YOUNG people in four communities across the New England and North West region will have better access to mental health services following a major funding announcement on Monday.
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In a move to bring more help to the bush, four new Headspace services will be rolled out to Armidale, Moree, Gunnedah and Narrabri after a federal government funding announcement.
In Tamworth on Monday, New England MP Barnaby Joyce was joined by Member for Parkes Mark Coulton to announce the roll out of the youth services following the success of the Headspace centre in Tamworth.
The centres provide mental health and social support for young people aged between 12 and 25 years old.
It’s expected the new services will be available in the new centres from next year.
Primary Health Network CEO for the Hunter, New England and Central Coast, Richard Nankervis said there was clearly a need for more youth health services in the area.
“We were very pleased to be able to help coordinate this application for additional funding from the federal government to support local communities, particularly around young people’s mental health,” he said.
“It’s come up as a significant issue, identified through our local needs assessment work and consultations across the region. It’s about local communities, meeting local need for us.”
Mr Joyce paid tribute to those who worked at the “coalface” of mental health in the community and said the additional services meant more youth could benefit.
“So many of us have a story, if they’ve worked through themselves or through a family member trying to deal with mental health issues,” he said.
“It’s incredible that we have the capacity now that we have about $2.6 million for this area and that helps us roll out in Gunnedah, Narrabri, Armidale and Moree so they too can work in with what we have here in Tamworth.”
Mr Coulton said he’d been working with people in his electorate, including Gunnedah and Moree about the need for a Headspace centre in those areas for some time.
“Not only to service those regional centres but the other towns like Wee Waa, Boggabri and Mungindi, because quite often the issues that young people face can be exasperated if you put those into a situation of remoteness and lack of services generally,” he said.
