Victoria’s Minister for Mental Health Ingrid Stitt has officially opened the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local centre in Dandenong (servicing Greater Dandenong).
The centre is located at 29b Langhorne Street, Dandenong VIC, and is now open for community members to access free walk-in mental health and wellbeing support. The announcement means the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local in Dandenong, which has been providing telehealth, telephone and outreach services since late 2023, is now fully operational.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals support Victorians aged 26 years and over to get mental health and wellbeing treatment, care and support closer to home. All support is free, voluntary and easy to access, and you do not need a referral from your doctor to access help.
These services have a ‘how can we help’ and ‘no wrong door’ approach, to enable more people to access the support they need in a timely way, including those who have previously been unable to find the right care or experienced barriers to accessing services.
Mind is the lead provider of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local in Dandenong, which is delivered in partnership with Foundation House, Monash Health and Thorne Harbour Health.
Locals provide face-to-face, outreach, telehealth and telephone services, and walk-in consultations for people seeking support for their mental health and wellbeing. People in Dandenong have been reaching out for support with concerns including financial stress, insecure housing or homelessness, family issues or to address the effects of their traumatic experiences as refugees.
At the Dandenong Local, staff collectively speak more than 40 languages, including Pashtu, Hazaragi, Mandarin and Arabic.
Mind Australia CEO Gill Callister said this ability to connect and communicate with people from a variety of ethnicities and backgrounds has been a key focus in the establishment of the service.
“Our goal has been to build trust and meaningful connections with the diverse cultural communities in Dandenong, and to create strong and lasting bridges between the region’s multicultural communities and our service,” Ms Callister said.
“We know that our understanding of mental health – and how to support someone’s mental health – differs from culture to culture. The Mental Health and Wellbeing Local in Dandenong has identified this, and is working to create connections and pathways to support people to access the help they need.”
Mind is also the lead provider for the Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals in Melton, Bendigo/Echuca, Cardinia and Mt Alexander.
To find your nearest Mental Health and Wellbeing Local call 1800 332 501 or visit the Better Health MHW Locals page.
Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals are not crisis services. In an emergency which is life-threatening or where there is immediate risk of harm to anyone, call Triple Zero (000). For 24-hour crisis support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14. Aboriginal and Torres Straits Islanders can also call 13 YARN on 13 92 76. 13 YARN is a 24/7 national crisis telephone service staffed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.