The mental health of young people will be further supported with an extra $47 million to the organisation headspace and a new youth mental health ambassadors project.
About 560,000 Australian children and adolescents are estimated to have a mental illness and one in four young Australians aged 16 to 24 experience mental illness in any given year.
Three quarters of all mental illness manifests in people under the age of 25 so intervention early in life and at an early stage of illness can reduce the duration and impact of mental illness
- The Federal Government is providing $2 million over four years to headspace National to deliver the Young Ambassadors for Mental Health project. Eight young ambassadors with lived experience of mental health issues will engage with the public on mental health issues – including, through a travelling roadshow, a youth summit, regional youth forums and online activities. They’ll promote mental health literacy, improve how people seek help, support young people’s capacity for self-care, and help destigmatise mental health issues.
- Funding of $45 million over three years will also be provided to headspace National, the coordinating agency behind the headspace network of services, to continue to support and build the quality of the network of 108 headspace centres across the country. This investment will allow the organisation to help train mental health professionals and to translate the latest research findings into practical improvements for young people.The funding will also allow headspace National to continue to reduce stigma around mental illness, encourage young people to seek help, and ensure young people who access support through the headspace network get the very best care when and where they need it.
The Government will also be guaranteeing a stable future for headspace centres by expanding the role of headspace National in providing support to Primary Health Networks (PHNs) with commissioning of headspace services throughout Australia.
The announcement demonstrates our Government’s commitment to supporting young Australians living with a mental health condition and builds on recent significant funding we have already provided for headspace.
Only last month we announced $110 million for a number of headspace centres around the country to provide specialist clinical services for young people at the early stages of severe mental illness.
In October last year we committed $51.8 million to headspace centres and eheadspace to ensure more frontline services can be provided to young people in need.
This latest funding boost bring our total investment in headspace to more than $208 million since October last year.
The Liberal National Government is prioritising better mental health for all Australians with a record $4.7 billion expected to be spent on mental health this financial year alone.
Our Government’s strong economic management ensures we continue to invest record amounts of funding into vital health initiatives including mental health, life-saving medicines, Medicare and hospitals.