Department of Health

The Your Experience of Service (YES) survey is a national instrument, which provides a way for ensuring that people who have contact with public mental health services have a say about their experiences. The survey was developed with consumers of mental health services. It has been run annually in Victoria since 2016 in all public mental health services and is available for completion at services and online.

The results from the survey provides key information at state and local levels towards the improvement of safety and quality of services in Victoria.

Survey results from several jurisdictions are reported nationally through the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW). The reports and further information can be found at the AIHW webpageExternal Link .

A selection of survey results is published in the Victorian Mental Health Services Annual Report, which can be found here: Victoria's Mental Health Services Report.

Individual area mental health services may also produce reports reflecting YES survey results for their service and undertake improvement projects based on the results.

The most recent survey period ran across April to July 2019. The 2020 YES survey has been postponed due to the impact of COVID 19. It is anticipated that the next YES consumer survey will run again in 2021.

The Carer Experience Survey (CES) is a nationally developed tool that measures the experiences of carers, such as family members, partners or friends, of people who access mental health services. It is about understanding the carer experience and is currently used in NSW and Queensland.

The CES is being introduced to Victoria for the first time in 2020. From November 2020 carers whose family member, partner or friend is supported by a public clinical mental health service may receive a copy of the carer survey in the mail. The survey will be repeated each year to provide a snapshot of Victorian mental health carer experiences.

The Carer Experience Survey was developed by the Australian Mental Health Outcomes and Classification Network (AMHOCN) in 2017. Refer to the AMHOCN webpageExternal Link for more information.

A key principle of the survey is that carers’ experiences should be considered as part of service design, delivery and review of mental health services.

The de-identified survey results will help mental health services and the department understand what is being done well and what could be improved, so that together we can build better services.

Ipsos Australia, an independent research company, administers this survey on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services. There are many safeguards in place to protect respondent's privacy when answering this survey.

Reviewed 13 November 2020

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