Thousands of young Australians will get the help they need to
overcome problems like depression and anxiety, after the Federal
Government announced the locations of fifteen more
headspace centres.
In welcoming the announcement headspace CEO
Chris Tanti said the growing number of centres will extend the
important work headspace is doing to help young
people aged 12-25 get their lives back on track.
"Through our existing 40 headspace centres
we've already assisted more than 71,000 young
people deal with personal problems - helping many of them
find a better path as they head into adulthood," Mr Tanti said.
"As we grow to 90 centres by 2015 we'll be seeing an estimated
72,000 young people each and every year."
The 15 locations announced by the Federal Government today
are:
New South Wales: Richmond Valley Hinterland
(Lismore), Sydney - South West (Liverpool), Sydney - South East (St
George/Canterbury), Sydney - Northern Beaches, Sydney - Sutherland
(Cronulla)
Victoria: Melbourne - West (Werribee),
Melbourne - Inner East (Kew), Melbourne - North
(Craigieburn/Seymour)
Queensland: Moreton Bay East, Rockhampton, Mt
Isa, Brisbane - City
Western Australia: Rockingham, Perth - North
West (Joondalup)
South Australia: Adelaide West.
Mr Tanti said the beauty of the headspace model
is the ability to offer mental and general health services, alcohol
and drug support and vocational services all under the one
roof.
"When young people walk into a headspace in
Werribee or Rockhampton, it will be the first time they are able to
access all these services in the one place, making it as easy as
possible to get help."
Mr Tanti said headspace is particularly excited
to announce that Mt Isa in Queensland will now be a stand-alone
headspace centre.
"Mt Isa has been identified as a community of high need for
headspace services due to its history of mental
health problems in young people, large youth population and extreme
remoteness," he said.
Determining the location of the new headspace
centres is based on several considerations to ensure that
headspace delivers services in the areas of
greatest need. They include, but are not limited to: the
distance from existing headspace centres; the
number of young people in the area; population growth; social and
economic disadvantage; accessibility of the location and the
readiness of the location to set up a headspace
centre.
The process to determine locations for centres is done in
consultation with the Department of Health and Ageing,
headspace and the State and Territory Governments.
The final decision is made by the Commonwealth Government. (See
more information about the centre expansion process
here.)
The new headspace centres will be operational
in 2014 and will bring the total number of
headspace centres to 70.
(See current headspace centre
locations here
.)
The new centres are part of the $197.3 million funding
commitment for headspace announced in the May 2011
Federal Budget. There are currently 40 headspace
centres operating across Australia with a further 15 getting ready
to open their doors in early 2013.
For more information about headspace or to
access youth mental health support visit
headspace.org.au
headspace media contact:
Carly Wright
0413 025 385
cwright@headspace.org.au
Notes: new headspace locations
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NSW
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Sydney - South West (Liverpool)
The centre will extend the headspace coverage
in the Sydney metropolitan area into the middle
and outer south west, improving access for this large youth
population of over 35,000. The centre will complement existing
headspace services in Parramatta, Mt Druitt and
Penrith (opening 2013).
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Sydney - South East (St George/Canterbury)
With a youth population of approximately 30,000, a centre in
South East Sydney will further strengthen the Sydney headspace
network, and is an important link in providing good access for
young people across the entirety of suburban Sydney.
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Sydney - Sutherland (Cronulla)
The headspace centre will serve the high youth
population of 39,500 and will link the Shire of Sutherland into the
headspace network. The centre will extend
headspace's presence in Sydney's south.
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Sydney - Northern Beaches
A headspace centre for the northern beaches of
Sydney will provide access to youth mental health services for the
large youth population of 35,500 living in the region. It will
service Manly and the surrounding suburbs.
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Richmond Valley Hinterland (Lismore)
The new headspace centre will benefit the large
youth population of over 25,000 young people living in the coastal
and hinterland Richmond Valley in Northern NSW. Lismore is
approximately a 3 hour drive from the closest
headspace centre in Coffs Harbour.
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VIC
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Melbourne - West (Werribee)
The City of Wyndham is the fastest-growing municipality in
Victoria and the fourth-fastest in Australia. Centring around
Werribee, the area has a youth population of over 50,000. The new
headspace centre will bridge the gap between
headspace centres in inner Western Melbourne and
Geelong.
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Melbourne - Inner East (Kew)
The headspace centre will serve the high youth
population of around 66,000 existing in the inner eastern suburbs
including Kew, Hawthorn, Camberwell, Box Hill and Balwyn. It will
bridge the gap between the soon to open centre in the outer east
(Knox) and headspace Collingwood.
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Melbourne - North (Craigieburn/Seymour)
This headspace centre will provide services for
the rapidly growing outer northern Melbourne community, with a
current youth population of approximately 44,000 expected to grow.
It will extend the reach of headspace's existing
service in Glenroy.
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QLD
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Moreton Bay East
An important link in the Brisbane headspace
network, Moreton Bay East will provide local access for over 30,000
young people. The centre will support the expanding Brisbane
population and service areas out of the existing Brisbane centres
reach.
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Brisbane - City
An inner city centre for Brisbane will provide access for young
people living, working or going to school in central Brisbane. With
a youth population of 46,000 the headspace centre
will bridge the gap between the existing Brisbane
headspace centres in the suburbs of Inala and
Nundah.
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Rockhampton
The new Rockhampton centre will
strengthen the Queensland headspace network,
providing local access to headspace for over
20,000 young people. This will be the first
headspace centre in central Queensland, with the
closest headspace centre approximately 4 hours
away on the Fraser Coast.
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Mt Isa
Mt Isa has been identified as a community of high need due to
its relatively large population of young people, extreme
remoteness, high cost of living and transient population. In
addition, there are remote indigenous populations to the north (up
to the Gulf of Carpentaria) and south (down to the NSW border) that
would benefit from having access
to headspaceservices.
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WA
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Rockingham
The Rockingham centre is one of two new outer
Perth locations that will bring headspace into
reach for many more young West Australians.
Rockingham has a youth population of over 40,000 primary centre
in Western Australia south-west of
the Perth city centre.
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Perth - North West (Joondalup)
Joondalup is the primary urban centre in Perth's outer northern
suburbs with a large youth population of over 40,000 in the
surrounding suburbs. The centre will extend
headspace's services further north of the centre
in Osborne Park.
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SA
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Adelaide - West
The headspace centre will be an important
addition to the Adelaide network and will provide better access to
a large youth population of 36,000 spanning from the city out
through the western suburbs. The centre will bridge the gap between
the headspace centres in the North (Elizabeth) and
South (Noarlunga) of Adelaide.
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