Mental Health Victoria – Croakey Conference News Service coverage of #Lived Experience online forum
Mental Health Victoria, in partnership with the Victorian Healthcare Association, ran an online forum on the importance of embedding the voice of lived experience in mental health system reform.
Croakey journalist Marie McInerney did an exceptional job of covering the event through both real-time social media posts and a written article summarising the discussion and themes that arose during the forum.
Her regular Twitter posts throughout the event generated lively discussion and helped emphasise and elevate the important contributions from the consumer voices.
The article that Marie wrote on the event, titled “Imagine a mental health system that meets the needs of consumers and carers” took the reader on a journey through the forum’s key themes along with images and other media to supplement the discussion. It received very positive feedback from all involved.

Croakey provides an informed voice to the health, equity and environmental debates, and is helping mobilise the necessary political and popular support for a radical break from the complacent and compartmentalized attitude that still dominates much of the political agenda.
Croakey continues to go from strength to strength and is indispensable.

Croakey is health media rather than medical media. You should be reading it every day if you’re interested in health services or population health.

Croakey once again delivered, providing professional, polished content for our 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting. Thank you.

Croakey gives me the best independent and most relevant public health news and views.

With a health system that is facing unprecedented challenges we need all the courage and all the insight we can get our hands on. Croakey is a space that invites us to to challenge and interrogate our practice and our policy. Croakey’s journalism and activism inspires me to remain optimistic.

If news doesn’t make you squirm it’s simply propaganda. Croakey’s unique blend of activism, humour and plain good reporting makes it an essential – if not always comfortable – read!

At the Walkleys we celebrate and support great Australian journalism. Through our Walkley Grants for Innovation in Journalism we encourage projects that combine quality reporting with an entrepreneurial approach. We’re proud to support projects like Croakey that are an innovative platform driven by independent, ethical journalism for the public benefit.

As CEO of the Victorian Mental Illness Awareness Council (VMIAC), it is my pleasure to write a testimonial for Croakey. In the past three years, VMIAC have happily engaged the services of Marie McInerney and her team at Croakey to cover major events in the life of VMIAC. We have been fortunate to have Croakey cover our awards night last year and our conference the year before. Marie has brilliantly captured the essence of our organisation and the views of our members and stakeholders. I cannot envisage a time when we will not engage Croakey as we find their brand of journalism uplifting, accurate and honest. Marie’s ability to draw out the stories she produces is wonderfully fresh and always empowering. I would not hesitate to recommend Croakey as a leading service to any event.