KidsMatter - Australian Primary Schools Health Initiative

Please note: KidsMatter provides information about the kinds of mental health issues that may affect children but does not provide direct advice or specific referrals.

If you are concerned about the mental health of your child it is best to get advice from a mental health professional with expertise in working with children. Getting help early for children who experience mental health difficulties is really important.

Knowing where to start – some options to consider

Talk to your school psychologist/counsellor

School psychologists and counsellors provide assessment and treatment for children with mental health difficulties. They advise parents and carers and school staff about helping individual children and may recommend specialist services outside of school. The school psychologist or counsellor at your school can listen to your concerns and discuss options for helping your child at home and at school.

See your General Practitioner

Your general practitioner will give you advice or help you decide whether further investigation and treatment is needed. As your family doctor will have your child’s medical history, they will be able to understand your family’s situation which will help them decide which path is the best for your child. A doctor’s referral is needed to be able to claim the Medicare rebate for mental health treatment from other professionals. To learn more about Medicare rebates for mental health services click here.

For more information about getting help for children’s mental health difficulties see the KidsMatter resource pack available here. For a list of organisations that can help with a range of issues affecting children and families see the KidsMatter ‘Other resources’ list relating to your specific concern. These can be found on the Resources webpage.

Telephone hotlines

To access telephone advice or counselling, please call:

Lifeline 13 11 14

Life line provides information and support for a range of different mental health issues. They offer crisis support and are able to give callers information about community services.

Kids helpline 1800 55 1800

Kids helpline is a service for children and youth aged between 5-25 years that offers telephone and web counselling, support, and information about a range of issues that affect children. There is a service that offers direct support for children and youth in accessing services.

Parentline

Parentline is a confidential telephone information, counselling, and referral service for parents and carers who have children up to 18 years of age. There are different offices for every state and territory. Each state and territory service has different opening hours. Click here to find out the contact hours for your state or territory.

Finding a mental health practitioner

The following sites provide web-based search functions that enable you to search for mental health professionals in your local area. Look for those who specialise in children’s mental health.

Find a Doctor or other Mental Health Practitioner on the beyondblue website. This service also enables you to find doctors, psychologists, counsellors, social workers and occupational therapists in your area who specialise in mental health.

Find a Psychologist – Australian Psychological Society web service. This database can help you identify a psychologist in your area who specialises in providing assessment and treatment for children.

The Yellow pages may also be useful for finding a mental health practitioner in your area.

There are also some websites that have search functions that are limited to a particular state or territory

• The Better Health Channel Health Services Search provides information on both private mental health professionals and public mental health services for all areas in Victoria. Select those that specialise in children’s mental health.
• The Government of Western Australia’s Department of Health Mental Health Service Directory can help you find mental health and support services in WA. Choose ‘Child and adolescent’ in the drop down Service type menu.
• The NSW Health website has a Search Health Services database in which you can find health and support services for children in NSW. Select ‘Child health services’ from the Service type menu and look for those that specialise in mental health.
• The ACT health website has a list of mental health and support services for children and their families in the ACT.
• The SACommunity website (formerly Infosearch) is a searchable health service database developed by CISA. It provides information on health and support services in South Australia. Search for ‘child mental health’ and select your local area.

For more information on the types of mental health professionals who can help with children’s difficulties see the KidsMatter overview titled How mental health difficulties affect children.

Find out more

More information on specific mental health difficulties for children is available in the KidsMatter Primary resource packs. These are available for download from the Resources webpage. There are packs that contain detailed information about child anxiety, depression, ADHD, behavioural problems, and Autism Spectrum Disorders. These packs also contain practical suggestions for supporting children’s mental health and provide links to support agencies.