Individualised Mental Health Support a Necessity

BoysTown and Kids Helpline welcomes the Government’s recognition of the complex needs of children and young people and the necessity of offering individually tailored mental health support.

BoysTown CEO Tracy Adams said the organisation was in a unique position to offer input into the new strategies around the welfare of young people across Australia given its broad range of services and links with other service providers.

“We have an excellent knowledge of the issues faced by children and young people due to Kids Helpline, Australia’s only 24/7 professional counselling service specifically for children and young people. 

“Kids Helpline offers immediate and ongoing counselling support for young people with serious mental health issues. Last year, one in four counselling contacts from children and young people to Kids Helpline were about mental health. 

“BoysTown delivers education and employment services to young people in some of the most disadvantaged areas of Australia. This work is supported by mentoring, counselling and other wrap around care. We look forward to working with Government to examine ways to further integrate employment and educational support for young people who have a mental illness. “Using Kids Helpline’s research and over 24 years of experience, we also look forward to discussing innovative ways to address mental health issues affecting children and young people.”