The National Mental Health Commission has launched the world’s first National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy.
The Strategy provides a framework to maintain and support the mental health and wellbeing of children aged up to 12 and their families.
Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt said the Strategy was part of the Government’s long-term national health plan.
“Caring for the mental health and wellbeing of our younger children, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, is critical,” Mr Hunt said.
“We know that proper support can improve long-term outcomes and help children achieve their full potential in life,” he said.
“To ensure that every child has the opportunity to grow up in a healthy and supportive environment that helps them, and their families and communities to thrive, we need a mental health and wellbeing system that is well-designed, comprehensive and nationally consistent.”
Mr Hunt said the Strategy would be crucial to the current reform of the mental health and suicide prevention system.
He said it provided a roadmap through coordinated investment and program development to ensure that children up to 12 years could have all the opportunities for growth and development possible.
Mr Hunt said the Strategy contained four focus areas: Family and Community; Service System; Education Settings; and Evidence and Evaluation.
Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention, David Coleman, said the aim of this universal approach would bring benefits to Australia for generations to come.
“Half of all adult mental health challenges emerge before the age of 14, yet few children below the age of 12 receive professional support,” Mr Coleman said.
“This is the first time a national Government has developed a strategy that considers the mental health and wellbeing of our children, as well as their families and communities who nurture them.”
Chief Executive Officer of the National Mental Health Commission, Christine Morgan said the Strategy was one of the most important pieces of work the Commission had done.
“This Strategy proposes a fundamental, cultural shift in the way we think about the mental health and wellbeing of our children, including a change in language and the adoption of a continuum-based model of mental health and wellbeing,” Ms Morgan said.
The 119-page Strategy can be accessed at this PS News link.
