The Mental Health in Primary Schools program is expanding to every government and low-fee non-government primary school in Victoria.
By 2026, 1800 school campuses will employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader to implement a whole-school approach to wellbeing.
The $200 million investment will support individual students, help teachers better identify and support at-risk students, and build relationships and referral pathways to local mental health services.
“We’re making sure every Victorian child has access to safe, tailored care through their trusted school environment – giving them the care they need, when they need it, close to home,” then-Mental Health and Education Minister James Merlino said.
The program builds on a successful pilot with 100 schools across Victoria in partnership with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and the University of Melbourne.
More than 95 per cent of Mental Health and Wellbeing Leaders said the model improved their school’s capacity to support students’ mental health and wellbeing needs.
The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System found schools played an important role in identifying children with mental health and wellbeing challenges, who could then be referred to treatment, care and support.
Every government secondary and specialist school already has a mental health worker, but the Royal Commission encouraged the State Government to expand the primary school pilot.
Mr Merlino said half of all cases of anxiety, mood, impulse control and substance use disorders manifested by age 14.
Research suggests students with mental health concerns are behind their peers in Grade 3, falling further behind throughout school.
“We know the earlier in life young Victorians get mental health support, the better their chances of staying happy and healthy throughout adulthood,” he said.
