CoMHWA
Consumers of Mental Health WA (Inc)
ABN: 95581286940
Business Address: 13 Plaistowe Mews West Perth WA 6005 Postal Address: PO Box 1078 West Perth
WA 6872 P: (08) 9321 4994 W: www.comhwa.org.au E: [email protected]
Community Mental Health Australia (CMHA)
Peer Work Project (Cert IV in Mental Health Peer Work)
National Survey
Response to the August 2013 Survey
(ID: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/peerworknational)
By Consumers of Mental Health WA (Inc)
Submitted 30 August 2013
th
To: Chris Keyes
Project Manager
[email protected]
1
CoMHWA
Consumers of Mental Health WA (Inc)
ABN: 95581286940
Business Address: 13 Plaistowe Mews West Perth WA 6005
Postal Address: PO Box 1078 West Perth WA 6872
Ph: (08) 9321 4994 or [email protected]
Web: www.comhwa.org.au
For further enquiries about our submission, please contact
Rhianwen Beresford, Project Officer
[email protected] or 0434 529 525
2
Response to the August 2013 Survey
1. I am answering from the perspective of
Other: Consumer-Led Systemic Advocacy Organization  not a Consumer Operated Service
Provider as we are not engaged in direct service delivery.
2. What are 3 or more top things that should be included in a peer worker’s training?
Empowered Learning and Teaching Techniques: Principles of Adult Education & Empowered
Learning and Associated Techniques (e.g. coaching, leadership styles, critical thinking,
facilitation skills), in order for graduates to assist peers in self-direct learning as part of recovery
and growth;
Recovery Concept, Principles, Strategies and Techniques for Key Recovery Dimensions:
Recovery as a Personal Journey/Narrative; Critical Recovery-Focused Perspectives on Mental
Health; Empowerment; Hope; Stigma Reduction/Pride and Self-Esteem; Personal Identity,
Meaning & Purpose; Dimensions of Wellbeing; Strengths Based and Person-Centred
Perspectives
Peer Work in the Context of Consumer & Carer Movements: History, Aims, Drivers, Roles,
Philosophy, Progress This is important to understand the ethos and significance of peer
support and why empowerment, advocacy and recovery are connected to lived experience in
the mental health peer support context, and to provide an understanding of various peer work
roles as purposive and connected in this context.
Peer Support Work: Practitioner-Focused Competencies (including Documentation,
Confidentiality and Information Sharing, Disclosure, Basic Counselling and/or Coaching and/or
Mentoring, Advocacy and Self-Advocacy, Self-Care and Self-Management, Recovery-Focused
Risk Management (Mental Health First Aid & Critical Incidents).
3. What values should guide mental health peer work? (e.g. individual choice)
3

Self-Direction*

Equality*

Reciprocity/Sharing*

Connection (which includes, but is not limited to, support)

Respect

Empowerment*

Pride* (for self-acceptance, self-esteem, stigma reduction, and valuing experience)

Hope & Optimism
Asterisked are those which are most likely to be distinctive to peer work roles, non-asterisked
are general workforce values that support recovery.
CoMHWA also supports the use of the core values defined by the International Association of
Peer Supporters’ National Practice Guidelines for Peer Supporters, as these are practical, clear
and accessible to both peers and peer workers.
4. What do you think are the roles and responsibilities of a peer worker?
Note: This response considers core/frontline roles and responsibilities, and does not include the
or ‘back end’ roles and responsibilities of peer worker roles, such as supervision, team
meetings, and administrative tasks.
All Peer Workers:
-Relate and connect in effective, collaborative and empowering ways with peers, families and
carers and stakeholders
-Work assertively, collaboratively and constructively with teams and team members;
-Promote and support recovery, self-advocacy, empowerment, wellbeing and positive attitudes
towards peers;
-Champion and advocate for peer rights, needs, perspectives and interests;
-Exemplify lived experience as a positive, valuable contribution to mental health recovery and
recovery supports;
Consultants/Representatives/Researchers/Project Officers/Advocates:
4
Roles:
Promote awareness of and advancement of peer rights, needs, perspectives and interests, and
promote and contribute to strong, effective peer participation in the reform, policy-setting,
design, planning, delivery and evaluation of mental health systems and services.
Responsibilities:
-Offer a critical, independent representative advocacy voice well aligned with the rights, needs,
perspectives and interests of those being represented;
-Inform, seek participation from, and be accountable to, the people being represented;
-Demonstrate awareness of diversity within peer perspectives, and promote diversity
recognition and inclusion;
-Work constructively, strategically and collaboratively with related external fora and projects, to
ensure coordinated and effective representative practice;
-Promote compliance with standards relevant to, and understand and foster best practice, in
human rights and service rights relevant to peers, including rights to participation;
-Educate stakeholders on the rights, needs, perspectives and interests of those being
represented;
Peer Support Workers:
Role: Provide interpersonal support informed by a peer perspective, in a way that is personcentred, self-directed, and effectively supports personal recovery, empowerment, wellbeing.
Responsibilities:
-Support self-advocacy efforts, and provide and/or refer to individual advocacy services and
supports;
-Provide a range of supports to the person, consistent with the person’s recovery goals and the
worker’s areas of expertise, such as basic counselling, education, skills development, and
practical support;
-Provide a peer relationship and peer support aligned with the person’s aims from the peer
relationship (e.g. coaching, mentoring, role modelling, counselling)
-Provide person-centred recovery education to enable the person to build self-understanding,
recovery understanding, and to set and work towards their personal recovery goals;
5
-Facilitate and support access to a range of services and community supports that enable the
person to recover their lives;
-Promote and support development of self-management skills, strategies, plans and supports,
to prevent and manage times of distress and/or crisis;
-Fulfil specialist and additional roles as required, such as fitness support, or group-based
support;
-Promote regular, continuous feedback and evaluation of support provided to ensure support is
aligned with the person’s needs, choices and expectations
5. In your opinion what knowledge and skills does a peer worker need to have?
All:
-Knowledge of the diversity of factors and strategies that facilitate and support recovery,
empowerment and wellbeing;
-Knowledge of the range of supports, services, and support approaches that can enable
recovery;
-Independent, applied research skills;
-Skills in supporting learning in individual and/or group contexts;
-Ability to act autonomously and use initiative, as well as part of a team;
-Skills in conveying and/or applying lived experience to enhance shared understanding;
-Critical thinking skills: Ability to question, analyse and interpret information in terms of its
implications for recovery, empowerment and wellbeing, drawing on different ideas and
perspectives to do so;
-Effective communication skills: Active listening, engagement and rapport building, effective
speaking, professional writing,
-Interpersonal and affective skills: The ability to understand, relate to, and influence emotions to
support emotional expression, transformation and resolution; (‘emotional intelligence’)
-Basic administrative, report writing and computing skills;
6
Peer Support Worker:
As above, plus
-Network facilitation skills: Skills in enabling referrals, links and joint support for individuals;
-Additional skills as required (e.g. group facilitation)
Consumer Consultant/Representative:
-Knowledge and experience with approaches to developing and sustaining mental health
systems and services in order to promote recovery, empowerment and wellbeing;
-Research skills
-Strategic thinking skills: Goal setting, scenario thinking, formulating and evaluating options,
awareness of how forms of power influence action and results;
-High level interpersonal skills (e.g. negotiation, advocacy, leadership)
-Additional skills as required, e.g. report writing, research and analysis, consultation methods,
6. What national or international approaches, frameworks or initiatives should be included?
Centre of Excellence in Peer Support’s Peer Support Charter
International Association of Peer Supporters’ National Practice Guidelines for Peer
Supporters
National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum publications: Supporting and
Developing the Mental Health Consumer and Carer Identified Workforce; Consumer and
Carer Participation Policy; What Consumers and Carers Want; Advocacy Briefs.
7. What other resources are you aware of that we should include – websites, articles, other
resources?
The Skilled Helper Gerard Egan
The Resilient Practitioner: Burn-Out Prevention and Self-Care Strategies…. Thomas Skovholt
National Mental Health Standards;
7
Relevant UN Conventions- i.e. rights resource packs
Literature that provides basic understanding of customer-centred approaches to quality…ie.
how person-centred approaches are important to quality of service, as well as outcomes
8. What boundaries does a peer worker need to be aware of and maintain?
This very much varies with the degree of formality of the peer work role, which can depend on:
extent of formalised JDFs and policies, whether the organization is a consumer operated
service or general service, whether the role is paid or unpaid, and how much professional and
social distance is perceived between people accessing a service and those providing it. For
example, a peer support worker within a PHaMs program may have more formal boundaries
than a support group facilitator within a self-help group.
Across all these it is important to ensure that boundaries are:
-Maintained in line with policies and procedures of the specific service
-Clearly and adequately explained to those who interact with the specific role
-Safe and respectful of all people concerned (e.g. cognisant of power differences that may
need safeguarding through professional boundaries)
-Stigma is recognised and understood by peer workers, as role confusion and role conflict can
be shaped by the particular boundaries a service constructs to distinguish professionals from
clients, and to safeguard clients. Peer workers can also be supported in recognising and
advocating for changes to policies, procedures and practices, where boundaries are
stigmatising and discriminating of people with mental health issues, or where they
disadvantage specific groups of people with mental health issues..
Relatedly, it can be understood that professional boundaries, clinical and organizational risks,
are themselves renegotiated, collectively and systemically, in transitioning to a mix of
professional and peer workforce, and that peers themselves may have co-roles of advocating
for ‘softening’ boundaries, while needing to comply with existing policies.
9. What does a peer worker need to know about using their lived experience?
8
The term disclosure is often used in relation to negative stories of abuse and trauma, and
‘sharing lived experience’ may be preferable in relation to story telling in other contexts. As it is
also less formal and service-focused, ‘sharing experience’ may promote peer-informed
exploration of the general value of lived experience to recovery, and the valued of experience as
an important type of knowledge.
Peer workers need to openly identify themselves with, and speak from the perspective of, a
person with lived experience because this is an essential and primary criteria for the role.
However, peers have a right to have choice in sharing the personal details of that lived
experience (“story”), and be guided in principles of effective disclosure.
Principle 1: Sharing happens in a way that is non-harmful- it is safe and respectful to both
parties
-Readiness: The person disclosing has to be ready to disclose- that is, they are confident they
have recovered from and will not be negatively affected by disclosure;
-Sensitivity: The disclosure is sensitive and appropriate to the person disclosed to, in the light of
their personal experience (which is enhanced by trauma informed awareness of a person’s
personal history and triggers);
-Consensual: Experiences are offered to share and the sharing is agreed to, tacitly or explicitly;
-Respectful of difference:
i)Clearly distinguishes between personal experiences and shared consumer experiences (avoid
confusing representative and personal experience);
ii) Asks, rather than assumes, about similarities between two people’s lived experience, leaving
space for both people to articulate what they have in common and what is unique and distinct;
-Fair A story is not withheld simply in order to privilege a professional identity over peer identity
in the course of interacting with peers.
Principle 2: Sharing stories is beneficial- it enhances personal recovery
-Recovery Enhancing: Stories are more effective when they can demonstrate recovery in
process- such as strengths used, strategies used, and/or insights and learnings arising from
lived experience that have fostered recovery;
9
-Relevant: The disclosure has a significant relevance to the conversation context- it has a place
there- so as not to seem arbitrary, abrupt or distracting
-Purposeful: There is a clear meaning or purpose to what is shared, and this is effectively
explained to the listener (e.g. “From me sharing this with you, I just wanted you to know that
you’re not alone in some of the things you’re facing, in fact many people that too….”
The effective sharing of lived experience is a practitioner skill informed by principles but
developed through experience, so opportunities to acquire this experience in the classroom,
and later the placement, environment are essential.
10. Describe the approach a peer worker should take to build relationships and shared
understandings?
It is important from a peer perspective to understand that the process of establishing
relationships and rapport is not qualitatively different from a general process of two or more
people establishing common ground.
Peer Support Work:
The quality of a therapeutic relationship has been found to be a major factor in recovery
outcomes, and relationship quality is similarly likely to be the major factor in the extent to which
people find value in connecting with peer workers.
Peer Support Workers need to take direction from the person, and dialogue with the person, to
understand the person’s unique aims for the relationship’s characteristics and outcomes, and
ensure the relationship is safe, enhancing and meaningful.
Part of the dialogue in the Peer Support work context is around identifying the meaning and
relevance of consumer, lived experience, recovery, peer, peer support worker, and professional
worker, in order to ensure there are shared understandings about not only what support will be
provided, and the mutual boundaries expected, but about the role of each person’s lived
experience in the person’s recovery process. It is also important people are able to distinguish
and choose between peer support (mutual support and sharing), coaching (coachee
development that is self-driven), and mentoring (mentee development, transferring of
knowledge, wisdom and/or insight in a way that is supportive, respectful and mutually agreed),
10
as different styles of support that suit different people, or different stages of a person’s recovery.
Developing Rapport
As with all relationships, rapport is an ease of relating and strength of connection that depends
on trust. This trust is generally facilitated by a combination of common ground (similarities),
together with the skills in trustbuilding and connecting that each person brings to the
relationship. Hence, rapport can be supported through:
-Linking someone with someone where rapport is likely to build
-Creative identification of similarities, as a person’s shares their lifeworld with the worker. This is
not to encourage sameness but to pragmatically build trust via shared reference points. Deep
conversations can be enriched through ‘small talk’ on common areas of interest (e.g. hobbies,
sports, TV shows).
-Proactive workers are open to learning about and engaging with the person’s life world. For
example, reading a book the person has read and enjoyed.
-Practical demonstrations of trust, such as making small but specific promises and maintaining
them (e.g. call back times, bringing resources to the person as agreed) can facilitate trust
between people in early stages of relating.
-Patience supports both people through the developmental stages of relationship building
-Honesty and openness to mutual, regular feedback to ensure needs, aims and expectations
are clarified and adequately met
These strategies are effective most prominently in peer support work roles, but also apply to
peer workers who are building relationships in professional and group contexts, such as peers
in their workplaces, and representatives engaged in committee roles.
Inclusive, Responsive Approaches to Relationship Building
It is also important to be cognisant of barriers to rapport building that may require additional
strategies to build relationships effectively.. Again, these are not a reflection of the presence of
mental health issues, but are commonly found in relationships. These include:
-History of harmful interpersonal relationships, where willingness to extend trust may be
lessened and support relationships provide a ground for healing, or worsening, of these
barriers, depending on quality of support;
-History of harmful institutional relationships, where rapport with a peer support worker is
11
undermined by general mistrust of institutions or workers,
-Practical and/or communicative barriers to a person establishing strong, positive social
connections and relationships, which need to be understood and supported in ways that are
empowering, strengths-based and enabling (e.g. self-paced increases in going out in public)
-History of major social exclusion and ‘outsider’ status, such as homeless people or people with
a history of long term institutionalisation, who may benefit from peers who have shared their
distinctive life experience and offer ‘grounded’ hope for recovery;
-Significant cultural differences that may lead to specialist peer roles (e.g. Aboriginal peer
workers) benefit from peers who share this background.
Again, insights from these experiences of barriers to rapport, while most easily understood in
relation to peer support work, can also support effective work relationships for peer workers,
and can be drawn on towards effective work to build collaboration at sectoral and system level
where relationship challenges and barriers may exist to partner-based solutions.
Rapport can be built despite barriers, but generally requires more patience, skilful
communication, and additional time and availability to build mutual understanding and open
communication. Third party dialogue- such as translators- and efforts to developed shared
language- whether a source of difference is cultural, professional, or grounded in other
differences- can also facilitate rapport. For example, an experienced consumer representative
can assist new consumer representatives to understand committee terminology, and to
educate committees on peer language to in turn influence their culture and understandings.
Kemp (2013) notes that that poor relationships between peer and peer support workers have
negative outcomes. Consequently, choice on the part of the peer supported to appoint, make a
complaint about about, and/or change a peer support worker is important to peers engaging
with peer supporters.
Finally, in consequence of both the developmental status of peer work roles within service
teams, and the frequency of group contexts of service delivery and advocacy, an understanding
of group dynamics, life cycles, effective team work and group facilitation skills would be
advantageous across peer workforce roles in recognition of the strong relationship skill
components needed across these roles.
12
11. How does a peer worker promote and facilitate advocacy and self-advocacy for
consumers?
Advocacy is a process of ensuring that a person’s identity, needs and/or rights are promoted
and upheld such that they have equal outcomes from a decision, process or action, where they
would otherwise be likely to be disadvantaged on account of their status, ability or
circumstances.
Process Advocacy: Ensuring that due process is followed, and that processes are such that a
person can participate equally in them (e.g. access to Centrelink assistance)
Decision Advocacy: Ensuring that a person has choice, control and self-direction in their life and
the services and supports they receive through being empowered to make their own decisions,
and to have their rights and choices respected and upheld in joint decision-making (e.g.
informed consent to treatment, having been provided with treatment options)
Examples of advocacy practice that may be conducted by peer workers are:
-Training and education to develop self-advocacy
-Providing Individual advocacy and being a support/ally in the self-advocacy process
-Advocacy for program and service changes to reflect the needs of peers being supported by
the peer worker’
-System-level or service-level advocacy
Examples of advocacy knowledge required include:
-Knowledge of entry/access processes and gatekeepers;
-Understanding of mental health practitioner roles and responsibilities;
-Knowledge of rights and standards;
-Knowledge that self-advocacy is preferential to advocacy, consistent with a focus on rights and
empowerment;
-Knowledge of how a person’s individual need for self-advocacy may be related to structural or
cultural barriers, through knowledge of common issues peers face (e.g. physical health issues
not addressed adequately by treating practitioners, difficulty navigating, accessing and keeping
appropriate services);
-Understanding of conflicts of interest that can compromise advocacy positions and strategies
13
(e.g. advocating for people in a service delivery context, which can be outcomesfocused/selective or conditional advocacy, and constrained in independence.
Examples of advocacy skills required include:
-Communication skills (see self-advocacy)
-Teamwork skills (important for advocacy in joint/coordinated support settings and
multidisciplinary teams)
-Emotional management skills (see self-advocacy)
-Skills in mentoring, coaching and education to facilitate development of knowledge and skills
among people supported
-Group facilitation and meeting facilitation skills (system and service level advocates)
Self-Advocacy is developed through:
-Knowledge of advocacy options and how to secure an advocate (help from advocates may be
the first stage in acquiring self-advocacy skills for some);
-Means to do this (e.g. physical and/or phone access to obtain advocates or to self-advocate
about an issue)
-Rights education, understanding of how rights apply in contexts (e.g. informed consent)
-Emotional self-management (linked to awareness that anger or hopelessness are common
responses to ‘illogical’ or ‘unjust’ systems, but are harmful to the self if not well managed);
-Transfer of knowledge of entry/access processes and gatekeepers;
-Education in how to acquire own knowledge in navigating the system (e.g. information and
technology literacy)
-Communication skills: a focus on assertiveness, negotiation and conflict resolution skills
12. How do peer workers contribute to the continuous improvement of mental health services?
14
Peer workers have been advanced as having a key role to play in contributing to culture
change on the part of services in much needed recovery directions through reducing social
distance between professionals and those needing services. This can increase receptiveness to
the views and feedback of peers.
The incorporation of lived experience perspectives into industry research can also contribute
significantly to quality improvement, through:
- Enhanced understanding of needs and experiences in care, as people are more engaged with
peer evaluators, improving quality data collection;
-Peer workers have the potential to participate in a shared, collaborative leadership approach to
peer workforce development in their services and networks that can contribute to recognition
and valuing the mental and general wellbeing of all staff and customers.
-Historically, both peer workforce development and personal recovery as a concept and set of
approaches has emerged and been led by peer researchers, advocates and practitioners.
Hence, the presence of a peer workforce presents opportunities for peers to further advance
and develop personal recovery theory, principles and practice that improve experiences of
care.
In relation to the Cert IV, non-direct support roles within the peer workforce need to be a focus
when considering the relationship between quality improvement and peer workers in both
service and broader (e.g. interagency, governmental and sectoral) roles. These include the
learning requirements of consumer consultants, advisors, representatives, policy and project
workers.
Obviously this area is broad and would require both a consideration of what is in scope and
provision of advcse on extracurricular extension of skills, but should consider:
Knowledge
-Basic understanding of quality processes (e.g. knowledge of what an audit is, quality cycles,
typical reporting and structures, ways of collecting quality data)
-Fundamentals of research & evaluation, program logic model and/or defining person centred
outcomes as central to person-centred quality;
-Overview of broad quality duties and responsibilities for major types of peer work role, and the
relationship between these
-Peer Service Rights (e.g. National Mental Health Standards)
15
Skills
-Complaints Response and Resolution skills
-Report Writing (e.g. policies and briefs)
-Identification, reporting and promoting quality issues
-Person-centred goal setting, review and evaluation
-Facilitating & Chairing Meetings (quality application  e.g. for focus groups)
13. What do peer workers need to know about trauma informed care?
Robust training in trauma-informed practice is important across mental health workforce roles,
including peer work. Peer work presents an opportunity to advance overall knowledge of
trauma-informed practice through complementing current professional understandings with
the expertise of lived experience, and attention to trauma supportive work environments
through peer advocacy has the potential to improve general wellbeing in the mental health
workforce, and improve quality of trauma-informed support to people accessing services. For
example, the course could enable participants to:
- Explicitly identify and challenge stigma, shame, myths and assumptions that can influence
trauma disclosure and trauma identification, and self-advocacy and advocacy strategies that
can address these;
-identify, be aware of, manage and seek appropriate support for any reactivation of personal
traumas;
-identify, be aware of, manage and seek appropriate support for vicarious trauma
-Understand how mental health services have, in some instances, been a source of trauma for
people accessing services, such as how mental health service approaches and types of
treatments;
- Recognise signs of workplaces and practices that are not trauma informed, such as
workplace dynamics that can create an unhealthy environment for consumers, family and staff;
-Understand the range of sources of trauma as part of training in diversity competence;
-Be able to guide someone through incorporation of self-identified trauma signs and selfmanagement strategies in crisis/recovery planning; and ensure recovery assessment, planning
and support integrates trauma informed factors for competency in this area;
16
-Understand prevalence and ‘recovery-focused trauma recovery’ – i.e. how recovery principles,
such as rediscovery of self and self-ownership of one’s life can be used in support of trauma
recovery
Some of these areas would constitute new areas of understanding and may not have a strong
evidence base to draw on. The emphasis could therefore be on critical classroom inquiry on
areas where evidence and research is limited.
Further, it is important to ensure that the course itself is trauma-informed and those delivering
the course have skills in trauma recovery approaches, as the course can provide a learning
ground for understanding and applying skills in managing personal trauma
reactivation/vicarious trauma and self-advocacy, prior to workplace entry.
14. What issues might a peer worker face in relation to role strain, role conflict or role
confusion and how should they address this?
Role strain, role conflict and role confusion has been attributed to multiple, often arbitrary
personal or interpersonal factors. CoMHWA views that while role strain, conflict and confusion
are experienced differently by peers, these phenomena can often be partially attributed to
service and sectoral readiness to adequately provide and resource for peer workforce
structures.
CoMHWA distinguishes role strain, role conflict and role confusion as follows:
Role Strain: Where a person experience strain as a result of a job that exceeds capacity (e.g.
0.5FTE), competency or level of experience (e.g. excess work demands)
Role Conflict: Where a person experiences conflicting role requirements, such as conflict of
interest (e.g. person is engaged as an advocate, but is not delegated sufficient independence
and autonomy)
Role Confusion: Where a person experiences confusion, generally as a result of conflicting
social and/or internal cues about their professional identity (e.g. being treated differently as a
staff member, as a result of being seen as ‘half staff, half client’, and/or seeing oneself in that
way).
17
Role strain therefore relates to an organization’s ability to realistically assess and meet its
internal demand for peer workforce roles and structures; role conflict relates more to
organizational understanding of what the functions, levels of expertise and support
requirements of various peer workforce roles are (i.e. workforce roles that are similar across
organizations and agencies as distinct, defined roles with which organizations can be familiar
with); and role confusion relates more to stigma (internalised and/or workplace) and/or vague
practitioner norms.
All these pressures tend to be present where a workplace hires for workforce roles but needs to
acquire further culture readiness, expertise or commitment towards the peer workforce. Staff
attitudes, policies, practices, and level of general preparedness for and understanding of peer
roles is important for peer workers to maintain their wellbeing at work and to ensure they are
placed in roles that reflect their skill base, have a realistic workload, and are fairly remunerated.
Organizations and agencies tend to attempt to develop peer work roles and consumer
participation structures in a fragmented and siloed manner, and need to understand the
benefits of drawing on and contributing to a collective body of knowledge, resources and
evidence to bring about consistent, sustainable, quality and substantial consumer participation
and peer work roles. This is critical to national workforce reform towards a mixed peer and nonpeer workforce. CoMHWA supports HWA’s aims of a general peer workforce development
strategy that can increase sectoral capacity and which can foster a more coordinated and
collaborative approach to capacity building, and would like to see demonstrated evidence of
knowledge exchange and collaboration across services and districts.
Solutions for peer workers experiencing role conflict, role strain and role confusion, include:
-Recognising the extent to which these are trends in the sector, and not just isolated or personal
phenomena;
- Strong collegial connections within the peer workforce, such as through formal networking
arrangements, are important to provide a sounding board, source of support, and opportunity
for joint problem-solving.
-Identifying professional and managerial supports who can act as mentors, champions
advocates, with which to harness opportunities to educate management and to influence their
work role and conditions;
18
-Personal and professional leadership training for peer workers, to enhance their ability to
identify, negotiate and solve peer workforce issues in the workplace in ways that are effective
and build shared commitment to change;
-Resources relating to workplace rights and standards, both general and in relation to peer
work; are readily available to all peer workers;
-Peer workers are supported to recognition stigma, discrimination, bullying, and other
workplace trends that can impact on personal wellbeing (and preferably, to transfer this
learning beyond the workplace), and equipped with personal and peer group strategies to
address these and sustain wellbeing;
A strong sense of professional competence, identity, pride, and opportunities for collegial
connection among cohorts moving through the course has potential for significant collective
impact through collaborative capacity building across organizations.
15. Provide contact details
See first page.
16. Are you happy for your name and/or organisation name to be included in the consultation
report, as a contributor?
Yes, please indicate the organisation rather than my personal name.
17. Other comments:
Role conflict, confusion and strain, and accompanying competency gaps in multi-faceted roles,
may be more likely to occur in the context of nationally inconsistent terminology for various
roles and positions. For example, a Peer Support Worker has and requires a distinct set of
attributes, attitudes and competencies from a Consumer Representative conducting advocacy
in management and/or sectoral settings.
At the same time, a continuum exists between natural (community-based, informal peer
19
supports) and highly formalised and professionalised peer workforce positions, and it needs to
be recognise that peer workers practice across a diverse range of settings and programs.
Making sense of how these settings and programs shape role requirements adds further
complexity. It is therefore essential to ensure sufficient flexibility within standardisation efforts to
allow contextual specificity and innovation to evolve. It also foundational that peers are leaders
in the evolution of their work identity, philosophy, practice and body of knowledge.
The Cert IV Peer Work project, in conjunction with the HWA Peer Workforce project, provides
mechanisms to clarify and strengthen language. It is important that the Cert IV project ensures
that, in the case of a Peer Support Work course, this role is clearly distinguished from other
roles, or in the case of a Peer Work course, that the various roles of the peer workforce are
identified and their training needs more comprehensively analysed for stream options within
the course.
Some peer workforce roles involve a combination of ‘supra-individual (program, organizational
or systemic consultant/advisory or representatives roles) and direct support roles (peer support
worker and/or individual advocacy). However, the extent to which a specific role entails
expertise in both areas will differ from role to role depending on JDF. Supra-individual roles
tend to have a distinct set of knowledge and skills requirements, including depth of knowledge
around systemic advocacy issues and reform directions, formal policy and advocacy skills (e.g.
media and public relations, policy and report writing). There will therefore need to be further
consideration given to whether both types of work will be the focus of course delivery, or
whether a separate qualification focused on Representative, Policy and Collective Advocacy
should be provided. The National Peer Workforce Survey provided a starting point for an
identification of the frequency of various roles and duties that inform peer worker JDFs.
Additional certification (Peer Leadership, Management & Supervision) that provides a
recognisable qualification for those seeking to advance to more senior levels is also needed.
CoMHWA thanks CMHA and MHCC for the opportunity to contribute to the CMHA Peer Support
Work Project through the Cert IV Survey and welcomes further opportunities to contribute to the
project.
20