Celebrating achievements, farewell to Rahnee and welcome to Lauren!

Rahnee Farewell

It is with a mix of sadness and deep gratitude that we say farewell to Rahnee as she commences on a new journey with the newly formed national family and friend peak body, Mental Health Carers Australia.

Rahnee has been an integral part of the MHFFTas team, bringing her unwavering passion for lived experience and systemic advocacy in mental health and alcohol and other drug (AOD) reform. Through her work, she has strengthened the voices of families and friends, ensuring their experiences shape policy, programs, and services. Her dedication, insight, and drive have been instrumental in advancing our advocacy efforts and strengthening the recognition of families and friends in the mental health and AOD sectors.

During her time with us, Rahnee has led significant reform initiatives, completed many submissions and position papers, facilitated many consultation opportunities and expanded our family and friend representation program statewide to increase the impact and voice of Tasmanian Families and Friends.
Rahnee is well known in the sector as always engaging meaningfully with policymakers and stakeholders and her advocacy has had significant impact on positive systemic change over the past 4 years. Rahnee’s contribution to the organisational culture and her sense of humour have always been deeply valued and appreciated by her peers. Her ability to connect with people, foster collaboration, and drive change has had a long-lasting impact on our organisation and the broader Tasmanian Mental Health and Alcohol and other Drug sector.

Some notable achievements of Rahnee during this time include-

  • The family and friend position paper suite
  • The Enhancement of the family and friend representative program
  • The redesign of the Call2Connect Service Model
  • The development of operational procedures for the family and friend representative program
  • The high level of support and professionalism across all organisational roles ranging from administration, project support to policy and reform over Rahnee’s 4-year tenure.
While we will miss Rahnee working in our team, we are excited to see her take this next step in her career. We have no doubt she will continue to be a powerful advocate at the national level, championing the rights and recognition of families and friends, and she won’t be too far away- working in our office on occasions, so we wont lose Rahnee completely!
Message From Rahnee
It is with a heavy heart that I have to say goodbye as I have resigned from my position at Mental Health Families and Friends Tasmania, to start full time in my role with Mental Health Carers Australia. My last day here will be the 28th of February.
My time here at MHFFTas has been nothing short of amazing. I have met some incredible people, from the dedicated and passionate people working within the sectors, courageous and steadfast Family and Friend Representatives, and the families and friends who never failed to amaze me with their strength, compassion, and unwavering desire to support their loved one through their recovery journey.

I would like to give a very special mention to our Family and Friend Representatives. Thank you for letting me get to know you, giving me your trust, and sharing your stories with me. I will forever be grateful for all that you have taught me, not just how to advocate, what to advocate for, but also how to be a good and courageous person.

It would be amiss if I didn’t share my sincerest gratitude to the team at MHFFTas, past and present. I have worked with some incredible people at MHFFTas and go way with what feels like a lifetime of learnings. To Lou who gave me the encouragement, strength, and belief to take this step, and has taught me an incredible amount that I will take with me throughout my whole career. And to Vicki, who for 4 years supported me with more things than I care to admit, you really are the backbone to this organisation. Our current team here with Lou and Vicki at MHFFTas will continue to advocate ferociously and steadfastly, with courage, integrity and compassion for families and friends in Tasmania.

To our community, Tasmanian families and friends, thank you for the opportunity to get to know you and your stories, to support you in your times of crisis, and to support you in your journey. I will greatly miss advocating for our community, working with our Family and Friend Representatives, and working alongside those within the mental health, AOD, and suicide prevention sector. However, I will still be around as MHFFTas are allowing me to work from their office. It is a great opportunity for Tasmania to have a direct link into the national conversation, and I assure you that the Tasmanian voice will always be heard.

From the bottom of my heart,
Thank you.

Rahnee Butterworth

Meet our new team member!

We are excited to announce that Lauren James is joining MHFFTas as the new Reform Project Officer.  Lauren has extensive experience working with the community mental health sector, across a variety of positions from senior management to support worker.  ??Most recently Lauren has been working as a psycho-social disability support worker and holds a counselling certificate with a specialisation in AOD and has a strong awareness of suicide prevention and mental health generally.

Lauren will take over the reins from Rahnee, managing the support programs and the Family and Friend Representation Program. To read more about Lauren go to Our Team page

Congratulations on the completion of your traineeship Emma!

On behalf of the MHFFTas team, I would like to extend a heartfelt thank you to Emma, who has been in our administration role for the past 12 months. Emma has done an incredible job managing our busy administrative operations while successfully completing her traineeship through Work and Training, earning a Certificate III in Business—a fantastic achievement!

Throughout her time in the admin role, Emma has played a key role in streamlining our operations, improving processes, and enhancing the efficiency of our day-to-day work. Her keen eye for detail and proactive approach have strengthened our administrative systems, making things run more smoothly across the organisation. From refining internal procedures to ensuring our team had the support they needed, Emma’s contributions have been invaluable to the work we do each day.

Beyond administration, Emma has also made a significant impact on our communications and promotions. She has helped elevate our online presence, sharpen our messaging, and expand our reach to families, friends, and supporters. Her work has brought fresh energy to our social media and communications strategies, ensuring that our advocacy efforts are seen, heard, and engaged with more effectively than ever.

While we’ll miss her in the admin space, we are very happy to advise that she will be staying on for a day a week, continuing to strengthen our advocacy work through communications and promotions.

Thank you for your hard work Emma—we are so glad you’re staying on in this new role and will continue to be part of our small but mighty team!

Image Below: Left – Rahnee Butterworth; Middle – Lauren James; Right – Emma Jarvis

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