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Enhancing Mental Health Support in Secondary Schools

  • Doctors in Secondary Schools
  • Enhancing Mental Health Support in Secondary Schools
Home Our Work Connecting health with other sectors Enhancing Mental Health Support in Secondary Schools

A Victorian Department of Education and Training funded program.

The Enhancing Mental Health Support in Schools (EMHSS) program provides mental health services to all 327 government secondary schools across Victoria. The program provides support school communities to effectively respond to their students’ mental health concerns and recognises that early identification and response will increase their chances of more positive educational, developmental and wellbeing outcomes.

Statewide project lead
Marie-Louise Neary
Ph. 03 9347 1188

The EMHSS program comprises of three components:

  1. Provision of face-to-face counselling services through headspace centres (commissioned by PHNs).
  2. Provision of a Regional Telephone Service for students of rural and regional schools that are located too far away from a headspace centre (this service component is commissioned by DET through eheadspace).
  3. Provision of education and training, namely SAFEMinds training (until June 2020) and suicide risk continuum training (until December 2019) to build the capacity of school staff (commissioned by DET through headspace National.)

All components of the program intertwine closely to deliver the objectives of the EMHSS program.

Objectives

The objectives of the program are:

  • To provide additional mental health supports for students in need by increasing capacity of headspace centres
  • To improve mental health and wellbeing for students at secondary school
  • To promote safe and supportive learning environments
  • To improve referrals to other services for more serious mental health issues
  • To improve linkages between secondary schools and the health sector, and in particular the mental health sector

The Department of Education and Training, Victorian PHNs, headspace centres and schools are working closely together over the next three and a half years to deliver a service that meets the needs of young people in Victoria.

The program is targeted towards supporting Victorian school students to have earlier access for mild to moderate mental health issues. headspace clinicians will provide face-to-face counselling to students, within a safe space at their closest headspace centre or school.

Schools more than 80km from their closest headspace centre can access telephone counselling via the Regional Telephone Service. Students at schools between 60km and 80km from their closest headspace centre can choose to access either service.

School staff can refer students into the service, or students/parents can self-refer.

This EMHSS is currently funded until June 2022.

The Enhancing Mental Health Support in Schools program is supported by the Victorian Government.

Copyright 2022 Victorian and Tasmanian PHN Alliance
  • About us
    • About the Alliance
    • Collaboration
    • Leadership
    • PHN Publications
    • Thought Leadership
  • Our Work
    • Best practice, prevention, management and support
      • Accelerated uptake of Hepatitis C medicines
      • Carer Awareness in General Practice
      • Community led cancer screening
      • GP Respiratory Clinics
      • Infection Prevention Helpline
      • Lymphoedema Primary Care Capacity Building
      • Optimal Care Pathways
        • Optimal Care Pathways – Oesophagogastric Cancer OCP
        • Optimal Care Pathways – Prostate Cancer
      • Place-based Suicide Prevention
      • Priority Primary Care Centres
      • Statewide Paediatric HealthPathways Project
      • Victorian HIV and Hepatitis Integrated Training and Learning
    • Connecting health with other sectors
      • Doctors in Secondary Schools
        • Apply to Doctors in Secondary Schools: one day out of your everyday
      • Enhancing Mental Health Support in Secondary Schools
    • Health system integration and reform translation
      • Alcohol and other Drug Integration
      • Care Pathways and Referral
        • COVID-19 care pathways
      • Enhancing Carers Supports Within Primary Health Care
      • Mental Health Integration
      • My Health Record Expansion
      • PIP QI Incentive partnership
      • Population Health Planning
      • SafeScript
      • State Emergency and Support Recovery
      • Statewide Specialist Clinic Referral Criteria
        • Statewide Specialist Clinic Referral Criteria – Communications Toolkit
      • The National Disability Insurance Scheme in Victoria and Tasmania
      • Voluntary Assisted Dying
  • News and Education
    • Education and Calendars
    • News
    • Online Learning
  • SafeScript Training
  • Contact
    • Contact us
    • Our PHNs
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