Despite a federal government funding boost into supporting youth mental health, Collie’s youth are missing out on access to important services.
The Turnbull Government recently committed $110 million to youth mental health services, including $30 million for headspace’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation.
However, young people in Collie are missing out with “very, very limited” access to youth mental health services, according to Collie Family Centre program manager Sharon Thompson.
“It’s such a crisis age but it seems to get overlooked,” Ms Thompson said.
Shire of Collie president Sarah Stanley said the accessibility of youth mental health services was a long-running concern of the council’s Education Advisory Committee.
“A comprehensive audit of mental health services undertaken in Collie has confirmed these suspicions and highlighted desperate need for improvement,” she said.
“Of the 23 mental health services providers identified in the report, only two are based in Collie and a lack of public transport options makes accessing services very difficult for young people.
“This is despite high numbers of young people with fair or poor self-assessed health, high or very high psychological distress, and with at least one of four identified health risk factors when compared to the State averages.
“The report also highlights that many existing support services, including school psychologists and chaplains in schools, are at or over capacity.”
Federal member for O’Connor Rick Wilson said Collie youths would benefit from the funding, despite most youth-specific services, such as headspace, being located in Bunbury.
“While there is no physical headspace office in Collie, the government has developed the eheadspace service, which provides mental health support to young Australians regardless of their location.
“Both the Mental Health in Education initiative and the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health support early childhood educators and teachers in O’Connor to identify, support and refer children at risk.
If you’re suffering depression, or know someone who is, help is available by calling Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800, Lifeline on 131 114, or beyondblue on 1300 22 46 36.
