Advancing the Peer Workforce: Insights from the Equally Well AU Forum | Michael Elwan

Participating in the Peer Workforce workshop at the 2024 Equally Well Forum in Melbourne was an insightful and energising experience. The workshop highlighted the evolving and essential role of peer workers in supporting people’s physical and mental health.

A clear theme throughout the discussion was the call for intentional funding to ensure that peer work focused on physical health is not treated as an afterthought, but as a central component of service delivery.

This includes dedicated resourcing for peer worker employment, training, and ongoing support.

One recommendation that stood out was the need for a high tolerance for risk, recognising that innovation and meaningful impact require flexibility. The workshop also championed co-facilitation with clinicians, where lived experience workers and clinical staff work together to enable more consumer-driven care.

What was perhaps most striking was the call for a whole-of-community approach. Participants proposed that physical health peer workers be employed not only within mental health services, but across a broad range of community settings. This integration has the potential to expand reach, strengthen inclusion, and make support more accessible and holistic.

This experience reinforced the importance of innovative, community-focused, and holistic peer work models - models that recognise the deep connection between physical and mental health and position peer workers as key leaders in reshaping care delivery. It underscores why advancing the peer workforce is so critical to the future of mental health and community wellbeing.

Based in Perth, WA, LEXs provides telehealth counselling across Australia for individuals, couples, and NDIS participants. Services extend to Social Work supervision, Peer Work supervision, training, and keynote speaking on men’s mental health, CaLD community wellbeing, and culturally responsive suicide prevention; helping people and organisations make mental-health care more compassionate, inclusive, and effective. LEXs provides services across Australia, supporting clients in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and beyond. To learn more about our work across Australia, visit LEXs' services page.