BEING – Mental Health Consumers

Peter Schmiedgen is currently the policy lead at BEING mental health consumers, the peak body for mental health consumers in NSW, where he has worked for the last 6 years. In this role he engages regularly with consumers of government mental health services in NSW. This engagement deeply informs his writing and his representation of the consumer voice to state and federal government. He believes strongly in advocating for the rights of mental health consumers and particularly for the right of consumers to make decisions about their own health care needs. Before working for BEING Peter worked in the areas of disability and carer policy with the NSW Ministry of Health. He also has his own lived experience of mental health issues, as do all of BEING’s employees.