BeyondBlue National Education Initiative
Mental health is not just an issue for teenagers and adults it is an issue for many children as early as preschool. According to a national survey, one in seven children between four and seventeen has had a mental health issue in the last year, but only one in six is currently receiving help. Disturbingly, 10% of fourteen to fifteen year olds have disclosed self-harming behaviour and 5% have attempted suicide.
From late 2018, beyondblue will lead a new National Education Initiative with support from headspace and Early Childhood Australia, with funding from the Australian Government Department of Health to transform Australia’s approach to child and youth mental health care by providing a single end-to-end school and service-based mental health framework. Covering the continuum from early childhood to secondary school, it will support mental health promotion and suicide prevention activity.
The initiative will integrate and build on the strengths and evidence-based principles of key existing Commonwealth Government mental health initiatives being delivered in education settings. There will be seventy front-line staff available to schools and a suite of online professional learning modules for teachers and support staff to access.
Find out more here
