The future of mental health in education

Hon. Julia Gillard

Good morning and thank you for the opportunity to say a few words on the opening day of Be You's Virtual Conference.

It's a real pleasure to join an event where two of my interests, education and mental health, come together. As many of you would know education has and continues to be one of my great policy passions.  I firmly believe a quality education is critical for the success and prosperity of each individual and our nation overall. I know I personally would not have been able to reach the office of Prime Minister of Australia without the benefit of great education.  I'm sure all conference attendees would agree that every child deserves the benefits that come through high quality learning. And I'm confident you would also agree that good education and strong mental health go hand in hand to build resilience and emotional literacy.

To see so many educators joining this discussion is testament to your dedication to the mental health and well-being of the future of our nation, Australia's children and young people. Ensuring the next generation have not just the best education opportunities but are able to learn in a supportive, inclusive and emotionally safe environment helps shape their future in the best possible way. 

But I acknowledge these last two years have been tough. You've had to contend with the continuing pressures of the pandemic, and some of you have also been affected by the impact of natural disasters like the devastating fires and floods we have seen. All of this adding to the disruption. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your service, your courage through adversity and your unwavering commitment to our children and young people. Beyond Blue is proud to stand with you and we hope Be You is supporting you. 

Since launching Be You in 2018, we have had nearly 12,500 early learning services and schools, and around 150,000 individual educators register. Independent research conducted for Be You this year found 80% of educators feel mental health is one of the biggest issues affecting young people and 94% believe good mental health is a prerequisite for learning. Be You's vision is to build an education system where every learning service and school in Australia is a positive, inclusive and resilient place, helping each child, young person, staff member and family achieve their best mental health. We know that three quarters of mental health problems emerge before the age of 25. Early intervention is vital and we're encouraged to see governments highlight the need for further investment in children and young people, but more needs to be done.

Governments must make bold policy decisions as they look to institute long overdue reform of our mental health and suicide prevention systems. We must get the detail right if we are to ensure that change is long lasting and meaningful. And part of that is ensuring governments work together to embed wellbeing in our education systems. Beyond Blue has four key policy areas we believe are vital for an integrated national approach that leaves no one behind.

The first is to ensure wellbeing outcomes are measured in a consistent, systematic way so that mental health is prioritised just like academic results. We think the best way to do this is by including wellbeing outcomes in the National Schools Reform Agreement. The second is putting mental health at the centre of the curriculum. This could be achieved through reforms to the national school curriculum and approved learning frameworks and updating teacher standards to better reflect wellbeing. Thirdly, we need increased government resourcing to provide schools and early learning services with the tailored Be You consult support they value, and ongoing funding for wellbeing co-ordinators or other specialist support staff to co-ordinate a whole of learning community approach. And finally, to properly equip educators, wellbeing needs to be included in all educator qualifications so everyone graduates with a similar level of understanding about mental health. 

Be You content has the potential to be adapted to be used by both trainers and people studying education. We've been working with the higher education sector to explore how this could be rolled out to ensure it is taught as a key part of education training. Research shows 60% of educators face time constraints as a barrier to supporting the mental health of children and young people. Juggling increasingly demanding workloads and responsibilities also impacts on their own wellbeing. That's why making sure educators have time for ongoing professional development is important. And this will require backfilling positions and more resourcing to ease their administrative workload.

These are ambitious goals but change doesn't happen by being timid. Right now, Australia is at a crossroads as we emerge from the pandemic with the ability to create something better than we had before. Now more than ever, reforming and enhancing mental health and education systems will be key to our social and economic recovery. It will help build the strength and resilience of future generations so that they can lead full and contributing lives and also ensure we support your vital professional contribution as nation builders.
We can seize this opportunity for generational change, and that will have long term benefits for children, young people and educators alike. I thank you all for the role you play in this important journey, and I hope you have a wonderful conference.

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