MATT SMITH: Good morning and thank you for coming along to headspace in Cairns. This is Assistant Minister for Mental Health, Emma McBride, and we’re here to announce the transitioning of headspace to headspace Plus, which will include additional funding and more clinical staff on the ground, and the ability to help more people with more complex mental health illnesses and issues.
Young people, particularly in the Far North and right across the world, have had a very tumultuous decade or so. As a father of two teenage girls, if we go back as far as COVID, this was something that I never prepared them for. They missed valuable parts of their growing up, being in school, the socialisation that comes with that. And obviously there was a lot of fear as well. So kids are now presenting with mental health challenges that were not around for people of my age. Compound with that, the obvious statistics that say that people in the regions have more mental health issues than people in their urban and more city environments, plus the issues that we've had with our natural disasters. Jasper came through a few years ago, one of my daughter's friends was doing Year 12 at the time, and she was out of her house staying in a hotel with her teenage brother, you know, sharing a bedroom, and that’s not great for her, that's hard for her, in a difficult situation when Year 12 was hard anyway, and it really impacted her.
So places like headspace is a place where these kids can come, young people can come to get refuge, to be with people who are going through something similar, to be able to express themselves and get sometimes a gentle bit of help, sometimes it's more serious, but here they're able to be themselves and to find their way back from whatever it is they're going through. These places are very important. This place is very important. It's been here for a long time. It's helped countless individuals and I'm really proud to be a part of a government that recognises the issues, particularly in the regions, and is prepared to invest to make sure that our young people can be the best versions of themselves and go forward into the world confidently and happily. We know that people are going to face challenges but facilities like this allows us as a community to wrap our arms around our young people and say, yes we've got you, and yes we can help you through it.
And with that I'll pass on to Minister McBride here who's obviously got the details, and yeah, I just want to thank her again for facilitating this for us because it is needed and it's going to make a massive, massive difference.
JOURNALIST: Perfect. Thank you for that.
SMITH: Perfect's a strong word. I can see perfection from there. [Laughs]
ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: Firstly, I want to start by thanking Matt for incredible advocacy for young people and for mental health more broadly in this community. It's through that advocacy that we will now have right here in Cairns one of 30 Headspace Pluses across the country. As Matt has said, there's many different drivers of distress amongst young people right across the country, and particularly here in the Far North. And when headspace was developed nearly 20 years ago, about one in five young people experienced a mental health challenge in any 12 months. That's now doubled to two in five, and it's higher in some places, including more regional and remote parts of Australia, which is why I was proud to be part of a government that at the last election committed $1.1 billion to mental health. Of that, the greatest amount, $750 million towards the mental health of children and young people in Australia, and more than $225 million towards an expansion and strengthening of headspace. And that includes, here in Cairns, headspace becoming a headspace Plus.
We know the demand is high here. In the last 12 months, more than 6000 occasions of care for more than 1000 young people, of which 600 were new to the service. So a really in-demand service, which is why in the meantime we've provided an additional $1 million from 2024-’25, ’25-’26, to be able to boost support to help to reduce wait times and expand the care that's available while this centre then becomes one of the first in the country to become a headspace Plus, which is a new model of care to provide more support for young people who are experiencing much more complex and severe mental health challenges than when headspace was designed nearly 20 years ago.
So I want to congratulate Matt for his advocacy and to thank the staff here of the headspace centre, including the young peer workers, for bringing their lived experience, their professional expertise, their compassion to supporting young people here all the time, and to really making a big difference in the support and care that's available to young people in the community. I'm happy to take any questions.
JOURNALIST: I know you said that the model is still being finalised, but can you give us some specifics on what's different as a plus versus just a standard headspace?
MCBRIDE: So we will now have now a network, we've committed to grow the network to more than 200 headspaces around the country, more than 30 here in Queensland. The difference is to respond to the changing needs of young people today. How young people seek help has changed, the type of support that they need has also changed. So what that will mean is an expansion of the clinical model and more wraparound multidisciplinary care.
Today here we have social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists and what that will mean will be an expansion and strengthening of the clinical model. And also I would anticipate a strengthening of the peer workforce because we know the difference of young people being supported by someone who's had a similar or the same experience can make.
But as I said, the model is still being finalised and once it is finalised it will go out for consultation, and I was in a meeting just yesterday including with Orygen and headspace National, two key partners in headspace and in the new headspace Plus and Youth Specialist Care Models.
JOURNALIST: So will it be- it'll still be the same kinds of staff or will there be more other kinds of specialists coming in? Can you be more specific about that staffing?
MCBRIDE: What we anticipate is that we will then be able to have- yes, so it might be that they'll have access to a psychiatrist in addition to a psychologist and a social worker. One of the main things that I think will be the big shift will be a truly multidisciplinary team because we know that wraparound care is the best sort of care for young people, particularly because there are lots of different drivers of that distress. For example, here Matt was talking about someone finishing school, looking for a job, there's a work and study program and sometimes helping someone into work can be the most effective support and care that they need. So I anticipate it being a much more multidisciplinary approach, strengthening both the clinical and the peer worker aspects.
JOURNALIST: So is this going to be something that you roll out across the country? You want all headspaces to be more wraparound?
MCBRIDE: So what we're intending to do through this is to strengthen and expand our of headspaces and then to uplift at the moment 30 headspaces including here in Cairns but also in Townsville to become headspace Pluses so that we're trying to bring more support closer to home particularly for people in the regions. Of our headspace network, more than 90 are in regional or more remote parts of Australia. I've had the chance to visit in this role headspace in Mutitjulu on the eastern side of Uluru. I've had the chance to visit headspaces in more urban communities - we opened one in Chatswood more recently. So what we want to do is make sure that wherever a young person lives that they've got support closer to home that better meets their needs.
JOURNALIST: Is there sort of a timeline for when the [indistinct] will be finalised and when this funding will actually be implemented?
MCBRIDE: So the funding, the boosting funding for demand management and enhancement funding is flowing now. So it was around $500,000 for ’24-‘25, another more than $400,000 for ’25-‘26. So big boost in funding, nearly a million dollars to meet the need now. This headspace will need to be relocated in order to be able to meet the capacity of a headspace Plus. So we anticipate that funding will flow in the next sort of two to three years.
JOURNALIST: Speaking of locations, I mean, obviously remote teenagers, it's a big challenge accessing any of these sorts of services. How will headspace and headspace Plus be able to help people who are living in really remote and Indigenous communities?
MCBRIDE: It's a really important question, particularly where we are here today in Cairns and thinking about the Far North and very remote parts of Australia. So, I mean, I've had the chance to visit the headspace in Alice Springs, in Mutitjulu, and I mean, there's a headspace in Katherine, but we appreciate that young people live in all parts of the country where there might not be immediate access to a centre. So we're investing in eheadspace, which is a digital service so that young people who- some people prefer to be able to access services online, or who don't live in close to a headspace centre will be able to access that as well.
JOURNALIST: Will there be at any point as part of this funding capacity for workers to have perhaps travel, or you know, do some- face-to-face, is really hard to replicate all the benefits of face-to-face appointments. In remote calls, will there be capacity at some point for workers to travel in some of these remote communities?
MCBRIDE: Yes, there will and that happens already in some parts of Australia where we have outreach. So it might be that there's a main centre in a place like Cairns that then does outreach to more remote communities and we've seen that model work and be introduced in other parts of the country and we're expanding that as well, another 20 outreaches through this boost in funding to headspace. So we're expanding the network of headspaces up to 203 of which there'll be 20 more outreaches, 30 headspace Pluses and another model as well of youth specialist care centres for the much more sort of moderate to severe mental health challenges.
So what we're trying to do is create a system of supportive care for step up and step down depending on what that young person's needs are at that time and to make sure that wherever a young person lives we bring that care closer to home and more quickly.
JOURNALIST: Will any of those outreach centres be in Queensland or in the Far North?
MCBRIDE: Yes, they will.
JOURNALIST: Do you know where specifically?
MCBRIDE: We are still finalising the locations of the outreaches and we're taking input from communities including youth reference groups and working through the primary health networks and the local providers to make sure that when we're introducing them, we’re introducing them where young people will most benefit from them and where we'll be able to see the best impact.
JOURNALIST: Will there be any capacity in the expansion for more cultural safety programs particularly for people in Cairns in the Far North?
MCBRIDE: Yes, there will. That's one of the biggest changes that I've seen in headspace in the time that I've been in this role, but a really big focus on cultural safety, whether that's for culturally and linguistically diverse communities, whether that's for First Nations young people, to make sure that by design headspace is a culturally safe and responsive service to meet the needs of most young people. We know in a centre like this that more than 20 per cent of young people who come here are First Nations or Torres Strait Islander young people and that's one of the things that we really emphasise in headspaces that they should be culturally safe by design and in all of the support, whether that's peer support or clinical support, that it's culturally responsive and safe.
JOURNALIST: In terms of measuring the success of programs like having headspace Plus, will you be looking at things like reducing waiting lists along these places? There's challenges to just get in and see, given there's often not enough staff to match the need. What's the goal in terms of getting that access improved?
MCBRIDE: My goal as the Federal Minister responsible for mental health is to make sure that every young person, wherever they live, can get care sooner and get the quality care that they deserve. Like any program that we introduce, there's ongoing monitoring and evaluation to make sure that that investment is having an impact, and meeting the needs of young people. But yes, I would anticipate or I would hope to see an increase in timeliness because we know that earlier intervention and support sooner is the best way to reduce both the duration and impact of any mental health challenge.
JOURNALIST: The improved network that you're kind of looking forward at, can you tell us more about that and if there'll be more funding in the upcoming budget for things like that and kind of looking in a year's time, what do you want to see?
MCBRIDE: Well, I'm just genuinely proud to be part of a government that has made the biggest investment in mental health and wellbeing of any Commonwealth Government. To be able to stand with the Prime Minister at the last election, announcing an additional $1.1 billion. This year alone our Government is investing $8 billion in mental health and wellbeing Australians. And part of that, as I said, the greater part of that additional funding is $750 million to go towards programs including headspace Plus.
Also I should mention we're uplifting Australia's National Youth Mental Health Research Centre to an institute, Orygen in Victoria, to make sure that we also have the growing evidence base and research to drive change, because as Matt has said there's lots of different drivers of distress that are leading to a really big impact on young people today and we need to know that all of the work that we're doing is evidence-based and quality and will make a difference.
JOURNALIST: And do you think it's particularly important now, like with the cost of living, cost of fuel, everything that's going on in the world, why is it particularly important to have these services in a time like this?
MCBRIDE: I think there's been no more important time for children and young people. I've been working in mental health for more than 20 years, and as I said when headspace was designed, about one in five young people experienced a mental health challenge in any 12-month period. That has doubled. We know what many of those drivers of distress are and whether it is financial pressures, looking for work, natural disasters, but this cumulative impact on young people and the long tail of the COVID pandemic has made a real and significant difference.
And that's why, as a Government, we're stepping up to match that with the biggest investments. As I said, more than $750 million for youth, for mental health support for children and young people, and of that $225 million to expand and uplift more than 58 headspaces across the country whether that's 30 to headspace Plus, you know, and other centres to full centres because we know that we need to make this investment and we need to make it now to be able to really see a change in support for children and young people.
JOURNALIST: It's not just young people though that have been experiencing distress from all these events and then increasing and needing access to the mental health system. Will there a chance for what's being recommended by many people in the mental healthcare profession, the increase to the number of subsidised sessions or increase especially with cost of living to the amount that's subsidised by the Federal Government for things like psychology sessions?
MCBRIDE: What we have done in response to the evaluation of Better Access, which is the Commonwealth subsidised sessions, is we've had two principal responses. One is introducing Medicare and mental health centres. And I was with Matt yesterday where we opened the Medicare Mental Health Centre right here in Cairns. Medicare Mental Health Centres are drop-in centres where you can go without an appointment. You don't need to wait for a mental health treatment plan, you don't need to wait for a referral, and people get wraparound supporting care including from psychologists and psychiatrists to really improve access and reduce barriers of cost and time to people.
For those people- so that's for people with more ongoing or moderate mental health challenges, what we've also done, and we introduced this only just two weeks ago, is introduced under Medicare Mental Health Check-in, Australia's first national digital mental health program available to any Australian over the age of 16, where they can call 1-800- 595-212 Medicare Mental Health and be able to have a brief phone call and then be linked in with the most appropriate support for them. We've partnered with St Vincent's Health Australia, one of the global leaders in digital mental health. They're recruiting up to 150 experienced mental health practitioners, mental health nurses, psychologists, counsellors to be able to provide this care all free and backed by Medicare. So check-in for someone who needs early support, might be experiencing distress around a relationship breakdown, being overwhelmed by work, a loss in the family, continuing to support Better Access under mental health treatment plans with psychologists and importantly introducing a network of 92 Medicare mental health centres around the country for people who need more ongoing wraparound care. So responding to the evaluation that said we need more for early intervention and more for wraparound care.