The Department for Education is implementing a new mental health service for students, which will provide mental health practitioners based in schools. 

Mental health practitioners will be based in schools to provide an early intervention mental health service. They will not provide clinical diagnosis or treatment. 

Mental health practitioners may provide a range of services, including: 
•    assessment of student concerns and delivering strategies and supports to manage immediate distress (eg brief interventions)
•    coordination of referrals to external mental health services for students requiring ongoing therapeutic intervention
•    providing advice and checking in with students with more serious mental health concerns who are returning to school
•    supporting students who are returning to school after mental health treatments
•    developing the mental health literacy of the school communities.

The new service will complement existing services provided in schools, such as student wellbeing leaders and student support services.

The service will be piloted in the following schools from term 3, 2022:
•    Le Fevre – Ocean View College and Le Fevre High School
•    River Hub – Seaford Secondary College and local primary schools
•    Hollywood Lakes and Gardens and Montague – Para Hills High School and Parafield Gardens High School
•    Lower Mid-North and Mid-North Clare – Balaklava High School and Clare High School
•    Pirie and Upper Mid-North – John Pirie Secondary College and local primary schools.

After the pilot, the service will be further refined, ready to scale up to more areas in 2023. 

Find out more about the new mental health service for schools.