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About Lived Experience Australia

The National Private Mental Health Peak Body

Lived Experience Australia Board, Staff and Representatives 2025

Lived Experience Australia is proud to be the National Private Mental Health Peak organisation, federally funded to represent the combined voices of people who access private mental health care, and the families, carers, and supporters who walk alongside them.

Founded in 2002 by Janne McMahon OAM, (front and centre in our photo above) our organisation emerged in direct response to a critical gap: no lived experience voice existed for those navigating private services.

 

To this day, LEA remains the only dedicated private sector mental health lived experience representative organisation in Australia.

This page was created to show the key points in our 'Private Sector Mental Health Overview' document. You can view the full document at this link or read on for the highlights. 

What is Private Sector Mental Health Care?

Private sector mental health care refers to services provided outside the public system, including:

  • General Practitioners

  • Private psychiatrists

  • Private psychiatric hospitals including day programs

  • Psychologists and allied health professionals

  • Pharmacists providing mental health support and medication advice

 

Any mental health service that people pay for through private health insurance or out-of-pocket costs are part of the private mental health care system in Australia.

 

We are committed to ensuring lived and living experience voices are at the core of system reform to support equity of access to this vital part of the mental health care system.

Why 'Private Mental Health Care'?

Private mental health care serves nearly half of all Australians receiving specialist mental health treatment, despite only receiving 12% of total mental health funding. This imbalance affects real people seeking help for their mental health, who are unable to or don't want to access public services.

The numbers tell the story:

Private vs Public.png
Private vs Public (1).png
Private vs Public (2).png
(ABS 23-24; AIHW 2024)

The Challenges We Face

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  • 20.4% of Australians delayed or missed mental health care due to cost (ABS 2024).

  • Young adults (30% of those aged 25–34) and people identifying as female (24%) are especially affected by cost barriers (ABS 2024).

  • Private psychiatrists serve nearly half of all specialist mental health patients, but private care receives only about 12% of total funding (IPPG 2020).

  • GPs provide 30% of all mental health services, playing a crucial role in rural and remote areas (RACGP 2022).​

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Our Role: Advocacy with a Lived-Living Experience lens

We work to ensure the voices of people who  use private mental health services - and those who support them - are heard at every level.

 

So far our advocacy has:

  • Helped increase affordable access to psychologists and psychiatrists

  • Championed the role of peer workers with lived-living experience in private hospitals

  • Addressed discrimination in insurance and unsafe practices in prescribing

  • Informed national standards, education, and research through committee representation

  • Undertaken our own research to inform our advocacy, highlight gaps and drive improvements in private sector care

Why Lived-Living Experience in
Private Mental Health Care Matters

Private mental health care is a critical part of Australia’s mental health system, yet the voices of those who rely on it were underrepresented. Lived Experience Australia exists to change that.

 

Through our lived-living experience representation, research and capability building, we advocate with and for consumers, carers, families, and kin to influence policy and practice.

 

Our overview document highlights the importance of ensuring equitable access, affordability, and safety within private mental health care—and why lived and living experience must be central to shaping its future.

Lived Experience Australia acknowledges the Traditional Owners of all the lands on which we undertake our advocacy.

We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

We also recognise all those with lived experience of mental ill-health. We acknowledge that we can only provide leadership in systemic advocacy through valuing, respecting, and drawing upon their lived experience expertise and knowledge.

We acknowledge their enormous contribution to our work.

Lived Experience Australia National Secretariat
Phone 1300 620 042 or send us an enquiry
LEA is a registered Charity with the ACNC
LEA is an Associate Member of LGBTQI+ Health Australia
Suicide Prevention Australia Member
LEA is an Ending Loneliness Together Member Organisation

This website is run by a member of
LGBTIQ+ Health Australia, click the logo to verify.

 

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