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A Rising Tide of Youth Mental Distress Requires a National Shift in Mental Health Policy

AWARENESS STATEMENT

‘Danger zone’ for mental health, says global study

13 May 2025


A Rising Tide of Youth Mental Distress Requires a National Shift in Mental Health Policy
A Rising Tide of Youth Mental Distress Requires a National Shift in Mental Health Policy

The Vocational Mental Health Practitioners Association Australia (VMHPAA) welcomes and affirms the findings of The Lancet Psychiatry global report on youth mental health, as featured in The Australian on 15 August 2024.


Led by esteemed Australian psychiatrist Professor Pat McGorry, this landmark study offers a sobering insight: youth mental ill-health has surged by 50% in 15 years, and Australia ranks among the hardest-hit nations. Among women aged 16-24, nearly half now report experiencing a mental health issue, a devastating rise compounded by economic instability, social media saturation, climate anxiety, and the long-tail effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.


“This is not just a youth mental health crisis, it’s a systemic failure in how we support the emotional wellbeing of young people during their most vulnerable years,” says Shane Warren, Chair of VMHPAA, who cut his teeth in counsellor as a youth worker for many years. “The voices in this report echo what our members witness daily: too many young Australians are falling between the cracks of a fragmented, underfunded system.”

The article confirms that while public awareness has grown, services remain inaccessible, under-resourced, and uncoordinated, particularly for those in the “missing middle” - young people too unwell for primary care but not acute enough to qualify for crisis interventions. VMHPAA shares concern for the long waitlists at services such as Headspace, the absence of adolescent public beds, and the unaffordability of private mental health care.


But this crisis is not unsolvable.


As the report urges governments to bridge the funding and delivery gaps in community-based mental health care, VMHPAA reiterates the critical role of vocationally trained professionals in providing scalable, accessible, and culturally responsive support.


Our membership includes:


  • Diploma-qualified counsellors

  • Youth and community workers

  • Peer and lived experience practitioners

  • Mental health support workers

  • Social and welfare practitioners across schools, community organisations, and rural regions


These professionals are embedded in the communities they serve. They are often the first point of contact for young people in distress and are well-positioned to provide triage, de-escalation, and sustained psycho-social support if they are empowered to do so.


“We need to widen, not narrow, the door to care,” says Susan Sandy, VMHPAA Secretary and long-time relationship and youth mental health counsellor. “Every day, vocational practitioners are already doing the work. What they need is formal recognition, clearer commissioning pathways, and inclusion in national strategies.”

VMHPAA calls on state and federal governments to:


  • Fund and commission vocationally trained mental health practitioners as part of a tiered national workforce model

  • Release economic modelling on unmet psychosocial support needs

  • Commit to a National Agreement that includes community-based, culturally safe care for young people

  • Prioritise upstream, early interventions delivered through schools, youth services, and community hubs

“This study makes the case clearly: mental ill-health is the number one cause of lost potential in young people, and it’s getting worse,” says Philip Armstrong, VMHPAA CEO. “The system must move from crisis response to prevention and support. The time to act is now.”

At VMHPAA, we remain committed to advocating for a broader, more inclusive, and grassroots-informed mental health system that recognises the diverse skills of all practitioners, because every young person deserves to be seen, heard, and supported.


Media Contact:

Shane Warren, Chair

Susan Sandy, Secretary

Philip Armstrong, CEO

VMHPAA



 
 
 

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