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How Be You began
Be You began in 2018 with a clear idea: mental health and wellbeing should be woven into the fabric of education – not an add-on or a reaction to crisis. Instead, as a foundation for how learning communities connect and grow.
To enable this, the Australian Government unified several established, Government funded programs into one national initiative. These included KidsMatter (early childhood and primary), MindMatters, Response Ability, and headspace School Support.
The goal was to ensure every early learning service, school and school aged care service could access free, consistent, practical and trusted support. By integrating these programs, Be You brings together established expertise and trusted approaches to create a more cohesive and impactful national approach to mental health and wellbeing in education.
Be You is funded by the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, and is delivered nationally by Beyond Blue, in collaboration with Early Childhood Australia and headspace.
This partnership brings deep expertise in mental health and education, spanning from early childhood to secondary school.
Learn more about who we are
Be You today
Be You’s vision is to meaningfully contribute to a generation of children and young people who are mentally healthy, resilient and equipped to thrive in life.
Our mission is to work alongside early learning services and schools, supporting educators to feel confident, connected and capable of embedding mental health and wellbeing into everyday practice, leadership and culture.
Since its inception, Be You has been shaped by leading voices in education, mental health, research and real-world experience.
This ongoing collaboration continues to guide how Be You evolves and responds to the realities of education settings today.
Be You takes a human-centred approach that is:
- grounded in real‑world education settings, reflecting the everyday experiences and challenges of educators
- co‑designed with educators, ensuring tools and resources are practical, relevant and usable informed by national and international evidence and best practice, translating research into action.
- informed by national and international evidence and best practice, translating research into action.
Be You works closely with Australian, state and territory governments, peak bodies, professional and accreditation organisations and research institutions.
These partnerships guide Be You’s development, strengthen collaboration between education and mental health systems and help build consistent, sustainable capability across settings. Together, this work supports a more connected, prevention‑focused approach to child and youth mental health in Australia.
Learn more about Be You’s evidence and insights and policy and advocacy
Be You and Emerging Minds
Be You and Emerging Minds work in partnership to strengthen systems and workforces that support better mental health outcomes for children and young people across Australia.
Funded by the Australian Government through the National Support for Child and Youth Mental Health Program, the two initiatives play complementary roles in strengthening workforce capability across the services and settings that support children and families.
With a shared focus on building the confidence, skills and capability of professionals to promote child wellbeing and provide early support to mental health concerns, each initiative has a distinct area of expertise.
Be You builds the capacity of educators and leaders across early learning services and schools to support the mental health of children from birth to 18. Emerging Minds supports the broader child and family-facing workforce, strengthening the practice of professionals working with infants and children across health, social and community services.
Together, these initiatives create a more connected, consistent and evidence-informed system of support, helping ensure that children and families can access the right help, in the right place, at the right time. With this support, children can learn, grow and build the foundations for lifelong wellbeing.