The Richmond Fellowship of NSW is one of six affiliated Richmond Fellowship organisations formed in Australia. It is now one of the biggest providers of mental health care in the country, working with hundreds of people who are living with the effects of serious mental health problems, often exacerbated by issues such as sexual abuse, or drugs and alcohol.

Its origins go back to 1973 when Federal funding became available for the newly-founded organisation to establish two halfway houses in the Central Sydney area based on the concept of self-help for around a dozen young people.

In 1983 the report of the state government’s enquiry into the care of those with mental illness headed by David Richmond concluded that psychiatric services should be separated from those for the developmentally disabled, and that alternative services for people with mental illness should be set up in the community.

Community care begins

Following training as a psychiatric nurse, Fred Kong served during the 1970s as a Welfare Officer at Gladesville Hospital, responsible for the follow-up care of patients who had been discharged from the facility.He knew that existing facilities to care for people living with mental illness in the community were hopelessly inadequate.

Disenchanted by the inappropriate accommodation options offered to people living with mental illness in the community at the time, Fred was instrumental in developing some innovative supported accommodation programs for his clients from the Hospital Auxiliary.

In 1983 he obtained substantial funding and was able to establish a group home for 48 former patients at Gladesville and Rozelle Hospitals. These innovative facilities aimed to provide the 48 residents with support to overcome their mental illness and the ability to live with independence and dignity

RFNSW starts to grow

In 1988 Fred Kong became CEO of the Richmond Fellowship, which then took over the activities of the former Group Home Program he had headed since 1983.

Assisted by a group of interested individuals in 1988, he successfully transferred all the accommodation programs set up under the Richmond Implementation Program to the Richmond Fellowship of New South Wales.

From these beginnings the Richmond Fellowship of NSW has grown from a small therapeutic community to a respected NGO that employs over 150 people and provides services to people with high support needs across the state.

The organisation is now recognised as a leader in developing services for people with high support needs. The Richmond Fellowship’s activities now extend into most rural areas of NSW, including the provision of mental health support to a number of Aboriginal communities.

Fred Kong retired as CEO of the Richmond Fellowship of NSW in September, 2009.