The Department for Education is implementing a new mental health service for students. This service will consist of mental health practitioners based in schools and providing an early intervention mental health service.
Mental health practitioners may provide a range of services, including:
- assessment of student concerns and delivering strategies and supports to manage immediate distress (e.g., brief interventions)
- coordination of referrals to external mental health services for students requiring ongoing therapeutic intervention
- providing advice and checking in with students with more serious mental health concerns who are returning to school
- supporting students who are returning to school after mental health treatments
- developing the mental health literacy of the school communities.
The service will complement existing services (such as Student Wellbeing Leaders, Student Support Services, SWISS). Student Wellbeing Leaders will continue to play an integral role in supporting student mental health and wellbeing, along with referring students to the new service.
The service will not provide clinical diagnosis or treatment – this will remain with CAMHS and other mental health providers.
Secondary schools will be key focus with some outreach to primary schools, as required.
The mental health service will be piloted in term 3 2022 in 2 regional cluster locations and 3 metropolitan cluster locations:
- Le Fevre – Ocean View College and Le Fevre High School
- River Hub – Seaford Secondary College and local primary schools
- Hollywood Lakes and Gardens and Montague – Para Hills High School and Parafield Gardens High School
- Lower Mid-North and Mid-North Clare – Balaklava High School and Clare High School
- Pirie and Upper Mid-North – John Pirie Secondary College and local primary schools.
Following the pilot, the service will be further refined, ready to scale up to more areas throughout 2023. This will include planning on how to ensure access for students in rural and remote areas.
There will be opportunities for Student Wellbeing Leaders to contribute to the service model as it is developed.
Further information about the new service can be found here. The answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about the service are attached.