Between 2021-2023 the Mental Health Commission of NSW (the Commission) undertook the Peer
Navigation Project. The project developed from consultations for Action 14 of the Living Well in
Focus 2020-2024: A strategic plan for community recovery, wellbeing and mental health in NSW, which identified the need to improve referral pathways to connect individuals with the right services and supports to improve their outcomes.
The purpose of this project was to examine the potential role of peer navigators, who can draw upon their personal lived experience of mental health issues and connection to communities and
familiarity with local services, to help individuals access the right care and supports. To explore, test
and evaluate the concept of peer navigation, the Commission collaborated with individuals who have personal lived experience of mental health issues, their families, carers and kin, as well as
representatives from the mental health and human services sectors.
The primary objective of the first phase of the project was to explore the value of peer navigation to
strengthen connection at the intersections between mental and physical health and other human
services with a mix of informal, community, social service, cultural and clinical supports. An Insights
Report, available on the Commission’s website, documents the extensive discussions and workshops
held with participants, and outlines the preliminary findings of the first phase of this project.
Exploring the value of peer navigation demonstrated its importance in:
• Building capacity to navigate service systems and advocate for coordinated and integrated care
and supports for individuals
• Having a peer worker provide non-clinical support to people experiencing mental health issues
and supporting them to navigate the service system
• Integrating social connection within mental health care
• Addressing the broader social determinants of health and factors that could contribute to
mental ill health (such as homelessness or not having a regular general practitioner), and
• Supporting service systems where there is a workforce shortage and/or high workload of mental
health clinical staff, such as regional and rural areas of NSW.
The main objective of the project’s second phase was to examine the potential role of peer
navigators and test the model with several communities and organisations across NSW. This report
summarises the findings from the four pilot sites that trialled the peer navigation model between
2021-2023.
