National Children's Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy

Be You is helping to deliver the Strategy in the education sector.

The National Mental Health Commission developed the National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy as part of the Australian Government’s long-term national health plan. The Strategy was launched in October 2021.

Be You aligns with many of the objectives and actions in 'Focus Area 3: Education Settings' of the Strategy. This section outlines key issues and recommendations in relation to supporting mental health in the education context, which for the purposes of this Strategy, includes early childhood learning services and primary schools.*

Building a wellbeing culture

Objective 3.1: A Wellbeing Culture

There is currently wide variation between schools and early childhood learning services in the culture around mental health. Some education settings have policies and procedures that contribute to stigma.**

Action 3.1.a

Conduct thorough reviews of school and early childhood policies and processes, looking for opportunities to reduce possible stigma and discrimination.**

Be You supports early learning services and schools nationally to build on their strengths and promote a wellbeing culture that reduces stigma around mental health through:

Action 3.1.d

Identify opportunities to incorporate conversations about mental health and wellbeing into the school or early childhood daily routines, with the expectation that all staff and students have the opportunity to contribute to these discussions.**

Be You provides ideas for incorporating conversations about mental health and wellbeing into learning communities’ daily routines through:

Action 3.1.g

Implement evidence-based wellbeing programs within schools and early childhood learning services, with support from existing initiatives such as Be You.**

Be You provides a national Programs Directory, which includes a rating system, and helps early learning services and schools find evidence-based programs.

Targeted responses through wellbeing plans

Objective 3.2: Targeted responses

All early childhood learning services and schools should have a wellbeing plan in place for their students, with policies and processes developed or adapted to address the gaps in support identified as part of wellbeing planning (action 3.2.a).**

Action 3.2.a

Require all early childhood learning services and primary schools to develop a comprehensive wellbeing plan, which should outline what the service or school will do to address issues identified as a priority for their students (including those identified as part of actions 3.1.a and 4.1.c). Progress against these plans should be reported on regularly.**

Be You provides guidance for the development and review of wellbeing plans in early learning services and schools, which are designed to meet the needs of their children and young people through:

Action 3.2.d

Adapt existing resources and training programs to provide educators with the skills to discuss mental health concerns about a child/student with their parents or carers, including provision of interpreting services where necessary.**

Be You supports educators to discuss mental health concerns with parents and carers through:

Equipping educators

Objective 3.3: Well-equipped educators

Educators are uniquely positioned to identify signs when children are struggling and to facilitate their connection with supports. However, they are not always provided with the knowledge or support to ensure they are capable and confident to do this effectively.**

Action 3.3.a

Develop professional learning courses/modules specifically designed for educators that focus on key mental health and wellbeing topics.**

Be You provides professional learning modules and other resources specifically designed to develop educators’ mental health literacy:

Action 3.3.b

Create clear processes to guide educators when concerned about the mental health of a student/child, including up-to-date information regarding the range of locally available or online support options for children and families (note role of wellbeing coordinators, see action 3.1.c).**

Be You provides tools and information to guide educators when they are concerned about the mental health of a child or young person:

Action 3.3.c

Provide designated wellbeing coordinator staff (see action 3.1.c) with appropriate training to undertake their role.**

Be You provides wellbeing coordinators (including any educator who is responsible for wellbeing coordination) with tools, guidance and ongoing professional development and networking opportunities through:

Be You is freely available

* While the Strategy focuses on actions to support early learning services and primary schools, Be You supports early learning services, primary schools and secondary schools.

** National Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy – Full Report, October 2021

Last updated: July, 2023