Mental Health Commissioner for South Australia

Mental Health Commissioner for South Australia Partnering with South Australians for greater wellbeing. Connect and be a part of making change.

The SA Mental Health Commissioner, Taimi Allan, aims to strengthen the mental health and wellbeing of South Australians - with your help.

🎁 Kind-Mas Advent Giveaway: Bias Cards Edition! 🎄Ok, so you've seen I'm giving away “Bias Cards” as a daily prize and yo...
11/12/2025

🎁 Kind-Mas Advent Giveaway: Bias Cards Edition! 🎄

Ok, so you've seen I'm giving away “Bias Cards” as a daily prize and you're like "meh", 'cause "Bias" anything might not sound like the kind of thing you'd fight over in a game of Secret Santa.

But hear me out - They're actually awesome!

You will definitely want to play them over the holidays, or with whomever is hanging around holding the fort at work with you.

Things to love:
💗They come in a shiny keepsake tin.
💗They’ve got 52 beautifully illustrated characters (with some wild backstories).
They’ve got 7 brilliant games inside for ages 3 to 103.
💗You can play with 2 to 52 people (or just quietly judge your own reactions to these characters alone in a corner).

🤡They are funny (and fun).
🙌They are real (many of them based on real people, they're stories gifted to me over time - names are obviously changed)
💬They are seriously good conversation starters — especially at awkward Christmas lunches when your uncle says something cooked.

✨ Want a deck of your own? I’m giving away one tin a day as part of our Kind-Mas Advent Challenge.

Enter the challenge for any of the December Advent Posts and this little tin of social justice joy could be headed your way.

Photos in the comments.
✔️Yes, they’re that cute.
❌No, they’re not for sale.
✔️Yes, you want one.

Kind-mas Advent Day 11: Lighten Someone’s LoadToday' challenge is to take one job off a tired person’s list, with permis...
10/12/2025

Kind-mas Advent Day 11: Lighten Someone’s Load

Today' challenge is to take one job off a tired person’s list, with permission. One small task removed can turn overwhelm into “ok, I’ve got this”.

maybe its a new parent, taking the pram for a walk so they can shower, fold a load of washing. Or an older or unwell neighbour, bins out and in, water pots, mow the verge.
Maybe you know someone in grief, grab their grocery list, do a post office run.
For a friend at hospital, fridge top-up, charger and toiletries drop, school pick-up, or for a shift worker or teacher, quick kitchen reset, vacuum, walk the dog.

People aren's always that great at saying yes though to help, so here's some ways to make it feel easy -

“I’m at Coles at 5. Text three things you need, I’ll drop them.”

“Free 7 pm tonight. Prefer bins and plants or a 20-minute dog walk?.”

“Made double lasagne. Can I leave one in your fridge?”

To enter: Comment the task you took on and the words you used to offer, tag the recipient if they are comfortable,

*you can do these challenges anytime until the 15th January, just come back and comment whenever you’ve completed the challenge!

Use these Kind-mas tags to be in to win:

Daily prize: one Bias Cards deck. Winners announced and gifts posted in the New Year.
Anyone is welcome to participate but only South Australian residents are eligible for the daily prize. One per person.

Human Rights Day lands close to home for many of us who have been calling for a Human Rights Act in SA.Why is it so impo...
10/12/2025

Human Rights Day lands close to home for many of us who have been calling for a Human Rights Act in SA.

Why is it so important? because I keep hearing from people who are not heard, not informed, or left without a clear way to fix decisions that affect their lives. A Human Rights Act makes rights visible in everyday services and gives people a path to remedy when things go wrong. ďżź

Other states have already done this. The ACT, Victoria and Queensland each have human rights laws that guide public decisions and improve accountability.I firmly believe South Australia should join them. ďżź

This year our Parliament’s Social Development Committee recommended legislating a Human Rights Act for SA, including consolidating protections in one law, moving toward a Human Rights Commission, and consulting the community on the model. Most submissions supported an Act. 

Why it matters for mental health, a clear duty on public authorities to consider human rights when they make decisions, and a way to seek remedy, helps reduce harm, supports dignity, and builds trust across health, housing and justice. These are practical safeguards, not slogans. ďżź

Today is a good day to recommit. South Australia needs a Human Rights Act.

More on Human Rights Day here https://www.un.org/en/observances/human-rights-dayďżź

If you want, I can add a second slide with a plain-English explainer on what an SA Human Rights Act would do.

Last night I stood in a room full of colour, clay and thread and felt what care looks like.Gestures of Care brings toget...
09/12/2025

Last night I stood in a room full of colour, clay and thread and felt what care looks like.
Gestures of Care brings together families, artists and researchers who worked side by side, rotating pages, adding marks to each other’s work, and finding trust as they went.

The stories are everyday and powerful. A first text after a baby arrives, sent to the sharing family. Someone fixing a car so a mum could keep going. A walk to the park after months inside. These small gestures are the backbone of wellbeing.

Highlights for me, the collage signatures mapping the ups and downs, darker notes for tough seasons and bright notes for hope. The circular cut outs you can look through to a clear horizon. The stitched care blanket with phrases like we have your back. The ceramic landscape on the floor, made together, building protection and strength.

Thank you to the families who opened your lives, and to everyone who made this possible across Family by Family, , , , the University of Adelaide and .

On now at UniSA’s Kerry Packer Civic Gallery on North Terrace until 30 January. Closed 24 Dec to mid January, then open again for the last two weeks. If you go, read the tiny labels and add your own note about a gesture of care. You might recognise your own story there.

Kind-mas Advent day 10. Pay-It-Forward CoffeePrepay a coffee, tea or bus fare.The World Happiness report shows that Pros...
09/12/2025

Kind-mas Advent day 10. Pay-It-Forward Coffee

Prepay a coffee, tea or bus fare.

The World Happiness report shows that Prosocial spending gives a small mood lift and reminds us we belong. Tag the cafĂŠ so someone needing it knows where to ask for it.

To enter: tell us the gift and the spot, tag them and the daily tags.

*you can do these challenges anytime until the 15th January, just come back and comment whenever you’ve completed the challenge!

Use these Kind-mas tags to be in to win:

Daily prize: one Bias Cards deck. Winners announced and gifts posted in the New Year.
Anyone is welcome to participate but only South Australian residents are eligible for the daily prize. One per person.

Su***de Prevention CollaborativesAdelaide PHN is standing up three local Su***de Prevention Collaboratives across Northe...
09/12/2025

Su***de Prevention Collaboratives

Adelaide PHN is standing up three local Su***de Prevention Collaboratives across Northern, Central and Southern Adelaide to assist communities to lead systems-based prevention locally.

The Office of the Mental Health Commissioner for South Australia is involved to bring what we’re here for, lived experience expertise, systems knowledge, governance and advocacy support.
Our role is to help keep the work grounded in real life, connected to the wider system, and accountable to the people it serves.

From our recent Central Adelaide co-design session:

- better service mapping and an open, practical directory so people can actually find help.

- A peer-informed model that includes safe, sensory spaces and language that doesn’t pathologise distress.

- Cross-sector action on the drivers of distress, and community events to build connection.

If you live or work in these regions and want to take part, keep an eye on Adelaide PHN channels for updates as the Collaboratives take shape.

Kind-mas Adventure Day 9. Share a Real Coping TipPost one thing that actually steadies you, in your words.They can be fu...
08/12/2025

Kind-mas Adventure Day 9. Share a Real Coping Tip

Post one thing that actually steadies you, in your words.
They can be funny, mindful, reflective, creative, anythin! but they must be practical

Practical strategies beat platitudes.

Tag a mate who might use it. or taught you.

To enter: share your tip and when it helps, tag and the daily tags.

*you can do these challenges anytime until the 15th January, just come back and comment whenever you’ve completed the challenge!

Use these Kind-mas tags to be in to win:

Daily prize: one Bias Cards deck. Winners announced and gifts posted in the New Year.
Anyone is welcome to participate but only South Australian residents are eligible for the daily prize. One per person.

08/12/2025

We are delighted to be working with Dress for Success Adelaide to create more meaningful opportunities for the women we support at Catherine House.

When a woman is empowered to take the next step in her life, the impact extends to her family, her future and her community. We're grateful to work alongside an organisation that shares our commitment to dignity, respect and long-lasting change. 💜

08/12/2025

💌 Join us in spreading kindness this festive season!

We’re hosting a special community activity at Safe Haven: writing heartfelt letters to people spending the festive season in psychiatric care. A small message can make a big difference for someone feeling alone or disconnected.

📅 Thursday 11 December

🕠 5.30 pm – 8.30 pm

📍 Safe Haven, 9 John Street, Salisbury

Everyone is welcome! Whether you love writing, drawing, or simply offering warm wishes, we’d love for you to come along and help brighten someone’s day.

Please feel free to share this with anyone who might enjoy taking part. 💙🧡

SA Lived Experience Leadership & Advocacy Network

Our Town” Allies and Advocates wrapped for 2025 recently. Invited to the session, we looked squarely at what’s working a...
08/12/2025

Our Town” Allies and Advocates wrapped for 2025 recently. Invited to the session, we looked squarely at what’s working and what still needs courage.

The themes probably wouldn't surprise you:
- Stronger peer and lived experience leadership.
- Deeper, long-term investment in local places, not just more pilots.
- Earlier conversations with decision makers.
- Philanthropy and government partnering for the long haul.

They also named the risk of community fatigue if change isn’t visible and resourced.
We'll keep working on those things at the Commission!

Grateful to everyone who keeps showing up for community led change.
More about Our Town: https://ourtownsa.pulse.ly/qugvgrpjnl

Kind-mas Adventure Day 8. Kind Introduction, With ConsentYou know those moments when you know 2 amazing people that you ...
07/12/2025

Kind-mas Adventure Day 8. Kind Introduction, With Consent

You know those moments when you know 2 amazing people that you think would just “click“ but they don’t know eachother?

Well today’s challenge is to intentionally introduce two people who might help each other, or at least really vibe with eachother somehow after checking both are happy.

Bridging people reduces loneliness and builds problem-solving. Tag them if they are keen. ďżź

To enter: share why these two awesome humans were destined to meet

*you can do these challenges anytime until the 15th January, just come back and comment whenever you’ve completed the challenge!

Use these Kind-mas tags to be in to win:

Daily prize: one Bias Cards deck. Winners announced and gifts posted in the New Year.
Anyone is welcome to participate but only South Australian residents are eligible for the daily prize. One per person.

Kind-mas Advent Day 7: Story-Time!Tonight I’m reading out loud with a human, not my phone.Reading is not just for kids. ...
06/12/2025

Kind-mas Advent Day 7: Story-Time!

Tonight I’m reading out loud with a human, not my phone.
Reading is not just for kids. Grab a partner, a mate, an elderly neighbour, or a child if you have one. Pick a short piece and go for character voices.

During COVID I dressed up and read stories online to give parents a breather. The spooky costumes were questionable, the giggles were not.

Try a festive twist. Make a mocktail, open ’Twas the Night Before Christmas, and challenge a friend overseas to a read-off on video. Fastest verse or funniest voice wins bragging rights.

Why it helps
Reading aloud pulls attention into the same moment, which settles the nervous system and builds closeness. Shared rhythm, breath and eye contact can reduce stress and lift mood. Ten minutes is plenty.

How to play

- Choose something short, a picture book, poem, recipe card, or a page from a favourite novel.

- Take turns by lines or pages. Add one silly voice.

- Snap a pic of the book or your mocktail, not faces unless everyone’s happy.

To enter - Comment what you read and one line you loved. Tag your reading buddy or local library. If you email me a photo SAMHC@sa.gov.au I'll share it across my socials!

ďżź
*you can do these challenges anytime until the 15th January, just come back and comment whenever you’ve completed the challenge!

Use these Kind-mas tags to be in to win:

Daily prize: one Bias Cards deck. Winners announced and gifts posted in the New Year. Anyone is welcome to participate but only South Australian residents are eligible for the daily prize. One per person.

Address

PO BOX 287 Rundle Mall
Adelaide, SA
5000

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+611300293220

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