Neami recently shared five years of learning from the Urgent Mental Health Care Centre (UMHCC), with an international audience at Hauora Hinengaro Hui Taumata – Mental Health Conference 2026 in Aotearoa New Zealand.
Kim Holmes, Executive Director Operations – Integrated Wellbeing Network, presented ‘Beyond the emergency department: Five years of reimagining mental health crisis response’ as part of a symposium exploring alternatives to emergency department-based crisis care.
Drawing on five years of experience delivering the UMHCC in Adelaide, the presentation explored the service’s philosophy of care, integrated clinical and Lived Experience workforce model, and the lessons that have emerged through supporting people experiencing mental distress and suicidal crisis.
The hui also offered opportunities to listen and learn. Kim reflected on how deeply culture was embedded throughout the event, with te reo Māori and cultural perspectives a strong and natural presence. She also came away hopeful about the future leadership of the sector, as young people shared their own lived experience of mental health services and challenged the room to think differently about problems they had encountered.
The UMHCC offers free, immediate support in Adelaide for people aged 16 and over experiencing mental health distress or crisis, including suicidal thoughts. It’s open 24/7 and offers a community-based alternative to a hospital emergency department for mental health crisis care. People can visit at any time without an appointment or referral. The service is delivered by Neami National in partnership with Recovery Innovations International and is funded by the Australian Government and SA Health.
Since opening in 2021, the UMHCC has received more than 31,000 referrals, with 95% of people referred entering the service. This reflects an approach that welcomes and invites people in to receive support, rather than screening people out.
A central message of Kim’s presentation was that crisis is a human experience. It isn’t always a clinical event, and responses do not always need to centre on emergency departments and hospitals.
Understanding crisis primarily through the lens of risk can lead systems to default to emergency departments, hospitals, police and ambulance. Beginning with crisis as a human experience of distress offers a different starting point: relationship, connection, compassion and safety.
This shapes the environment in which support is provided, the workforce brought together to deliver it, and the role of Lived Experience. At the UMHCC, the question shifts from, ‘What is wrong with you?’ to ‘What has happened, and what do you need right now?’.
These ideas connect with a growing international conversation about the future of crisis care and approaches that prioritise connection, dignity, Lived Experience leadership and community-based support.
As alternatives to traditional crisis care continue to emerge across Australia and internationally, sharing practical insights from real-world service delivery can help inform future innovation and strengthen support for people experiencing distress and crisis.
