NATIONAL CONSUMER ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Position Description

PANDA's Vision

PANDA is committed to a community where post and antenatal mood disorders are recognised, and the impact on women and their families is minimised through acknowledgement, support and education.

PANDA's Mission

PANDA works to:

• Support and inform women and their families who are affected by post and antenatal mood disorders.
• Educate health care professionals and the wider community about post and antenatal depression.

Objectives of PANDA's National Consumer Advisory Committee

PANDA's service delivery is based on a peer to peer and mutual support approach which brings together staff and trained volunteers who have experienced or cared for someone who has lived through postnatal and/or antenatal (perinatal) depression. This provides a unique opportunity to develop practice wisdom and a direct understanding of perinatal depression and its impacts, both for the individual and their supporting family and carers. The National Consumer Advisory Committee is a formal structure which will strengthen PANDA's foundation for the development of policies and procedures and is designed to ensure:

• The service is in tune with the needs of the people it assists and that this is reflected in decisions taken about the support and care offered.
• The service is kept up to date with the latest developments in understanding and dealing with the issues surrounding perinatal depression.
• The Committee of Management remains in touch with those delivering the service and those that are developing expertise in the understanding of the issues surrounding perinatal depression.
• The advice to the Committee of Management reflects the principles inherent in the Constitution of the organisation and is effectively heard and acted upon.
• The Committee of Management and staff remained committed to ensuring that advice and insights of the Advisory Committee becomes part and parcel of the practices in the service and its delivery.

Position Objectives:

To participate actively in the National Consumer Advisory Committee meetings, undertake any background work as agreed by the Committee and to:

• Identify and advise the PANDA Committee of Management on priority areas and emerging issues in the field of perinatal depression.
• Assist in bringing the voice of recipients of its service and their carers and families to PANDA's strategic planning and service delivery development.
• Make recommendations to the PANDA Committee of Management regarding relevant policies, strategic directions and service development priorities.
• Assist the Committee of Management in actively gauging the views and communicating with both recipients of the service and their carers as well as the Health Service community as a whole.
• Advise on key performance indicators for service quality, scope and accessibility.
• Undertake any projects and activities as may, from time to time, be agreed with the Committee of Management.

Qualifications and Experience:

People who have experienced perinatal depression directly or indirectly through a family member or friend, and who are committed to addressing the issues relating to perinatal depression, regardless of whether they have received assistance from PANDA in the past.

OR

Community members including service providers, researchers and people with a demonstrated interest and commitment to dealing with all aspects of depression including, but not limited to, perinatal depression.

Reporting Relationships:

Members of PANDA's National Consumer Advisory Committee are responsible to the Chair of the Committee, who is in turn accountable directly to the Committee of Management.

Key Functions:

• Adhere to the Terms of Reference of PANDA’s National Consumer Advisory Committee.
• Participate actively in Committee meetings including via telephone, video conferencing and the web and undertake any background work as agreed by the Committee – providing personal experience and /or professional views/expertise regarding perinatal depression.
• Participate, listen and contribute with mutual respect for the views and contributions of other Committee members.
• Attend at least 75% of the scheduled meetings or, failing that, resign the position. Attendance by phone for whole or part of the scheduled meeting will be open to the agreement of the Chairperson except in the case of interstate members where it will be accepted as due course.
• Maintain confidentiality about the work of the Committee and issues discussed.
• Abide by decisions reached through consensus within the Committee and, where such consensus cannot be reached, to accept accountability for a minority report to the Committee of Management where appropriate.
• Ascribe the intellectual property rights to PANDA of any service delivery development, approaches to the issue or findings of any surveys, communications or interviews on the issue undertaken by the Committee in the course of its activities.

Key Selection Criteria:

• Knowledge and or experience of the issues faced by families and communities experiencing perinatal depression.
• Strong communication skills both verbal and written including Microsoft Office and a proven ability to fully utilise and own access to web based communication systems.
• Demonstrated ability to consult with and appropriately represent the views of others in relation to service development and service provision in the area of perinatal depression.
• Appointment subject to satisfactory police and referee checks.