Youth Mental Health
The youth mental health system in Melbourne’s inner west is under immense pressure and services are stretched with limited capacity to respond quickly.
The system is both complex and difficult to navigate especially if you are a young person seeking help. To respond to this, Council is advocating to State and Federal Governments to ensure young people growing up in the area have support when they need it most.
Gaps in youth mental health prevention and early intervention services are getting wider, adding further strain on our rapidly growing population.
The risk for young people is poorer mental health outcomes often associated with experiences of exclusion discrimination and stigma, and barriers to accessing services
Key asks
Establish and provide ongoing funding for a Mental Health Service Hub in Melbourne’s inner west.
Undertake a review and establish a plan to address the mental health impact of housing affordability, climate change and the long-term impacts of COVID-19 for our young people.
Establishment of locally accessible, safe community hub including health services where LGBTIQA+ people, families and community can connect in the West.
Challenges
- Young women in Maribyrnong aged 15-24 years are reporting that they have a diagnosed mental health condition at higher rates that in Greater Melbourne. In some areas of Maribyrnong, 1 in 4 young women report they have a diagnosed mental health condition.[1]
- Average wait times for clinical appointments are greater than 3 months, with one in three psychologists closing their books.[2]
- A lack of availability of services in the inner west means vulnerable people need to travel outside of our municipality to seek support.[3]
- Ambulance callouts for low acuity mental health issues are twice as high in Maribyrnong than for Victoria as a whole. Average annual deaths from suicide and self-inflicted injuries are among the highest in the region.[4]
- Pre-COVID, almost 3,500 of Maribyrnong’s then 15,000 young people were estimated to be at mental health risk, with a further 2,500 estimated to be experiencing mild, moderate or severe mental illness.[5]
These facts are exasperated by the adverse effects of COVID-19, which disproportionally impacted young people.
In Maribyrnong, which has one of the largest multicultural communities in Victoria, there are significantly more young people than the state average vulnerable to these experiences due to cultural or gender identity, language barriers, instability at home or even homelessness.
More locally designed prevention and early intervention solutions to adequately respond to the diversity and vulnerability in the youth population in Melbourne’s west are required.
Young people themselves have identified a need for greater investment in prevention and culturally accessible, wrap-around services underpinned by co-design and co-delivery that place them at the centre of care.
Prevention and early intervention youth mental health is a key priority for the City of Maribyrnong. We must work together to ensure all young people have localised access to a mental health service during times of crisis and need.
In February 2022, the then Mayor of Maribyrnong moved a Notice of Motion that highlighted the need to explore provision for a youth mental health hub and to understand any need surrounding councils may have.
A Statement of Intent was also developed advocating for greater investment in community-led and community-based youth mental health prevention and early intervention responses for young people.
Headspace | Melbourne Youth Mental Health Service Hubs
Figure 1 below demonstrates the inequity of youth-based mental health service provision in Melbourne’s west.
If you or a loved need someone to talk to, please call:
- Lifeline on 13 11 14 or visit lifeline.org.au
- Kids Helpline on 1800 551 800 or visit kidshelpline.com.au
- Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 or visit beyondblue.org.au
Footnotes
[1] Census 2021. Women aged 15-24 averaged 16.6% reported mental health diagnosis. The Greater Melbourne average for the cohort is 13.5%. Suburbs: Kingsville 24.4%, Seddon 24.7%, Footscray 23%, Yarraville 20.2%, Maribyrnong 123%, Maidstone 10.6%, Braybrook 8.1%.
[2] From Maribyrnong Youth Mental Health Desktop Review. Citing a The Age article - https://www.smh.com.au/lifestyle/health-and-wellness/how-to-find-help-when-you-re-struggling-with-mental-health-20220321-p5a6k6.html
[3] Headspace locations are in Sunshine and Werribee
[4] NWMPHN (2019) Primary health network: needs assessment reporting. Reference taken from Maribyrnong Youth Mental Health Desktop Review
[5] From Maribyrnong Youth Mental Health Desktop Review. Extrapolated based on NWMPHN mental health profile (2017).