The Liberal ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Government is providing $110 million so a number of headspace centres around the country can continue to provide specialist clinical services for young people at the early stages of severe mental illness.
The two-year funding will go to continue the Early Psychosis Youth Services (EPYS) program at 14 different headspace centres including:
- Southport and Meadowbrook in Queensland
- Mount Druitt, Parramatta and Penrith in NSW
- Joondalup, Midland and Osborne Park in WA
- Bentleigh, Dandenong, Frankston and Narre Warren in Victoria
- Darwin
- Adelaide
Psychosis is a condition where a person has difficulty in telling apart what is real from what is not.
Psychosis usually appears in late adolescence. It may be triggered by a mental illness such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder or severe depression. It can also be induced by drug use, or rarely, by extreme stress.
Symptoms are different for everyone. People may experience one or a range of symptoms including false beliefs, hallucinations, confused thinking and changed behaviour.
Two-thirds of people who have psychosis experienced their first episode before the age of 25.
It can be difficult to get young people with psychosis to engage with services and they require consistent and ongoing care and support.
This important program aims to reduce the incidence and impact of psychosis within the community through prevention, early detection, and coordinated care delivery.
A significant focus of the program is on functional recovery which focuses on a young person’s re-engagement in education and employment, leading to better long term outcomes.
Providing mental health services for young people is critical.
About 560,000 Australian children and adolescents are estimated to have a mental illness and one in four young Australians aged 16 to 24 experience mental illness in any given year.
Intervention early in life and at an early stage of illness can reduce the duration and impact of mental illness.
This funding is on top of the our Government’s investment recent $51.8 million funding boost for headspace centres.
The Liberal ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Government is prioritising better mental health for all Australians $4.7 billion expected to be spent on mental health this financial year.
Our Government’s strong economic management ensures we continue to invest record amounts of funding into vital health initiatives including mental health, life-saving medicines, Medicare and hospitals.
