Around 50% of adult mental illness starts before the age of 14.
Further, around 1 in 7 school-aged children experience a mental health disorder each year.
Early intervention is a vital tool to prevent these issues snowballing and continuing into adulthood.
Psychologists have welcomed SA Labor’s commitment of $50 million, that if elected, will provide additional mental health support in schools, and most importantly, access to school-based psychologists.
At a national level, the Australian Psychological Society has called for a benchmark of at least 1 school-based psychologist per 500 students.
This announcement is a step towards ensuring high quality services, integrated within the learning environment, can adequately identify, refer, and intervene where necessary.
South Australia’s children – all children – deserve the best start in life, and psychological support sits at the heart of this.
For more information, or to arrange an interview call the APS Media team on 03 8662 3358 / 0435 896 444, or email. Find the APS Media team on Twitter: @AustPsych
The APS is the largest professional organisation for psychologists in Australia, representing more than 27,000 members. The APS is committed to advancing psychology as a discipline and profession. It spreads the message that psychologists make a difference to people’s lives, through improving psychological knowledge and community wellbeing.