Location announced for new Gympie headspace services
16 April 2018
Location announced for new Gympie headspace services
Young people in Gympie and surrounding areas will soon get improved access to youth-specific mental health support with the location now selected for the new headspace service.
The service, to open its doors in early July, will be operated by United Synergies and will be located in premises at 2-4 Horseshoe Bend in Gympie.
The Turnbull-McCormack Government, through the Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast Primary Health Network (PHN), has invested more than $716,000 to establish this new mental health satellite service in Gympie.
With more than 5,000 young people aged between 12 and 24 years living within the Gympie local government area, these new services will provide a significant boost to the mental health support available locally.
Services like headspace can be a critical first step in getting the right support at the right time, particularly when young people feel overwhelmed by the pressures of daily life.
headspace offers early intervention services for 12 to 25-year-olds in four key areas – mental health, related physical health, alcohol and other drug use, and social and vocational support.
Early intervention can make a huge difference in reducing the impact and duration of mental illness, which affects one-in-four Australians aged between 16 and 24 years each year.
The Central Queensland, Wide Bay, Sunshine Coast PHN has been working closely with the local community ahead of the opening of this new service to ensure it meets the specific health needs of this region.
Gympie is the location of one of 10 additional headspace services in rural and regional areas, funded under the Government’s Strengthening Mental Health Care in Australia measure. These additional headspace services will bring the overall total to 110 by 2019.
The Coalition Government is continuing to build on record levels of investment in mental health services recently announcing an additional $110 million to extend and expand mental health programs for young Australians.
This included an additional $30 million for the headspace National Youth Mental Health Foundation, allowing it to provide further support to PHNs in commissioning headspace services.
Until the service in Gympie is operational, young people who are concerned about their mental health or the mental health of their families or friends can access the eheadspace service at www.eheadspace.org.au or on 1800 650 890.
(ENDS)
