Emerge Australia Online Community

The Emerge Australia Online Community aims to provide a safe and supportive space for people affected by ME/CFS, their carers and families.

Would you like to discuss your experiences with people who have similar experiences?
Would you like to find, receive and provide support to others?

We offer a program of online community groups for patients, carers and others plus an online ME/CFS community forum.

Forum

Our forum can be viewed by anyone, but to be able to interact with others and post in the forum you need to register. Registration is free but all accounts require approval by an administrator so there will be a short delay (can be up to 24hrs) before you are able to post and interact in the forum. Your contact details are kept confidential.

When you join, choose a username that is appropriate and non-offensive
The forum is an open forum which means that posts are visible to the public - alongside the username of the author
No advertising or self promotion is allowed except where written permission has been sought and granted by Emerge Australia (contact [email protected] for permission/questions)
The aim of the community is to provide support not medical advice

We encourage forum members to seek advice and support from others, and to share their own advice and experiences. Australian law forbids the provision of medical advice outside of licensed professionals. This means that while you can share your own experiences of treatments, medications, changes to medications and therapeutic exercise, you must not tell someone else to start, stop, modify, add, resume, change, adjust, commence or cease any of the above in any fashion.

We appreciate that finding the right balance between sharing experiences and giving advice is challenging – community moderators will assist in finding this balance. It is also important to recognise that what might have worked for you in managing your own symptoms may not work for others. There are no proven treatments or cures of ME/CFS.

Register for the Emerge Australia ME/CFS Forum

Online Community Groups

Our online community groups provide a facilitated online meeting space for people who live with ME/CFS, care for someone with ME/CFS or who have an interest in working with others on issues that impact people living with ME/CFS. Through this program we are able to offer facilitated peer support for patients and carers, a place for community building (a meet up space for people with similar interests) and online classes suitable for people with limitations caused by living with ME/CFS.

The project is currently in a pilot phase - we welcome your thoughts and feedback as we develop it further.

Our online community groups have three core themes:

Patient-support
Carer-support
Community-building

You can find more detail on each theme, groups that are scheduled to begin and upcoming meeting dates by clicking the button below.

Explore Online Community Groups

Latest

Wests Tigers Jersey Competition

Win a signed 2022 Wests Tigers Jersey thanks to our friends at Wests Tigers! To go into the draw to win this great prize, donate today to our Christmas Telehealth Appeal, to help us support those with ME/CFS and Long COVID. A donation of as little as $25 helps someone in need.
Research Digest 22/12/22

Welcome to the 91st edition of the Research Digest. In our final edition for the year, a study evaluating aspects of the current IOM criteria is presented, as well as national and international research findings concerning Long Covid. The final edition also puts a spotlight on the disbelief that people living with invisible disabilities like ME/CFS and Long Covid endure, and highlights Anne Wilson’s call for the government to better recognise those living with invisible disabilities.
Long COVID Registry

In 2023, the Australian ME/CFS Biobank and Registry will expand to collect vital data and biosamples from patients who are experiencing symptoms of long-COVID.
ABC Article: Support for people with invisible illnesses

Calls for greater government support for patients living with invisible illnesses like ME/CFS and Long COVID

ABC Article: Support for people with invisible illnesses

Calls for greater government support for patients living with invisible illnesses like ME/CFS and Long COVID
Change to eligibility for oral COVID-19 treatments

The Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee recommended changes to the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) eligibility criteria of oral treatments for COVID-19.
ABC article: Long COVID funding non-existent

Health authorities around the world are spending billions on tackling Long COVID, with innovative research projects for new treatments and comprehensive patient support. In Australia, things are a little different. The ABC's Sophie Scott and Stephanie Dalzell recently spoke with Emerge Australia's CEO, Anne Wilson, as part of their story on the Federal Governments underfunding of Long COVID in Australia.
ABC Interview: Disappointment after no mention of long COVID in budget

Anne Wilson, Emerge Australia's CEO, has expressed disappointment as the budget provided no funding for sufferers of Long COVID or other post-viral conditions.
ME/CFS Awareness Week 2022

This year, Emerge Australia's ME/CFS Awareness Week featured a range of webinars which were recorded and have been made available for viewing. The theme for the week was "Learn from ME, because people living with ME/CFS matter."
Merri Health Physiotherapists and Exercise Physiologists learn about ME/CFS

As part of Emerge Australia’s ongoing specialised education sessions for Allied Health professionals our Nurse Educator, Kate Herbert, presented an education session on Monday March 4th, about the basics of ME/CFS.
Could Long COVID be the best thing that ever happened to ME/CFS?

It's called Long COVID, often Long-haul COVID and sometimes Post Acute Sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC). Last week the World Health Organisation announced a definition for what it calls "post COVID-19 condition", affecting people at least two months after a COVID-19 infection with symptoms that “cannot be explained by an alternative diagnosis”.
Remind your GP

Module 2 of our GP Education program focuses on ensuring a patient-centered approach to care for people living with ME/CFS. Has your GP completed it yet?
Australian Research Centre to Open Early in 2021

The new Australian ME/CFS Centre for Collaborative Research is expected to officially open early in 2021
Coronavirus and ME - Simplified facts

Many people with ME/CFS and other vulnerable communities in Australia are concerned about the impacts of the spreading coronavirus disease COVID-19. This is an easy-read resource with the latest information and advice.