Mental Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith: “We heard very clearly how important these programs were.” Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Five community-based programs helping young people with mental health problems will receive a total of $9.4 million over four years in the upcoming ACT Budget.
The government says the funding will strengthen the programs and ensure young people continue to receive the mental health support they need.
The five programs are:
- MindMap – a digital mental health navigation tool connecting young people and families to real-time support from clinical staff and peer workers.
- Youth Aware of Mental Health (YAM) – an early intervention and suicide prevention program delivered in ACT high schools by Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT).
- WOKE – a free Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (DBT) group program for young people experiencing emotional distress.
- Stepping Stones – a trauma-informed service supporting children exposed to family violence and trauma, and their caregivers.
- ACT Child and Youth Mental Health Alliance (Youth Alliance) – a collaboration of community services focused on improving mental health outcomes for children and young people.
The government says the programs provide mental health care that is accessible, timely and effective, and reduce pressure on the hospital system.
Mental Health Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said the government knew that demand for these services was increasing and that many young people struggled to navigate the health system and find what they needed.
“We heard very clearly from right across the sector and from children, young people and their families how important these programs were,” she said.
“In the lead up to the 2024 election, ACT Labor committed to ongoing funding for these programs.”
Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT) CEO Prue Slaughter said the funding was an acknowledgement and recognition of the organisation’s ongoing work in the youth and child mental health space.
Ms Slaughter said it would provide certainty, allow MIEACT to plan and meet the increasing demand from schools for the YAM program.
“We have witnessed a profound difference in the young people that this program leads, but particularly the most vulnerable because they’re given a safe space to explore difficult issues and connect them with their own experiences,” she said.
Through this, they were given practical tools and strategies to solve problems and build resilience.
“They’re empowered to seek help early, and that’s such a critical step for fostering mental wellbeing,” Ms Slaughter said.
Marymead CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn CEO Anne Kirwan said Stepping Stones was an essential part of the ACT’s mental health ecosystem.
“We are also the only service in the ACT that works with children who’ve experienced trauma, outside of the child protection system,” she said.
“We have supported over 400 children, and we have over 80 children at any time on the program.”
Ms Kirwan said 80 per cent of the young people there had been exposed to domestic family violence, and more than a quarter of the families are from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
“So we’re really working in that space to meet a need, and we are so excited that the ACT Government has continued to invest in this program,” she said.
“The need is extreme.”
Mental Health Community Coalition CEO Lisa Kelly said this investment is a significant step towards stabilising the foundations of an effective, responsive and accessible mental health service system for children, young people and families in the ACT.
Ms Kelly said the services were innovative, evidence-based and an essential component of an effective response to rising mental health concerns in the community.
“Services delivered by community organisations are key in ensuring access to the right service at the right time in the right location,” Ms Kelly said.
“To be effective, these services need stability in funding, and today’s announcement provides that.”
