Our mental health system will never value wellbeing (and what we can do to change it)

Joep van Agteren was invited to speak at the Queensland Mental Health Commission’s 2026 Leading Reform Summit this week and he didn’t hold back.

His argument: the foundational concept underpinning stepped care models isn’t just limiting wellbeing: it’s empirically flawed…and fixing the existing system might be the wrong question entirely.

This 16-minute recording makes the case for a parallel system with wellbeing at its core. One that has its own measurement methods, interventions, competency frameworks, and regulations and, importantly, building blocks that already exist.

Watch and let us know what you think.