People with lived experience of mental illness and their carers are helping shape the future of the Mental Health Line by sharing their experience with the NSW Government.

The 1800 011 511 NSW Mental Health Line is a free phone service which operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week, offering specialist advice, support and referral to specialist NSW Health mental health services.

Co-designing the Mental Health Line with people with lived experience of mental illness is the best way to ensure the next evolution continues to make a real difference to those who need it.

Recent Have Your Say consultations have helped us to better understand areas such as digital inclusion and digital identity, with these engagements generating new ideas for how we can better deliver services to the people of New South Wales.

The NSW Government has allocated $2.2 billion across four years to invest into digital transformation projects through the Digital Restart Fund. The fund is administered by the Department of Customer Service and targets smart, simple technology solutions which create efficiencies for customers across the State.

To Have Your Say on the future of the Mental Health Line, please visit: www.haveyoursay.nsw.gov.au/nsw-mhl-consultation

Recreational fishers in NSW will band together once again on "Gone Fishing Day" for activities and fishing workshops that aim to connect the one million fishers state-wide and reel in keen, new fishers to the hobby.

I am encouraging local fishing clubs and organisations to host their own Gone Fishing Day event with the help of funding grants of up to $2000.

Gone Fishing Day is on again so mark 9th October in your calendar!

The grants can be used to purchase fishing gear, bait, food and drinks or hire equipment to assist in holding an event for Gone Fishing Day.'

Grant applications are open until Tuesday 6th September 2022. Application forms and grant funding guidelines are available at www.dpi.nsw.gov.au/fishing/recreational/resources/go-fishing-nsw or for more information you can contact my office on 65 840977.

Gone Fishing Day is a national initiative organised by the Australian Recreational Fishing Foundation, with activities in NSW supported by the Recreational Fishing Trust and DPI.