Young people seeking help to deal with the pressures of life will benefit from a $500,000 Turnbull Government investment in better online mental health support.
ReachOut – the online mental health organisation for young people – has today unveiled a new digital platform that significantly expands its ability to help young people and their parents.
The Australian Government contributed over $500,000 to the development of the new platform, dubbed ReachOut Next Generation.
This is in addition to $3.9 million of federal funding which will support ReachOut’s mental health and suicide prevention activities over the next two years.
The platform, which was co-designed with 174 people, deals with issues such as bullying and exam stress, sexuality, relationship difficulties, alcohol and drugs and mental health problems.
It offers an understanding of a young person’s journey through life with relevant information and content, while promoting ideas to improve health outcomes.
Very importantly, the website is representative of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, of our rural and regional localities and of Australia’s diversity.
Elsewhere, the Government has committed $73 million over three years to the National Support for Child and Youth Mental Health Program to improve mental health outcomes from the early years of life right through to adolescence.
We’ve also recently announced an additional ten headspace services for young people in regional and rural communities, investing $29 million to bring the total number of services to 110 by 2019.
The digital space is also playing an increasing role in the delivery of mental health care within the 31 Primary Health Care Network across Australia.
ReachOut is currently accessed by 1.58 million people every year and the new platform aims to reach an additional one million people over the next three years.
I congratulate the ReachOut team on creating an important tool for young people and I encourage young people and their parents visit and use the resource.
(ENDS)