Fifteen new headspace youth mental health services are opening across Australia to support young people dealing with depression, substance abuse and other mental health issues.
The popular youth mental health service provides support in areas ranging from mental healthissues, to drug and alcohol problems, physical health, social and vocational support.
The outgoing Minister for Mental Health, Mark Butler, said the 15 new sites to be rolled out across Australia willprovide young people in rural, regional and metro areas with a holistic health service where theyfeel welcome and comfortable.
“We know that 1 in 4 young people will experience a mental health issue this year, making it thesingle biggest issue facing young Australians,” Mr Butler said.
“However, three-quarters of these people aren’t receiving the professional help they need becauseof a lack of access to youth-specific mental health services or because they don’t know who to turnto.
“With the right early interventions we can give young people a better future and help them fullyparticipate in the social and economic life of our community.
Additional funding of almost$200 million is being invested to establish 90 headspace sites across the country, as part of a $2.2 billion mental health program.
“An astonishing 92% of young people have reported improvements in their mental healthafter using the headspace service,” Mr Butler said.
The new headspace centres will be located in NSW, Victoria Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The locations are:
NSW
Sydney - eastern suburbs (Bondi Junction)
Sydney - inner west (Strathfield/Burwood)
Sydney - south west (Bankstown)
Tweed Valley (Tweed Heads)
Queanbeyan - South Canberra (Queanbeyan)
Dubbo
Wyong Shire (outpost service from Gosford)
VIC
Mildura
Albury Wodonga
Melbourne - south east (Fountain Gate/Narre Warren)
QLD
Logan - Beaudesert (Logan)
Toowoomba
Brisbane - west (Indooroopilly)
WA
Perth - south east (Armadale)
Goldfields (Kalgoorlie)
SA
Adelaide - Central and Hills (Norwood
For more information about the national headspace program, see Headspace.org.au