Background

The Perinatal Mental Health Jurisdictional Data (PMHJD) Working Party provides policy, technical and/or clinical expert advice to support the development and national reporting of perinatal mental health data to the AIHW as part of Bilateral Schedules on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention. This work program commenced July 2022 and concludes July 2026, and will support the development of a national collection of perinatal mental health screening data, to be administered by the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare (AIHW).

Terms of reference

The PMHJD Working Party:

  • provides advice on data quality issues, solutions and barriers to collecting and reporting perinatal mental health and related data items as part of the of the Perinatal National Best Endeavours Data Set (NBEDS)
  • provides advice about jurisdictional progress to develop and implement universal perinatal mental health screening, including digital screening, collection, and reporting infrastructure within public health settings
  • considers AIHW’s secure data sharing options including the feasibility of establishment-level (hospital) reporting, online reports, and data visualisations to meet information needs
  • recommends revisions to the Perinatal NBEDS specifications, if required, and reviews AIHW’s business case through the National Perinatal Data Development Committee (NPDDC) for endorsement by the National Health Information Data and Information Standards Committee (NHIDISC), to progress mental health and related data items to mandatory collection, once the required data quality is assessed to be nationally consistent.

Membership

The PMHJD Working Party consists of representatives from each jurisdiction engaged in Bilateral Schedules. Each member is appointed based on their knowledge and expertise in the field of perinatal mental health - jurisdictional maternity services, policy, health information system development and/or data collection practices. Other experts may be invited to join the PMHJD Working Party or co-opted, as required.

The PMHJD Working Party is chaired by the AIHW.

PMHJD representatives

Role / Organisation

Name of representative

Jurisdictional representative, NSW Ministry of Health

Nguyet de Mello

Jurisdictional representative, Safer Care Victoria

Karen Gates

Jurisdictional representative, Safer Care Victoria

Hope Deng

Jurisdictional representative, Safer Care Victoria

Elisa McDonald

Jurisdictional representative, Queensland Health

Elisabeth Hoehn

Jurisdictional representative, Queensland Health

Esther Taylor

Jurisdictional representative, Department of Health WA

Maureen Hutchinson

Jurisdictional representative, WA Mental Health Commission

Jo Harman

Jurisdictional representative, Department for Health and Wellbeing (SA)

Skye Lang

Jurisdictional representative, Preventive Health SA

Stephanie Flak

Jurisdictional representative, Department of Health (Tasmania)

Tania Blackwell

Jurisdictional representative, Department of Health (Tasmania)

Elizabeth McDonald

Jurisdictional representative, Department of Health (Tasmania)

Jeramie Spong

Jurisdictional representative, Department of Health (Tasmania)
Peggy Tsang

Jurisdictional representative, ACT Health and Community Services Directorate

Rosalind Sexton

Jurisdictional representative, ACT Health and Community Services Directorate

Anna Russell

Jurisdictional representative, ACT Health and Community Services Directorate

Paul Mayers

Jurisdictional representative, NT Health

Timothy Packham

Secretariat

Secretariat support is provided by the AIHW Maternal and Perinatal Health Unit.

Contact details for the Secretariat

Secretariat, PMHJD Working Party
Email: [email protected]