary celebrations and rebrand this year. It will be a great foundation for revitalising our advocacy.

I expect we’ll be talking more about the unique advantages of our sector as both a provider and an employer.  We see that demand for many mental health services are increasing in scale and complexity, and that the health workforce faces global challenges.  I think it will be increasingly challenging to maintain current system and that the kind of reform we have been calling for over many years will become inevitable.  

I also hope that the coming years will see a breakthrough in our understanding of the role of employment as a way to prevent mental ill-health and sustain recovery.  We’ll continue to advocate for wider access to evidence-based employment programs, like the world-class Individual Placement and Support model that we support.  The UK’s National Health Service has rolled IPS out to adult mental health services across the country and we’d love to see a similar result here in Australia.

 

What does good mental health look like to you?

For me, good mental health looks like:

  1. Leaving perfectionism behind – knowing that if my mentally healthy habits get disrupted, I can pick them up again tomorrow. It’s not a failure – I’m human.
  2. Setting boundaries (and maintaining them). At home, at work, in life.  It’s a constant practice.
  3. Prioritising practical self-care – sleep, exercise, making sure I have wholesome food in the fridge and pantry even if I haven’t got meals planned for the week. And also making time for rest and having fun, not as a reward but because it’s important. 
  4. Not ruminating!
  5. Embracing positivity and optimism – last year our team building day consisted of us all completing WAAMH’s Positive Psychology Tools workshop, and I found it incredibly helpful. I’ve been delving into positive psychology more since then and actively practicing some of the things I’ve learned. 
  6. Recognising what I can control and accepting what I can’t (but that doesn’t mean we don’t keep trying to influence things!).