Government schools across Victoria will be able to pick the mental health tools that best match the needs of their students, with the Victorian Government’s Schools Mental Health Fund providing a suite of options to give students tailored support.
Bass MP Jordan Crugnale has revealed the interim menu of resources and initiatives to be available to government schools in the Bass electorate as part of the $200 million Fund.
Schools will be able to select evidence-based programs and initiatives from the online menu across three tiers of intervention:
• Tier One: positive mental health promotion, including initiatives like Active Schools, mental health first aid, anti-bullying programs and therapy dogs as whole-school investments to help create a positive, inclusive environment, as well as mental health literacy training to ensure mental health issues are addressed early
• Tier Two: early intervention and cohort-specific initiatives including cross-cultural responsiveness training, Arts Therapy or trauma informed care, ensuring programs cater to all students
• Tier Three: targeted support for those experiencing mental health issues such as additional mental health professionals, additional Headspace counselling, or suicide related support
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.
This comes on top of the State Government’s completed rollout of a mental health practitioner in every government secondary school.
“I have long talked about and fought for mental health support and programs in our schools and am so pleased we have Mental Health first aid as one of the initiatives in this program – we want our kids to be
well both physically and emotionally and have the support they need to succeed in education and in life,” Ms Crugnale said.
To access the menu, visit https://www.education.vic.gov.au/mental-health-menu-for-schools
