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Boost in federal funding for youth mental health


Amanda Lyons


9/01/2018 12:11:29 PM

The Federal Government will provide $100 million in funding to help Australian schools and communities assist young people experiencing challenges with mental health.

Minister Hunt believes the financial boost will help to ‘provide a stable funding base’ for youth mental health initiatives. Image: AAP
Minister Hunt believes the financial boost will help to ‘provide a stable funding base’ for youth mental health initiatives. Image: AAP

Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt said the funding is aimed at providing preventive assistance in youth mental health within the community, as well as increase options for young people seeking treatment and emergency help for mental health issues.
 
‘We know that around four million Australians experience a mental health condition every year,’ Minister Hunt said on his Facebook page. ‘People of all ages can be affected, either directly themselves or because someone close to them might be suffering and even young children can be deeply affected.’
 
A range of organisations dedicated to mental health research and assistance will benefit from the funding injection, including Orygen, Kids Helpline and ReachOut.
 
Independent non-profit organisation beyondblue will receive more than $45 million for the National Education Initiative, a schools-based initiative designed to provide training for parents and educators in recognising the signs of mental health problems in young people and offering assistance. The program will cover education providers from early learning centres to the final year of secondary school and is to be launched in August.
 
National mental health organisation headspace, which provides early intervention services for people aged 12–25, will receive $30 million to set up further headspace centres across the country.

In addition, the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health, a collaboration between Emerging Minds and the Australian Institute of Family Studies (AIFS), the RACGP, the Australian National University (ANU), and the Parenting Research Centre (PRC), will receive $16 million. This funding will extend the National Workforce Centre’s program, which supports professionals and organisations that work to assist children at risk of developing mental health conditions, for a further two years until June 2021.
 
‘The extension of funding announced for these key child and youth mental health initiatives will provide a stable funding base for the great work done by these organisations,’ Minister Hunt said.



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