Policy & Advocacy

Submissions

We talk to stakeholders about mental health nursing — representing the profession to politicians, policymakers, and healthcare organisations.

Advocating for the Profession

The Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN) is the peak professional body representing mental health nurses across Australia. A core part of our role is advocating for the profession at every level of government — federal, state, and territory — as well as with healthcare organisations, regulatory bodies, and policy makers.

We regularly prepare formal submissions to government consultations, parliamentary inquiries, budget processes, and legislative reviews. These submissions draw on the expertise and lived professional experience of our 2,200+ members to ensure that the mental health nursing perspective is represented wherever policy decisions are made that affect the profession and the patients we serve.

Our advocacy covers a broad range of issues including workforce planning, credentialing recognition, MBS item numbers for credentialed mental health nurses, telehealth policy, mental health funding, and the professional standards that govern mental health nursing practice in Australia.

When preparing submissions, we frequently consult our members to ensure their insights and frontline expertise are reflected. If you would like to contribute to a future submission or have questions about our advocacy work, please contact our communications team.

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What We Advocate For

ACMHN's policy and advocacy work is guided by the needs of the mental health nursing profession and the patients and communities mental health nurses serve. Our key advocacy priorities include:

  • Workforce development — advocating for adequate mental health nursing workforce planning, training pipelines, and investment in the specialist mental health nursing workforce across Australia
  • Credentialing recognition — advancing recognition of the Credentialed Mental Health Nurse (CMHN) credential across health systems, insurers, and government programs
  • MBS access — supporting credentialed mental health nurses' access to Medicare Benefits Schedule item numbers to enable greater community-based mental health care
  • Telehealth policy — ensuring telehealth regulations support rather than restrict the delivery of advanced mental health nursing services
  • Mental health funding — advocating for adequate and sustained federal and state government investment in mental health services
  • Legislative reform — providing expert input into state and territory mental health legislation reviews to protect patients and support best-practice nursing care
  • Professional standards — contributing to the development and review of national standards and frameworks that govern mental health nursing practice

Archived Submissions

ACMHN has been making formal submissions to government and regulatory bodies for over a decade. Older submissions are available as ZIP downloads, grouped by year.