ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: I’m so pleased to be here today in Broome, where through the Commonwealth, we've invested more than $900,000 to be able to strengthen and expand the work of the headspace centre here. The headspace here has been up running in Broome since 2008. And we know that demand is increasing and that last year, more than 390 young people were able to be able to access support and care through headspace in more than 2000 occasions of care. So this extra boost in funding is to be able to expand the clinical capacity, including a new female SEWB worker who will be starting soon, and also to create more space for young people, including two new consult rooms. And we know that the demand is high, and we want to make sure that we've- the centre is resourced to be able to meet that growth in demand. And today, particularly hearing from the YAC, the Youth Advisory Committee, because with a service that's designed for young people aged 12 to 25, what's absolutely vital is the voice of young people and that it's co-designed with them. And hearing from the peer worker today that's spoken about how lived experience, and particularly the voice of young people has been included into the service and the way that- to improve the ways that young people can access the service including outreach and in-reach into local schools.
So, at a national level, we're expanding the headspace network to 203 headspace centres, 20 new outreach services, and also looking at the headspace model. So the headspace model that was designed 20 years ago had four key domains, mental health related, physical health, sexual health, alcohol and other drugs, and a really key part, Work and Study, that sort of work readiness and supporting young people into the workplace or into further training. But what we what we know now is that the distress amongst young people has increased, and we need to make sure that headspace evolves to continue to meet the needs of young Australians, including in Broome and more remote parts of Australia. So, really pleased to be here today and to hear from the service and the people that work within it, and to see how that investment is then improving access, particularly for younger Australians.
JOURNALIST: Yeah. And somewhere as remote as Broome servicing a wider area like the Kimberley, I can imagine there'll be some different challenges that arise compared to other headspace services that you've viewed across the country. What have you identified as being those challenges and how are they being addressed?
MCBRIDE: Some of those challenges are about access, and one of- what headspace here is doing is doing that in-reach into schools to make sure that they can reach young people who otherwise wouldn't be able to access that support and care. We also are looking at more sort of outreach into more remote parts of Australia, as I mentioned, about 20 of those, to try to help to be able to make sure that wherever young people live, we can bring support and care closer to them.
And the other part as well that I've noticed is the part of headspace, the Work and Study program. And for young people growing up in more regional or remote communities, there can be particular or unique challenges for them being able to complete school, be able to have the skills they need to get into the workforce or to get into further training. So to see the two Work and Study staff here and to hear about their work they're doing, that's something that is really good to see, and I think that’s something that we of course will continue to invest in.
JOURNALIST: And obviously there's a large Indigenous population up here in the Kimberley. How are you ensuring that not only, I guess through this funding, that young people's voices are heard but also Indigenous voices are kind of leading the charge on these kind of changes?
MCBRIDE: It's absolutely vital. And we know that here at Broome, at the headspace here, one in two young people that come here are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. The service is run by KAMS, the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Service. So in terms of the provider, a First Nations provider. And also, that investment in social and emotional wellbeing workers to make sure that this headspace centre is culturally responsive and safe and meets the needs of young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people. It's something that we have a particular focus on through headspace nationally because we want to make sure that across the whole network of headspaces, these 175 centres, that if a young person walked into headspace in Broome or walked into headspace in Whyalla, walked into a headspace in Mount Isa, that they would get the support and care they need.
And something that we've introduced recently, there are a number of headspaces that the lead provider are First Nations-led. Alice Springs, Mutitjulu, Deception Bay in Queensland, Mount Isa. So there's a number of headspace centres that are now run by First Nations providers. But we want to see that that continue to grow. And the one in Deception Bay in Queensland is the first one that's been run by an Aboriginal community organisation within a metropolitan area because we know there's large Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations in metro areas as well.
JOURNALIST: And where do you want to go from here? Like, in your role and your position, yes, this is a big funding commitment. What are the next steps beyond this?
MCBRIDE: Yeah. What we're doing is we made the election commitment last year to introduce headspace Pluses. So there'll be 30 headspace Pluses, which will then have a different funding to be able to uplift the services both in terms of social emotional wellbeing and clinically. We're also introducing 20 youth specialist services, and they're building on the existing about 12 early youth psychosis programs for that early intervention for young people who are at risk of or experiencing their first episode of psychosis. But we're expanding that beyond psychosis to other major mental health challenges.
And what I really want to see is that wherever a young person lives and whatever their circumstances are, that they'll be able to be met through headspace, that they'll be culturally responsive and safe, that they'll be able to get the wraparound support that they need, and that that'll set them up to be able to thrive.
JOURNALIST: And just finally, are any of those 20 headspace Pluses that you mentioned earmarked WA at all or up north?
MCBRIDE: Yes, there are. Yes. So one in Midland will be uplifted to a headspace Plus. There's also some new specialist services that'll be in WA as well and also some of the outreaches. So, we're trying to make sure that across the country that we're boosting all of these services to make sure that wherever young people live that that is available to them. We also have eheadspace, and some young people prefer to be able to access support and care online. So eheadspace is something that is also available to young people.
JOURNALIST: Wonderful. Thank you.