It was "Our Turn To Speak" for Tamworth residents living with complex mentally illness yesterday.
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Dozens of residents traveled to mental health organisation Flourish on Wednesday to take part in Australia's largest ever survey of its type.
Research lead for Doctor Christopher Groot, who runs Our Turn To Speak, said they're asking participants their experience of discrimination in housing, employment, healthcare, insurance and finance.
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Once completed it will be a tool for lobbying governments for policy change, and also help to simply understand the different needs of the mentally ill across Australia.
"People will be able to look at a map of Australia essentially and see where the issues lie, what the issues are," said Dr Groot.
"First we need to map the problem and then when we know exactly what the problem is then we can address it systematically."
Doctor Groot said he was particularly interested in understanding the unique problems affecting people with complex mental illness in tight-knit regional communities.
"Everyone knows your business in a small town, right?
"If you're living with something that is stigmatised people will be quite often compelled to stay in the closet to try and keep their experience hidden.
"They might be reluctant to go to the chemist in town because the town is small and the chemist might also be your neighbor.
"Your chemist knows that you're getting anti-psychotic medication before they think of you and you might be scared to get your medication because of that."
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Charli told the researchers ignorance drove most discrimination, even within her family.
"I think it's great that the government's even doing the survey, because I think a lot of it's just people aren't educated," she said.
"If they don't know someone personally or they're uneducated then obviously they don't understand."
She said finding mental health institution Flourish was a huge game-changer for her saying the organisation has helped her build a community of people with the same issues.
Participant Steve McKeon said the Tamworth community has been good to him too.
"I've got a lovely community.
"They've been really good to me
"I did a few silly things (in the past) but I've been forgiven and just moving forward now."
That's the flip side to living in a regional community, he said: everyone knows what you've done wrong, but they're also quick to forgive.
The conversations can be incredibly in depth, lasting as long as two hours, but most take about half an hour.
From previous research one of the biggest problems in regional Australia has proven to be a simple lack of professional mental health services, according to Doctor Groot.
Just 4% of psychiatrists and 12% of psychologists work in regional Australia.
Armidale residents had an opportunity to speak their mind on Tuesday.
