Youth Mental Health

Tasmanian Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy

In March 2020 the Tasmanian Premier committed to develop Tasmania’s first comprehensive, long-term, whole-of-government, Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy for children aged 0-25 years. Wellbeing is about a child or young person’s quality of life. When they have a strong sense of wellbeing they feel happy, healthy, capable and engaged and able to have a good life. The Tasmanian Child and Youth Wellbeing Framework provides a common understanding of wellbeing through the use of six wellbeing domains.

Consultations for the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy took place between November 2020 and February 2021. Based on these sessions, MHCT produced a report detailing some of issues impacting on the mental health and wellbeing of young Tasmanians. The report is available here.

The MHCT report helped to inform the development of the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy which was released in August of 2021.

Tasmanian Youth Mental Health Forum (2019)

The Mental Health Council of Tasmania (MHCT) partnered with Primary Health Tasmania (PHT) and the Tasmanian Department of Health to deliver the Tasmanian Youth Mental Health Forum: Exploring Integration and Innovation on 6-7 November 2019. In a complex policy context including current work by the State Government’s Southern Mental Health Integration Taskforce and the development of a joint State and Federal Government Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan, this Forum was arranged for the Tasmanian mental health sector to facilitate meaningful engagement in, and consideration of, recent trends identified in youth mental health including:

• Lack of awareness of appropriate services and support available;
• Increased demand for and on youth mental health services;
• Young people presenting more acutely unwell; and
• Increased funding and services for young people