Wellways Australia Limited is a leading not-for-profit mental health and disability support organisation with services in Queensland, New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania.

The team’s services span mental health, disability and community care, and reach thousands of people each year.

Wellways is a registered NDIS provider offering mental health and disability support and services.

Its staff have the knowledge to help participants in the NDIS eligibility and planning processes, and the expertise to coordinate NDIS plans and deliver the services they need.

The team works with a diverse range of people living with mental health issues or various disabilities.

The team connects people, strengthens families and transforms communities, working with individuals of all ages experiencing disabilities or challenges to their social and emotional wellbeing.

This can include creating a home, securing a job and building meaningful relationships.

Wellways offers a wide range of individually tailored services designed to support people affected by mental health issues or disability, as well as their families, friends and carers.

Experienced, local staff will help participants take charge of their wellbeing, connect with others and participate in your community.

The organisation’s MANY services include:

Acquired Brain Injury Program:

Wellways Headway assists people living with acquired brain injury, as well as their families, friends and carers, with case management services, transition to NDIS, and linkages into mainstream community services.

Adult Step Up, Step Down:

Adult Step Up, Step Down is a recovery-focused residential program that aims to prevent relapse and assist people in recovery from an acute episode of mental illness.

After Suicide Support:

A death by suicide can be difficult and confusing for families, friends, workplaces and communities. It can be a time of increased risk for those directly impacted as they struggle to understand why it happened or what they could have done to help prevent it. For some people impacted by this kind of loss, it can feel isolating due to the stigma associated with suicide.

Building a Future:

Building a Future provides an opportunity to help build skills and resilience to better support someone who has a living experience of mental health issues.

Building a Future supports you to:

• Improve communication skills
• Strengthen your sense of identity
• Explore personal wellbeing
• Explore strategies to decrease stigma
• This program is held in a group setting and is facilitated by people who have a lived experience of mental health issues or as a carer/loved one.

Child, youth and family engagement:

The Child, Youth and Family Engagement program (CYFE) is an early intervention and prevention support service that assists vulnerable families with children and young people who are at risk of developing, or are affected by mental health issues.

Community education:

Community Education is designed to support community groups to further their understanding and awareness of mental illness and increase recovery-oriented knowledge and skills. The workshop provides an opportunity for groups to discuss mental illness and mental health in a normalised space and challenge preconceived notions and stigma.

Support for family, friends and carers:

Our experienced staff work with you, the community and health services, and key people in your life, to develop and deliver an individualised plan that addresses your needs and goals for the future.

Maintaining a home:

Having a home is important to everyone. Wellways will work with you to identify your needs and assist you in finding and maintaining a place where you can feel comfortable and safe.

Support coordination:

The experienced staff work with you, the community and health services, and key people in your life, to develop and deliver an individualised plan that addresses your needs and goals for the future.

Work and learning:

Wellways can assist you in understanding your employment or study goals and help you build skills and confidence to return to work or study.

There’s so much more Wellways can do for you!

Wellways (most recently known as MR Fellowship) was established in 1978 by families advocating to improve the services, information and support available to people with mental health issues, their carers, families and communities.

In 1978 the organisation was known as the Schizophrenia Fellowship of Victoria. In the organisation’s first year, family support groups were established and quickly multiplied, followed by consumer support and activity groups.

In 2000 it changed its name to Mental Illness Fellowship Victoria and in 2016, Australian HealthCall Group, known as HealthCall, joined Wellways, providing community-based services for persons living with various types of disability (physical, intellectual and mental health), the challenges of ageing and general health issues.

With more than 55 years’ experience providing a range of person-centred supports, HealthCall works closely with clients and their families in New South Wales, the Australian Capital Territory and Queensland.

And Wellways was born.

The company’s commitment to advocacy is central to the work they do today, because they know that advocacy opens the door to participation in the community, including employment, housing and relationships.

Wellways’ active advocacy membership supports these goals.

The company’s mental health, disability and rehabilitation services bring together evidence from research with an understanding of people’s lived experience—what works for them.

The mental health workforce includes clinicians, nurses, community support workers and ‘peers’—those who have a lived experience of mental illness and recovery. Together, they create an environment that focuses on hope rather than illness.

The team works in partnership with people and their families to identify their own needs and goals and support them to attain a great life in the community. Wellways’ partnerships extend to clinicians, GPs, hospitals, community health organisations and government, ensuring that our services and programs reach people in the communities in which they live.

All Wellways services focus on community inclusion. By community inclusion, that means a commitment to ensuring all the people we serve have opportunities to fully participate in the community, without stigma and discrimination.

Wellways’ values of honesty, acceptance, equity, flexibility, commitment and participation are at the heart of everything it does. They’re the blueprint for how the company works.