Priorities for the 2027 NSW Election

PRIVACY STATEMENT The information you provide in this survey helps us understand the diversity of people who engage with BEING and improve how we support and include people with lived experience. Your responses are confidential and will only be reported in de‑identified, aggregated form.

BEING – Mental Health Consumers is the peak body in NSW representing the voice of all mental health consumers in the state. We are recognised by the Government and the mental health sector to be the voice of all mental health consumers, and we advocate for systemic change.

We recently launched our “We're All Ears” Regional Roadshow 2026, traveling to regional locations across NSW between 4 May and 21 August. One of the reasons we launched the roadshow is to ensure the mental health of the regions of NSW is not forgotten in the next state election which will be held in NSW in the first quarter of 2027. The parties' election campaigns will kick off in the latter half of 2026.

As the state peak body, we want to make sure we include the views of all NSW mental health consumers for the next state election, ensuring that the voice of regional communities is clearly conveyed. We know the issues important are different between metro and regional communities, and we have developed a discussion paper based on what we know from our regional members already. If you want to tell us the issues important to you, we are developing a rural and remote position statement as part of our Regional Roadshow. Tell us what’s important to you by completing this survey.

We are asking people to complete this short survey to better understand:
a. What you think needs to be included in our election platform so the mental health of the regions of NSW is reflected
b. How we can best engage with regional communities before election day.
The survey will take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Our Regional Roadshow will take us to over a dozen regional centres. Find out more about our “We're All Ears” Regional Roadshow on our microsite here.
And if you want to meet up with us while we are in a town near you, click here to find out where we are going and when.

The information you provide in this survey helps us understand the diversity of people who engage with BEING and improve how we support and include people with lived experience. Your responses are confidential and will only be reported in de‑identified, aggregated form.

Part 1: About You

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1. Do you have lived or living experience of mental health challenges? (Required.)

Yes

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2. What is your age? (Required.)

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3. How would you describe your gender identity? (Required.)

Female

Male

Non-binary

Trans or gender diverse

I use another term

Prefer not to say

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4. Do you identify with, or have you experienced, any of the following? Tick that all apply. (Required.)

Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

Culturally and racially diverse/person of colour

LGBTIQA+

Disability (any)

Refugee and/or recently arrived migrant

Involuntary treatment and/or restrictive practices (things that limit your right to bodily autonomy and freedom of movement)

Homelessness and/or housing insecurity

Being held in closed and secure settings, including correctional centres and the forensic system

None of the above

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5. Do you live in: (Required.)

A rural area

A country town

Sydney metro

Another city outside of Sydney

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6. What is your postcode? (Required.)

Part 2: Election priorities

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7. Please tell us which of the following are your top priorities? Please select two. (Required.)

Prevention and early intervention

Meeting unmet psychosocial needs

Increasing community-based and peer-led support

Workforce recruitment, retention and support

Advancing a Human Rights Act for NSW to promote accountability and enforceability of a rights-based system

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8. Have we missed anything? Let us know if there are other issues that should be addressed in addition to those above.

Part 3: The election campaign
As we draw closer to next state election, we plan on having a range of ways people can be involved in our advocacy to ensure that the mental health of NSW regional areas is not forgotten.

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9. Out of the following campaign election activities, what do you think are the TOP 2 ways to engage your local community during the election campaign? (Required.)

A forum with local candidates

A forum with government leaders including the Minister for Mental Health

Community town halls

Digital campaigns including social media and SMS

Postal campaigns

Door knocking campaigns (speaking to voters at their home about mental health)

Phone banking (arranging outbound calls to voters to talk about mental health)

Surveys

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10. Which of the following activities, if any, would you be personally interested in helping with if BEING provided support? Tick all that apply. (Required.)

Meeting with your local candidates, including your current MP

Speaking to the media

Speaking at an event

Organising events

Writing material relevant to your local community

Arranging phone banking or door knocking campaigns locally

Managing volunteers

Connecting BEING with local consumer networks and leaders

Connecting BEING with local mental health services and providers

Organising a local campaign to make mental health an election issue in your local community

Helping out with a local campaign to make mental health an election issue in your local community

None of the above

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11. Is there anything else you think we should consider to help us with making mental health an election issue?

Part 4: Further engagement.
We often hear that people want to get more involved in mental health advocacy. Here's your chance. The following questions are all optional but if you'd like to get involved, let us know what you think.

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12. If you are a mental health consumer, do you want to join BEING as a member (it’s free) to stay updated? (Required.)

Yes

I am already a member

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13. If you ticked yes, please provide us your best email so we can send you more information.

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14. With the support of the BEING team, would you consider volunteering to help organise some campaign activity at the next election, to ensure the mental health of the regions of NSW is not forgotten? (Required.)

Yes

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15. Occasionally we like to use anonymised quotes from surveys in our advocacy to illustrate a point. (This means we include the quote but without including your name.) Please indicate if you consent to BEING using any of your written answers in this way.

Yes, I give consent for BEING to use my responses in an anonymised way.

No, I do not give consent for BEING to use my responses.

Priorities for the 2027 NSW Election

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* 1. Do you have lived or living experience of mental health challenges? (Required.)

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* 2. What is your age? (Required.)

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* 3. How would you describe your gender identity? (Required.)

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* 4. Do you identify with, or have you experienced, any of the following? Tick that all apply. (Required.)

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* 5. Do you live in: (Required.)

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* 6. What is your postcode? (Required.)

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* 7. Please tell us which of the following are your top priorities? Please select two. (Required.)

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* 8. Have we missed anything? Let us know if there are other issues that should be addressed in addition to those above.

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* 9. Out of the following campaign election activities, what do you think are the TOP 2 ways to engage your local community during the election campaign? (Required.)

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* 10. Which of the following activities, if any, would you be personally interested in helping with if BEING provided support? Tick all that apply. (Required.)

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* 11. Is there anything else you think we should consider to help us with making mental health an election issue?

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* 12. If you are a mental health consumer, do you want to join BEING as a member (it’s free) to stay updated? (Required.)

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* 13. If you ticked yes, please provide us your best email so we can send you more information.

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* 14. With the support of the BEING team, would you consider volunteering to help organise some campaign activity at the next election, to ensure the mental health of the regions of NSW is not forgotten? (Required.)

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* 15. Occasionally we like to use anonymised quotes from surveys in our advocacy to illustrate a point. (This means we include the quote but without including your name.) Please indicate if you consent to BEING using any of your written answers in this way.

1. Do you have lived or living experience of mental health challenges? (Required.)

2. What is your age? (Required.)

3. How would you describe your gender identity? (Required.)

4. Do you identify with, or have you experienced, any of the following? Tick that all apply. (Required.)

5. Do you live in: (Required.)

6. What is your postcode? (Required.)

7. Please tell us which of the following are your top priorities? Please select two. (Required.)

8. Have we missed anything? Let us know if there are other issues that should be addressed in addition to those above.

9. Out of the following campaign election activities, what do you think are the TOP 2 ways to engage your local community during the election campaign? (Required.)

10. Which of the following activities, if any, would you be personally interested in helping with if BEING provided support? Tick all that apply. (Required.)

11. Is there anything else you think we should consider to help us with making mental health an election issue?

12. If you are a mental health consumer, do you want to join BEING as a member (it’s free) to stay updated? (Required.)

13. If you ticked yes, please provide us your best email so we can send you more information.

14. With the support of the BEING team, would you consider volunteering to help organise some campaign activity at the next election, to ensure the mental health of the regions of NSW is not forgotten? (Required.)

15. Occasionally we like to use anonymised quotes from surveys in our advocacy to illustrate a point. (This means we include the quote but without including your name.) Please indicate if you consent to BEING using any of your written answers in this way.