Josh Kirkham is among hundreds of vulnerable people with mental health issues trying to cling to stability, while a disruptive funding dispute threatens their support services.
The 36-year-old was close to tears as he explained that the support group he has been attending in Mandurah, south of Perth, will lose funding at the end of June, along with dozens of others, under a controversial WA government tender process.
"Why stop something in its tracks, something that doesn't cost nearly as much as seeing a psychologist?" he said.
"Why completely sabotage all these people's mental health?"
The aged care worker attends a support group every week, run by the national mental health organisation, Grow.
Grow operates in every state but from next month will likely be forced to pull out of Western Australia after more than 50 years.
The group's guide, the "Blue Book" has become Mr Kirkham's rule book for life and is never far from his side.
He has autism and joined Grow about six years ago after a breakdown and suicide attempt.
The certainty of the weekly meetings close to his home have become a lifeline.
It suits him that the meetings follow a set structure, where people he knows share problems and advice.
"Grow is for the little everyday things, the stuff that eventually overwhelms us," he said.
"My family can attest to the fact that I have not gone down the suicidal route again because I have been in Grow."
Last year, the West Australian Mental Health Commission ran a competitive tender process for "group support activity services" aimed at improving the quality of life for those experiencing mental health, alcohol or other drug issues.
However, the process saw all four existing providers lose out and seven new programs funded instead, to the tune of about $19 million.
Tender process labelled 'a shambles'
Grow says it will be forced to close up to 30 support groups around suburban Perth and the state's South-West as a result.
The organisation has labelled the tender process a "shambles".
Western Australia's Mental Health Commission is seeking an independent review by the Department of Finance.
Meanwhile, Grow's clients, including Mel Hayward, are using the resilience they have built up on the Grow journey to try to convince the commission to re-fund their support groups.
"It's brought a lot of anxiety to a lot of us," Ms Hayward said.
"I was very angry but then I said, 'well what can we do?'
"I changed my mind, which is a Grow thing, you've got to look at the good side of things. I thought 'what can I do to help?'"
Mrs Hayward is trying to save her group in Forrestfield in Perth's south-east, while Grow's management lobbies to overturn the decision.
'Flawed process leads to flawed outcomes'
Former state Labor minister, Judy Edwards, was new to Grow's board when she got an urgent call on Christmas Day last year telling her the bad news.
"Look initially, because I was new I had some concerns that it was just the failure of a tender, " Dr Edwards said.
"But looking at it, it's clear that the process was flawed and a flawed process can lead to flawed outcomes."
However, Acting Mental Health Commissioner Lindsay Hale said in a statement that the successful programs had "ranked highest through qualitative assessment".
"These providers are committed to innovative practices and collaboratively developing services with consumers based on their needs," Mr Hale said.
"They include a range of peer-based strategies such as offering consumers peer-to-peer support programs, employing peer workers, and building the capacity of peer workers and peer volunteers."
Mr Hale added the commission had been working with the unsuccessful providers and the new programs since January to support the transition of services.
Transition proving difficult
Grow's funding has been extended until the end of June to allow it to transition its clients to alternative services, but But Dr Edwards said that was proving difficult.
"The biggest problem we are facing is that we are a unique service, we provide a service that has been proven over the decades," she said.
"We constantly evaluate and change to make sure we are staying contemporary and meet the needs of the people we are serving but from the 30th of June we will no longer be able to fund that and that leaves people basically with nowhere to go."
The organisations that successfully tendered for the contracts argue that is not the case.
They are offering a range of support services, many of them focusing on recreational activities and specific cohorts, including the LGBTQI community and young people.
Peer support workers Tammie West and Aaron Rogers are running a new program, called Wellness Central, from a base in the inner-city suburb of Maylands.
It is aimed at anyone aged 16-65 facing mental health or substance abuse challenges.
The program includes small group activities — everything from fishing on the Swan River to cooking classes and art therapy.
They have been in discussions with the providers who lost out on funding to see if their clients can be transitioned.
"We're here to help and that's the whole point of it," Ms West said.
"Our doors are open and we are just looking to help as many people as possible."
Shifting funding landscape a problem
That said, both Ms West and Mr Rogers can empathise with Grow's plight.
Last year, they lost federal funding for a similar program and had to say goodbye to 650 clients.
The potential impact on vulnerable people from a changing funding landscape is something most in the sector are concerned about.
Perth Inner City Youth Service (PICYS) was also successful in the tender.
It works with young people with very high rates of mental health challenges and homelessness, and the new funding is supporting a program it has been running and developing for eight years from its donations and volunteering.
PICYS CEO Andrew Hall said he was delighted with the funding, but not in favour of the existing agencies losing theirs.
"The procurement process has left some questions about how existing providers who were providing support groups for many years can be ceased and scaled down so quickly," he said.
"I do hope that the providers that have had the six-month extension in their transition to wind down have had the opportunity to help individual people to connect to other supportive communities."
The vulnerable clients that have to be transitioned to new services are at the front of everyone's minds, according to Justine Colyer, the chief executive of the Rise Network, which partnered with the Multicultural Services Centre and Wungening Aboriginal Corporation for its winning tender.
The Rivers program will target specific groups, including the LGBTQI, Indigenous and CALD communities.
"Everyone involved in the existing tenders and the new tenders have worked well together on both sides of the fence for many years," she said.
"So there won't be any lack of knowledge or experience in how to do this well from either side.
"Everyone is just concerned that the people are supported."
Neami National is one of the three other providers that lost funding in the tender process.
The organisation has provided group support to more than 1,000 people in the Perth metropolitan area since 2018.
Its chief executive, Tom Dalton, said Neami's priority now was trying to transition its clients to alternative services where available, as well as focus on its dedicated staff.
Meanwhile, Mel Hayward and Josh Kirkham both said Grow had created a community that sustained them and they were not confident an alternative service would work for them.
"It develops our leadership, it develops our confidence and makes us feel wanted in the community," Ms Hayward said.
"There's nothing that can replace Grow. There is nothing like it."
Help seeking information:
- For confidential, one-on-one assistance from a qualified mental health and alcohol and other drug counsellor call the Here For You helpline on 1800 437 348 between 7 am and 10 pm daily.
- Anyone concerned about their own or another person's alcohol or other drug use can call the 24/7 Alcohol and Drug Support Line on 08 9442 5000 (metro) or 1800 198 024 (regional).
- Mental Health Emergency Response Line (MHERL):24/7 support for people experiencing a mental health emergency and if required, referral to local mental health services 1300 555 788 (metro) and 1800 552 002(regional).
- In a crisis call Lifeline on 13 11 14 or call beyondblue on 1300 224 636 for free counselling.
- In a life-threatening emergency call 000 or visit your nearest emergency department.
- Visit the MyServices directory to find mental health, alcohol and other drug services close to you.
