A shared plan for better mental health and wellbeing

At a glance 

• New 2025-2030 Regional Plan launched in December 2025 

• Brings mental health, suicide prevention and alcohol and other drugs into one regional approach 

• Shaped by service providers, community members and people with lived and living experience 

A new five-year plan was launched in December 2025, sharing a roadmap for improving mental health and wellbeing across the Murrumbidgee. 

Developed by Murrumbidgee Primary Health Network (MPHN) and Murrumbidgee Local Health District, the 2025-2030 Murrumbidgee Mental Health, Suicide Prevention and Alcohol and Other Drugs Regional Plan was shaped through consultation with multicultural and First Nations communities, service providers, peer workers, people with lived and living experience and regional stakeholder groups. 

Consultation helped reshape the Plan, with a stronger focus on workforce challenges and the contribution lived experience and peer workers can make to care. It also led to a more action-focused approach, with a published implementation plan setting out what will happen next, providing greater accountability to the communities that helped shape it. 

“The people involved can see their voices throughout the actions,” MPHN Mental Health Alcohol and Other Drugs Manager, Maja Asmus, said. “What ended up on paper is a direct reflection of those consultations.” 

Developing the Plan was a significant undertaking, with MPHN staff and partners leading consultation and planning alongside their existing roles to ensure the final document genuinely reflected what communities and providers had told them. 

Implementation is already underway, including integrated alcohol and other drugs initiatives, GP opioid treatment training and peer workforce development. The working group continues to meet, ensuring the Plan evolves with changing community needs, reforms and new opportunities.