Community mental health services
Community mental health services are categorised by age for tailored care and treatment during different life stages.
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About the service
Community mental health services are divided into three age groups. Infant child youth and family mental health services (0 to 24 years), adult mental health (25 to 64 years) and older persons mental health (65 years+). Your local team will be able to help you navigate who you should see.
If you're looking for mental health assistance or support, a good place to start is your GP. They can ensure your physical health is also taken care of and assess your potential need for a mental health care plan.
How we help
Our teams offer a range of supports and referral options. You will be able to discuss the best plan of care for you with a clinician which may include face to face and/or virtual care.
Support may include:
- conducting a mental health assessment
- providing support and care to a person who may be suicidal
- suicide prevention
- providing care coordination and a range of supports
- working with psychiatrists, inpatient services and GPs
- helping with admission to an inpatient mental health unit
- working with your family or carer (with your consent)
- working with other services who may be involved in your care (with your consent)
- crisis support
- support from an Aboriginal Mental Health Drug and Alcohol clinician or trainee
- offer support from a peer worker with lived experience
- providing support following discharge from a mental health inpatient unit
- referral to other health care or support services
- link you to drug and alcohol services
- pregnancy and parenting support for women experiencing mental distress or illness
- eating disorder support (PDF 502.91KB) through case management and therapy
- providing mental health services for older people, in a community setting. Download and print our brochure (PDF 1.73MB).
Access, referrals and contacts
- You can refer yourself by contacting your local service.
- You can be referred by your GP.
- You can phone ahead to make an appointment.
- You can walk in to speak with a clinician, if you come without an appointment you may need to wait.
- In smaller towns clinicians visit regularly but may not be available every day, please phone ahead to make an appointment.
Contacts near you
If your town is not listed, please contact your nearest service for details of outreach and virtual care services.
| Town | Phone |
|---|---|
| Bathurst | (02) 6330 5850 |
| Bourke | (02) 6870 2600 |
| Condobolin | (02) 6861 2570 |
| Coonabarabran | (02) 6849 1600 |
| Cowra | (02) 5338 5700 |
| Dubbo | (02) 6881 4000 |
| Forbes | (02) 6850 7300 |
| Lightning Ridge | (02) 6820 5700 |
| Mudgee | (02) 6371 9700 |
Orange Child and Adolescent Mental Health |
|
| Parkes | (02) 6861 2570 |
| Wellington | (02) 6845 5500 |
Information to bring to an appointment
Bring any information that could be helpful such as a list of medications you are taking, the name of your GP, information about other health problems and any recent discharge summaries.
You can make a list of questions to bring with you, and ask any questions for more information.
Mental Health Line
At times when you call the Mental Health Line, they may transfer your call to your local Community Mental Health Team, as they have the best service information that may be able to assist you.
If you present to your local Community Mental Health Team and a Mental Health Clinician is not available to see you in person, you may be seen by a clinician from the Mental Health Line who will see you over a video link. This often happens in your local Emergency Department.
You may hear the hospital staff refer to the Mental Health Line as MHEC (Mental Health Emergency Care) which is the video link component of the Mental Health Line.
You can reach this team on 1800 011 511.
Visit the Community drug and alcohol services page for information on their support options.
Community living programs
The NSW Ministry of Health (Ministry) and Commonwealth fund a suite of Mental Health Community Living Programs aimed at supporting adults with severe mental illness and psychosocial disability to live and participate in the community in the way that they want to.
Community-based psychosocial support is a strong component of each of these programs. Psychosocial support is increasingly recognised as critical to mental health recovery and prevention of acute crises, hospital admissions and presentations to emergency departments.
The programs support consumers to:
- connect with clinical care and other services they need
- build capacity in managing day-to-day activities
- strengthen social skills, friendships and relationships with family
- increase educational, vocational and training skills.
Some of these programs are listed below.
Contact the local community mental health team for information about these supports.
The Housing and Accommodation Support Initiative (HASI) and Community Living Supports (CLS) are state-wide programs providing social support to people who have a severe mental illness and are delivered by specialist community managed organisations. The support is flexible including out of hours and weekends, in partnership with the local health community mental health teams and Housing providers for eligible people who are homeless or at risk of homelessness. Please talk to staff for more information.
HASI Plus is a higher level of support for people with more complex support needs who may benefit from more intensive clinical and residential support. The program is a state-wide service and accepts referrals to support people from across NSW. Please talk to staff for more information.
The Resolve Program is a peer led support program that offers individual and group activities to assist people with their mental health recovery and to live healthy, independent lives. The program provides residential support, outreach support and phone support. If you are eligible you will be contacted by one of our team.
NDIS – People who require long term social support may be eligible for NDIS. Please contact your local NDIS provider, talk to staff or other support providers to find out if you are eligible for NDIS.
Commonwealth psychosocial support programs (CPS) – The Western NSW Primary Health Network (PHN) provide support for people with severe mental illness and associated psychosocial functional impairment who are not supported through the NDIS.