Beyond Blue was appointed to lead Be You by the Australian Government in June 2017.
The National Mental Health Commission Review of Mental Health Programmes and Services Report of 2014 found that there were multiple initiatives promoting social and emotional health and wellbeing for children and young people across education settings. These Australian Government funded programs included:
- Response Ability
- KidsMatter Early Childhood
- KidsMatter Primary
- MindMatters
- headspace School Support
All of these initiatives were designed and delivered with the best possible intent, but had the potential to be so much more if they were integrated into one single, national end-to-end education-based program.
This led to the Australian Government’s National Support for Child and Youth Mental Health Program, which has the vision to support infants, children and young people to achieve their possible mental health.
This program has two components: the Mental Health in Education Program, focused on the education and training of early learning, primary, secondary and pre-service educators; and the National Workforce Support Program, focused on providing education and training to clinicians and non-clinicians working with children between the ages of 0-12 outside of the education space.
In June 2017, the Australian Government announced that Beyond Blue was successful in receiving the Mental Health in Education grant for the National Initiative – Be You to June 2021.
Existing programs
Be You builds on the success and learnings from five existing programs aimed at promoting social and emotional health and wellbeing for children and young people in the education space: KidsMatter Early Childhood, KidsMatter Primary, MindMatters, Response Ability and headspace School Support. Be You is building on the evidence base and ten years of experience of these programs. These programs are now integrated into Be You – one single, national initiative delivered through early learning services, primary and secondary schools.
KidsMatter Early Childhood was an Australian mental health and wellbeing initiative set in early learning services. The initiative was developed as a response to the high rates of school-age children with mental health challenges.
KidsMatter Primary was an Australian mental health and wellbeing initiative set in primary schools. The initiative was developed as a response to the high rates of school-age children with mental health challenges.
MindMatters was a mental health initiative for secondary schools that aimed to improve the mental health and wellbeing of young people. The framework provided structure, guidance and support while enabling secondary schools to build their own mental health strategy to suit their unique circumstances.
Response Ability provided resources and support for pre-service educators on supporting the mental health of children and young people. The evidence-based resources explored the roles of educators in promoting resilience and wellbeing and in responding to students who may have particular needs related to their mental health, feelings or behaviour.
headspace School Support was a suicide postvention program assisting Australian school communities to prepare for, respond to and recover from the death of a student by suicide.
Collaboration with experts
Since receiving appointment by the Australian Government Department of Health to lead the national education initiative in June 2017, Beyond Blue has established governance structures, advisory groups and networks comprising over 400 advisers from Australia’s leading organisations to support the design, development and implementation of the initiative.
These groups bring together experts from across the country in education, mental health, suicide prevention, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education, research and evaluation, behaviour change and implementation science.
We’ve also engaged a wide range of education stakeholders including Australian Government and State and Territory Department of Education and Health staff, peak bodies, professional associations, accreditation bodies, tertiary institutions and educational research organisations.
Emerging Minds
The Emerging Minds: National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health supports professionals and organisations working in the health, community or social sector to better support children and parents/carers and improve the mental health outcomes of children aged 0–12 years.
Through the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health, professionals have free access to a national web hub providing online training, implementation and practice support tools and information, webinars, events and the latest evidence and news about infant and child mental health.
These resources are centred around the following principles:
- Keeping children’s mental health in mind
- Strengthening children’s resilience
- Supporting children at risk of, or experiencing, mental health issues
- Responding to infants and children who may experience trauma, grief and loss.
Whether you work with children aged 0–12 years, with adults who are parents/carers, and/or with families, you have a crucial role to play in strengthening infant and child emotional and social wellbeing, and recognising when a child may be at risk of developing mental health issues. To find out more, visit Emerging Minds.
The National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the National Support for Child and Youth Mental Health Program.