Universal Children’s Day: VMHPAA Calls for Stronger Commitment to Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing

Shane Warren
6 days ago
2 min read

MEDIA RELEASE

For Immediate Release

20th November 2025

Universal Children’s Day: VMHPAA Calls for Stronger Commitment to Children’s Mental Health and Wellbeing

This Universal Children’s Day, the Vocational Mental Health Practitioners Association of Australia (VMHPAA) celebrates the joy, creativity, and limitless potential of every child; while calling for urgent action to ensure that all children can grow up safe, supported, and mentally well.

Universal Children’s Day highlights the fundamental rights of children everywhere: to be safe, to be nurtured, to learn, to play, and to be heard. In Australia, increasing rates of childhood anxiety, behavioural distress, family hardship, and social pressures remind us that children’s mental health requires the full attention of governments, schools, families, and communities.

VMHPAA Chair Shane Warren reflected on the day: “Children don’t just inherit our world, they inherit the systems we build and the care we provide. Their wellbeing isn’t a luxury; it’s a responsibility we all share. When we invest in children’s emotional and psychological health early, we shape a stronger, kinder, and more resilient Australia.”

Secretary and relationship counsellor Susan Sandy, who has spent decades working with families across diverse communities, added: “Every child deserves to feel safe, valued, and supported. When we strengthen the network around children - parents, carers, educators, and community practitioners - we give them the foundation they need to thrive.”

VMHPAA emphasises the vital role of vocationally trained counsellors, youth workers, community service practitioners, lived-experience professionals, and early-years specialists, who work every day at the grass roots in homes, schools, neighbourhoods, and community centres, to support children’s emotional wellbeing.

On Universal Children’s Day, VMHPAA calls for:

Increased investment in early intervention and community-based mental health support for children
Recognition of vocationally trained practitioners as essential to early-years wellbeing strategies
Policies that prioritise safety, inclusion, and emotional development
A national framework that embeds mental health into childhood development from the start