Objectives
Program detail
Resources
For more information
Overview
headspace is Australia's National Youth Mental Health Foundation. The headspace mission is to deliver improvements in the mental health, social wellbeing and economic participation of young Australians aged 12-25. To this end, headspace aims to be the focal point for youth mental health issues across the country. This includes providing funding to improve services for young people who may be experiencing mental health and/or drug and alcohol issues and the latest information about these important health issues for young people.Objectives
A major aim of headspace is to better coordinate and integrate the activities of mental health services, general practitioners, drug and alcohol services and vocational support to try to prevent young people falling through the gaps.Program detail
headspace has identified four key activities to improve youth mental health services, providing professional training, supporting research and raising community awareness about youth mental health. Each of these four activities will rely heavily on the establishment of 30 headspace centres across rural, regional and metropolitan Australia, through which programs, education and training will be accessed. Queensland received funding to set up four headspace centres – see table below.- The Youth Services Development Fund will provide funding of about $37 Million to approximate 30 headspace centres across Australia. It will enable organisations that already provide youth mental health services to rebuild their existing service coordination, leading to better-integrated, more accessible and higher-quality services for people aged 12-25 and their families. These services will specialise in detection and early intervention, and in evidence-based approaches to working with the young. They will allow continuous evaluation and service improvement.
- Develop and provide training support programs to a range of service providers and other health professionals working with young people. Education and training programs and resources will be based on evidence-based practice, and will be designed to deepen service providers’ capacity to work with young people with mental-health and related substance-use disorders.
- Improve community awareness of mental health issues, drawing on the support of leading mental-health experts and many well-known Australians. These activities will be designed to encourage young people, their families and friends to seek early help when someone is experiencing difficulty.
- Establish a Centre of Excellence in Melbourne to collect, analyse and disseminate the latest research to health professionals about the best kinds of treatment. The centre will work with services funded through the Youth Services Development Program to improve outcomes for young people. It will also support and generate new research in youth mental health.
- Youth friendly, community based health services for young people 12 – 25 and their families;
- Places where young people can receive help with a range of issues; health, education, work, mental health and drug and alcohol;
- Staffed by General Practitioners, Allied Health, Mental health, Youth workers and Drug and Alcohol workers who have specific expertise in working with young people;
- Offer confidential low cost or free service dependant on situation;
- A locally run service that has been set up by organisations that understand your community; and
- A place where young people and families are encouraged to become involved.
| Name | Lead Agency | Amount |
| Round 1 Funding | ||
| headspace Top End, NT | Anglicare NT & Consortia | $1,500,000 |
| headspace Illawarra, NSW | Illawarra Division of General Practice & Consortia | $1,500,000 |
| headspace Southern Melbourne, VIC | South City Division of General Practice & Consortia | $1,500,000 |
| Adelaide Northern headspace, SA | Adelaide Northern Division of General Practice & Consortia | $1,098,802 |
| headspace Macarthur, Campbelltown & Southern Highlands, NSW | Brain & Mind Research Institute & Consortia | $1,430,000 |
| Barwon headspace, VIC | General Practice Association Geelong & Consortia | $1,500,000 |
| headspace Mid-North Coast , NSW | Nambucca Valley Youth Services Centre & Consortia | $1,500,000 |
| Great Southern headspace, WA | Great Southern Division of General Practice & Consortia | $1,371,524 |
| headspace Central Coast, NSW | Central Coast Division of General Practice & Consortia | $1,500,000 |
| Western Melbourne headspace, VIC | ORYGEN Research Centre & Consortia | $1,500,000 |
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Round 2 Funding
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| Mt Druitt headspace, NSW | Blacktown Youth Services Association | $945,000 |
| headspace Central Sydney, NSW | Central Sydney GP Network | $920,000 |
| NSW Central West headspace, NSW | NSW Central West Division of General Practice | $945,000 |
| Hunter headspace, NSW | Samaritans Foundation | $945,000 |
| Riverina headspace, NSW | Riverina Division of General Practice & Primary Health | $945,000 |
| headspace Central West Gippsland, VIC | Central West Gippsland Division of General Practice | $945,000 |
| South West Victoria headspace, VIC | Brophy Family and Youth Services | $945,000 |
| Peninsula headspace, VIC | Peninsula General Practice Network | $913,700 |
| Northern Melbourne headspace, VIC | Northern Division of General Practice | $945,000 |
| Riverland headspace, SA | Riverland Division of General Practice | $945,000 |
| Murraylands headspace, SA | Rural City of Murray Bridge | $945,000 |
| headspace Gold Coast, QLD | Gold Coast Drug Council | $945,000 |
| headspace Southern Downs, QLD | R Health | $938,167 |
| Townsville headspace, QLD | Townsville General Practice Network | $945,000 |
| headspace Fraser Coast, QLD | GP Links Wide Bay | $856,000 |
| headspace Northern Tasmania, TAS | Division of General Practice Northern Tasmania | $945,000 |
| Fremantle headspace, WA | Fremantle General Practice Network | $945,000 |
| headspace Kimberley, WA | Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council | $975,000 |
| headspace Central Australia, NT | Central Australian Aboriginal Congress | $945,000 |
| headspace, ACT | University of Canberra | $945,000 |
| Total funding - $33,218,193 |