headspace is the National Youth Mental Health Foundation providing early intervention mental health services to 12-25 year olds, along with assistance in promoting young peoples’ wellbeing. This covers four core areas: mental health, physical health, work and study support and alcohol and other drug services.

Information and services for young people, their families and friends as well as health professionals can be accessed through this website, headspace centres, online counselling service eheadspace, the Digital Work and Study Service and postvention suicide support program headspace School Support.

headspace Clinical Reference Group oversee and approve clinical resources made available on this website.

Did you know?

One in four young people have experienced a mental health issue in the past 12 months – a higher prevalence than all other age groups. Alarmingly, suicide is the leading cause of death of young people, accounting for one third of all deaths.

Research shows that 75 per cent of mental health issues emerge before the age of 25. By treating these issues early and providing a holistic model of support, the risk of them developing into more serious problems is greatly decreased.

headspace outcomes

headspace undertakes a range of activities to increase the awareness of our services and how to access them among young people, their families, friends and the broader community.

A number of targeted national campaigns help headspace talk to hard to reach groups, such as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people, and encourage them to access support at headspace or other appropriate mental health services.

We’re proud to say that headspace has provided over 1.5 million* services (centres, online and phone) helping 255,000* young people.

To find out more about our statistics as of March 2016, please download further information here.

headspace centres

headspace centres are located across metropolitan, regional and rural areas of Australia. They are built and designed with input from young people so they don’t have the same look or feel as other clinical services. The centres are there to help people access health workers – whether it’s a GP, psychologist, social worker, alcohol and drug worker, counsellor, vocational worker or youth worker. You can find your nearest headspace centre here.

Services at a headspace centre are either free, or have a low cost. You can ask if there is a cost when you make your appointment. Some services require you to have a referral from a doctor; but don’t worry headspace can help you with this as well.

The role that headspace centres play in helping young people has been overwhelmingly effective, with 60 per cent of our clients showing significant improvement. The other 40 per cent are still on their journeys and are continuing to receive services at headspace or alternative services.

eheadspace

eheadspace is an online and telephone service that supports young people and their families going through a tough time.

If you don’t have a headspace centre nearby or you don’t feel ready to visit a centre, eheadspace provides confidential support seven days a week between 9:00am and 1:00am.

To access eheadspace for the first time, you’ll need to register on their website or over the phone. To register, you will need to provide some information like your email address, postcode and age.

Sessions generally go for 30 – 60 minutes, and if you’re receiving support from a headspace centre or another service they may ask your permission to speak with your health worker to ensure eheadspace is providing the best support. But like headspace centres, everything is completely confidential unless they’re seriously worried about your safety or the safety of someone else. When that happens, they must – by law – try to keep everyone safe and this means they might have to share their concerns with someone else.

eheadspace also holds monthly online information sessions where you can join group chats to talk on different things like sleep issues, self harm, helping out a friend and more.

Register and chat now at eheadspace, or call 1800 650 890.

As of March 2016, 55,390 young people accessed eheadspace, resulting in 185,459 sessions serviced by eheadspace mental health professionals.

Other Services

headspace School Support works with schools in Australia to prepare for, respond to, and recover from suicide. It’s an initiative that is funded by the Federal Government (Department of Health). For more information on the service, click here.

The headspace Digital Work and Study Service is an online and phone service for young people aged 15-24 years who need support with their work or study issues. The service can help young people figure out where they want to go and how to get there with work or study. Click here to find out more.

The headspace National Telehealth is for young people aged 12-25 years who are based in regional or rural areas in Australia and are already accessing support at a headspace Centre. This service requires a referral from a headspace centre which allows a young people to speak with a qualified psychiatrist online. Learn more here.

Confidentiality

When you talk to headspace, what you say is kept confidential. This means nothing you say can be passed on to anyone else without your permission. However, there are a couple of exceptions. If headspace is seriously worried about your safety or the safety of someone else they must – by law – try to keep everyone safe. This means they might have to share their concerns with someone else. For more information read our privacy policy or feel free to chat to headspace.

The above information is available here.

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