Victorian schools will soon be able to pick the mental health tools that best match the needs of their students as the Department of Education and Training’s (DET) Schools Mental Health Fund rolls out a suite of options to give the students tailored support.
Announcing the initiative, Minister for Education, James Merlino unveiled an interim “menu” of options which he said would be available under the Fund.
Mr Merlino said that under the options schools would be able to select evidence-based programs and initiatives from an online menu across three tiers of intervention.
He said Tier One focused on positive mental health promotion and included initiatives like Active Schools; mental health first aid; anti-bullying programs; therapy dogs; and mental health literacy training to ensure mental health issues were addressed early.
He said Tier Two focused on early intervention and cohort-specific initiatives like cross-cultural responsiveness training, Arts Therapy or trauma informed care and Tier Three provided targeted support for students experiencing issues such as additional mental health professionals, additional Headspace counselling or suicide-related support.
“Now more than ever, our kids need support both at home and at school to make sure their wellbeing is on track,” Mr Merlino said.
“These tailored initiatives will help keep Victorian students happy and healthy, so they can focus on succeeding in their learning as we emerge from the pandemic,” he said.
“Our schools play a central role in the development of every young Victorian – that’s why it is so important they take a leadership role in supporting student mental health.”
The Minister said the new DET initiative delivered on a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System, which called for a fund to support schools with evidence-informed initiatives for students’ mental health and wellbeing.
“As per the recommendations of the Royal Commission, the Fund will be implemented in all Government schools across regional Victoria from mid-2022 and will be in every State school by 2024,” Mr Merlino said.
