The Herald Sun
A shortage of psychologists is creating a mental health crisis in schools, as "fearful" parents are forced to wait months for an appointment for their child.
There are about 700 psychologists working in schools in Victoria of which twothirds work part-time data from the Australian Psychological Society reveals.
There is one psychologist for every 1500 students but Victoria is way behind the benchmark set by the APS one psychologist for every 500 students.
APS chief executive Zena Burgess said many schools did not even have a qualified psychologist.
"While students are waiting for treatment, they're getting worse," she said.
Dr Burgess said parents had become "desperate and fearful".
"They hear on social media about children self harming, children attempting suicide or committing suicide and they're fearful what the pathway will be for their own child," she said.
Monash University professor Nicole Rinehart, who has been a clinical psychologist for the past 20 years, said children wanting to see a psychologist outside school also have to wait six to 12 months.
Prof Rinehart said waiting lists at some children's clinics in Victoria have completely blown out.
She said this was due to an increased demand for services, as the number of children diagnosed with neurodevelopmental conditions, such as ADHD, anxiety and depression surged during the pandemic.
"Children are still very much recovering from the pandemic," she said. "We have high rates of school refusal, even two years down the track.
"I really feel for the teachers, they've already got so much on their plates." Australian Education Union Victorian branch deputy president Justin Mullaly said the state government should "step up" and "do much more" to attract and retain school psychologists.
"Before the pandemic, there was a significant shortfall of psychologists in schools, and now the current shortages makes securing enough staff to support the mental health and wellbeing of students very difficult," he said.
Dr Burgess also called on the federal government to free up more positions in postgraduate psychology training and placement to address the shortage.
A Department of Education spokesman said all government secondary and specialist schools were funded to employ a mental health practitioner for up to five days a week.
"Government schools also have access to departmentbased teams of psychologists, social workers and speech pathologists who support schools with student mental health, wellbeing and other needs," they said.