The impact on family members of mental illness in a young person is intensely distressing. Symptoms that they cannot understand, and the stigma surrounding mental illness may lead to families feeling isolated in their distress. Family carers are reassured by talking with other families who have experienced the same or similar situations. The “Families Helping Families” program at ORYGEN Youth Health trains family peer‐support workers, who are employed to provide information and support to families new to the service. Medical practitioners need to appreciate the importance of ensuring that families receive information and emotional support to help them cope effectively. Difficulties in helping family carers, often around perceived confidentiality restraints, need to be overcome so that collateral damage — family breakdown, persistence of symptoms, and behavioural maladjustments — can be reduced. Families who are supported can become advocates for improvements to mental health services for young people.

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This paper describes the evolution of a family peer support programme in an early intervention service in Melbourne, Australia. In response to policy directions from Federal and State governments calling for carer participation in public mental health services, and feedback from the families of young people at Orygen Youth Health, the 'Families Helping Families' project was developed. The positive acceptance by families of this innovative programme also warrants further exploration. The programme has overcome many organizational hurdles associated with specifically trained and employed family carers working alongside professional mental health clinicians. This article describes the change processes involved in implementing this programme and documents preliminary expressions of the benefits of family peer support. The contribution of lived experience in treatment and consumer care plans needs rigorous research and evaluation.