National Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing study

The Australian Government has allocated funding for a study looking at the mental health and wellbeing of Australian children and adolescents.

What the Study is

The Young Minds: Our Future Study, will provide updated prevalence rates of common mental health disorders for Australian children and adolescents.

Why it is important

The National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy, released in 2021 found the need for more national data about children’s mental health and wellbeing.

Evidence about child and adolescent mental health is an important part of understanding the health and wellbeing of young people in Australia.

Governments and mental health service providers will be able to use information from the new study to:

  • plan mental health services for children and adolescents
  • find out whether existing services are appropriate to meet needs
  • decide whether extra services are needed, and
  • benchmark progress in achieving national and jurisdictional goals in promoting the mental health and wellbeing of children and adolescents.

Goals of the project

The aims of the study are to:

Primary aimUpdate national prevalence rates of mental health disorders for Australian children and adolescents (aged 4-17), including examining changes since 2013/14
Secondary aimsInvestigate subsyndromal or pre-disorder symptoms in children and adolescents
 Measure impairment associated with mental health symptoms and disorders
Establish rates of suicidality and self-harm in children and adolescents
Investigate help seeking, including service use, in children and adolescents with mental health symptoms/conditions and how this has changed since YMM
​Consider educational context in relation to child and adolescent mental health

These aims were decided following advice from stakeholders and young people with lived experience of child and adolescent mental health.

Who we work with

Curtin University, in partnership with the University of Queensland and Roy Morgan Research, will design and undertake Young Minds: Our Future.

The design and implementation of the study will be informed by a Youth Advisory Group, a Parent/Carer Advisory Group, a Scientific Reference Group and a National Stakeholder Advisory Group.

Related information

The last national study of mental disorder rates in children was in 2013-14. See the report from the second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health and Wellbeing, Young Minds Matter (published in 2015).

Contact us if you have any questions about the Study. MentalHealthData@health.gov.au

Date last updated:

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