Better health and ageing for all Australians

Current Issues

Services to support the mental health and wellbeing of young people and young people at-risk of suicide

Issue

The Australian Government is providing a range of promotion, prevention and early intervention activities, through the $2.2 billion Mental Health Reform Package, to support the improved mental health and wellbeing of young people and young people at-risk of suicide.

Response

The Government’s National Suicide Prevention Strategy (NSPS) works to reduce the incidence of suicide and self-harm, and promote mental health and resilience, across the Australian population.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number and rate of youth suicides reported have been decreasing, with the number of young people aged 15-24 years who died by suicide falling from 510 in 1997 to 321 in 2011. The NSPS Action Framework, which guides the suicide prevention work of the Department of Health and Ageing and the Australian Suicide Prevention Advisory Council, identifies young people as a group at higher risk of suicide and in need of targeted interventions. This is because, unlike other age groups, most young people die from preventable causes and suicide is the leading underlying cause of death, accounting for approximately one-fifth of all deaths in young people aged 15-24 years.

The Government is increasing national suicide prevention efforts through the implementation of the Mental Health: Taking Action to Tackle Suicide package. The package allocated $292.7 million over five years (2011-12 to 2015-16) to strengthen and build on proven suicide prevention initiatives, through a combination of universal, population-based approaches and direct and immediate investments in community-led responses that target high risk groups and stop suicides taking place.

As part of the Mental Health: Taking Action to Tackle Suicide package, the Government is providing:

  • $18.7 million over three years to 2013-14 to provide the Outreach Teams to Schools (known as headspace School Support) measure which is funding a nationwide network of state and territory based teams, to provide outreach postvention services from local headspace sites to support government and non-government schools in the event of a suicide; and
  • $90.7 million over five years (2011-12 to 2015-16) to provide more services for children with mental health problems, as well as to promote resilience and good mental health in young people, through the expansion of the KidsMatter program, online mental health and counselling services and the provision of services for children with mental health and developmental issues.
Through the NSPS, the Mental Health: Taking Action to Tackle Suicide package, and the wider mental health reform measures as part of the 2011-12 Budget, the Government has committed to delivering a range of initiatives to support at-risk youth, including the expansion of headspace to 90 sites across Australia.

In addition, the Government supports the Suicide Call Back Service: a free nationwide telephone support service to provide support for people who are at-risk of, or bereaved by suicide, or caring for someone who is suicidal.

The Service provides:
  • an open line call service available 24 hours, 7 days a week;
  • for callers assessed as eligible and who are not linked in with other professional support, an additional call back service that provides up to six 50-minute telephone counselling sessions for up to six months; and
  • online support forums for carers and those who may be bereaved, e-therapy and online support chat-lines.
Professional counsellors from the Call Back Service are highly trained in postvention support and are available to provide professional support to those bereaved by suicide. The Service can be contacted on 1300 659 467 or on the Suicide Call Back Service website.

The Government also supports a range of additional services which, while not specifically targeting young people, may be of assistance. These include:
  • Access to Allied Psychological Services (ATAPS) is designed to provide better support to people who are being managed in the primary health care setting. ATAPS is further supported by a national telephone service for clients in need of additional support outside of business hours. Individuals are encouraged to contact their regions Medicare Local for further information on the availability and referral requirements for this service. Contact details for Medicare Locals are available on the yourhealth website.
  • mindhealthconnect is a new website designed to give all Australians clear and reliable information and effective online programs on a range of mental health concerns and conditions. It acts as a trusted gateway to support Australians living with mental illness as well as for their family and friends.
Other services which provide assistance to young people and which are supported by the Government include:
The Department has prepared a Fact Sheet on key youth mental health, wellbeing and suicide prevention initiatives.

Further information on these initiatives can be found on the Department's Mental health web page.