SALLY BRYANT, HOST: Now, have you ever been involved in or are you familiar with the work that headspace does? They're a mental health service, and they're aimed at young people. And the Wagga centre is set to become one of 10 new headspace Plus facilities, and that'll increase access to services like psychologists and more specialised support. Emma McBride is the Assistant Minister for Mental and Regional Health and explained why this expansion is so important.
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ASSISTANT MINISTER EMMA MCBRIDE: We know that headspace Wagga is one of the busiest headspaces nationally, and we want to make sure that young people can be seen sooner. In fact, headspace Wagga Wagga in the last 12 months has provided 4,300 appointments to more than 1,100 local young people. The demand is high, and therefore, our investment needs to be high as well, which is why we’ve doubled the funding. It'll be a big increase in staffing as well so that people can be seen sooner, and also those with more complex needs can get better wraparound care from a multidisciplinary team.
BRYANT: So for people who aren't familiar with headspace, can you give me a little bit of a thumbnail sketch of what happens when you go into a headspace office?
MCBRIDE: Yes. If a young person walks into a headspace in Wagga Wagga, Dubbo or in Orange, they'll be probably met by a young person who's had a similar experience, a peer worker. They'll be able to have a conversation about what their mental health needs are. And in most headspaces, we’re moving to a model which is called single session or session by session, where they'll be asked how can we help you today with what's causing your distress, and that support can be provided by a counsellor, a social worker. And in headspace Plus, we'll have more access to psychologists and more specialist mental health care.
BRYANT: Okay. So then that's going to be the difference. The headspace gives you that entry-level access, the lived experience person, the peer group supporter, but then you- what, you have more expertise, more specialised services in a headspace Plus.
MCBRIDE: That's right, Sally, because when headspace was first introduced nearly 20 years ago, one in five young people experienced mental health distress that needed additional support in any year. That has now doubled. But also, the problems that young people are coming to headspace with are much more complex, including suicidal ideation, eating disorders. So we need to make sure that there is that expertise and multidisciplinary team to provide wraparound care to young people, and importantly within their own communities because for too long, young people in regional Australia have had to be on the end of long wait lists, have had to pay out of pocket, and have had to travel too far to get care.
BRYANT: So places like Dubbo, and I think you- like Wagga rather, and you've already mentioned Dubbo, will have headspace Plus. What about more isolated regions? How do we ensure that people in smaller towns, in more remote towns, have access to similar sort of services?
MCBRIDE: In this big investment in headspace across the country, which is more than $250 million, we're also introducing 20 headspace outreaches for the first time, having more dedicated support in more remote parts of Australia. There'll be a headspace outreach in Parkes. So in addition to the headspaces that we've mentioned and the uplift to a headspace Plus in Wagga, an outreach service in Parkes. We also have e-headspace, which is a very popular place for young people to go seeking more support. So if a young person does need to access support, there is also an online support that is available to them. And we also now have Medicare Mental Health Check In, which is Australia's first free digital mental health service that's available to anybody 16 and over.
BRYANT: And tell me, I'd be interested to know, does headspace and do their staff have a relationship with communities that they work in? Do they, for example, have local reference groups? Do they have, for example, a working relationship with local youth advisory committees and that sort of thing?
MCBRIDE: That's what fundamentally underpins headspace and the model. Every headspace has a youth reference group, and I've had the chance to meet them in Wagga and in other parts of the Riverina and around the country. headspace also has a national youth reference group. But as part of this headspace becoming a headspace Plus, there's a 12-month lead time, which allows that strong collaboration in a very place-based way to work with existing services to help to be able to strengthen collaboration and to make sure that there's a really strong cooperation so that there is a good continuity of care so the young person doesn't have to retell their story, so that if they do walk in the door of headspace and they're better supported by another service, that happens in the most seamless way.
BRYANT: So, Emma, when are people likely, people who are clients, people who are familiar with headspace, when are they likely to start seeing a difference in the way headspace is operating in these communities?
MCBRIDE: We're expecting the first 10 headspace Pluses to be established within the next 12 months. We would hope in the coming months that people will be able to start noticing that additional support, that expansion in staffing, to be able to receive support sooner. It's something that we're doing with urgency, but also balancing so that we can make sure that we've got the recruitment in place, those links with existing services to make sure that it's introduced in a safe way that's sustainable.
I'm really pleased that young people in Wagga and in the Riverina more broadly will now have a big boost in access to care locally, a doubling of funding, and a big increase in staffing to make sure that they can get the care that they deserve, Sally.
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BRYANT: It's good news, isn't it? That's Emma McBride, Assistant Minister for Mental and Regional Health, speaking there about why this expansion of headspace is so important. And if you have ever seen the impact that headspace can have on young people who are doing it tough, you will understand that, yeah, just that connectivity is next-level, isn't it?