policy & reform
campusreview.com.au
Federal funds
for student
mental health
Government finally commits to tackling the mental
health issues of university students.
By Loren Smith
The anxiety I had around transitioning from high school to
university was pretty intense. I was the first person in my family
to go to university, so I kind of didn’t have that background
knowledge from my mum and dad. It’s that thing of ‘not
knowing what to expect’ that pushed my anxiety really high …
Things started to go downhill for me academically and I was
trying to talk to my tutors about how I was feeling … I was always
being told, “No, it’s going to be fine, you’re going to be fine.”
– Natasha, university student
N
atasha, who featured in a video accompanying youth mental
health organisation Orygen’s 2017 report, Under the Radar:
The Mental Health of Australian University Students, may
soon gain more assistance for her anxiety thanks to a new, national,
$660,000 university mental health framework.
Announced by Health Minister Greg Hunt, the framework will be
developed by Orygen in collaboration with universities and other
mental health organisations. Additionally, Hunt earmarked $9 million
for Orygen’s National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health.
Although the framework will be voluntary, Hunt said universities
will be incentivised to adopt it to minimise attrition rates.
A preamble to the Orygen report, which precipitated the framework,
noted that “a combination of risk factors such as lack of sleep, poor
diet, drug and alcohol misuse, financial stress, dis/relocation and
performance expectations all culminate and impact on the mental
health of a young person at this time of life, in this environment.
“University counselling services have reported increased demand
and an increase in severity and complexity of presentations.
The majority believe they are unable to meet expected/core service
12
delivery with their current staffing profile.
“Many universities are developing policies and responses but are
left to do so without national leadership, guidance or additional
resourcing and support. Overseas, nationally coordinated responses
have enabled collection and monitoring of data, the sharing of
best practice across universities and a stronger platform for further
advocacy on this issue.”
Universities Australia acting chief executive Anne-Marie Lansdown
said the framework aims to address these issues.
But what do students actually want and need?
Jasper,* who studied at the University of Wollongong, thinks
that one issue the framework could cover is the lack of visibility of
university mental health services. “Sometimes, when you’re really
troubled, you don’t think to even reach out.”
This notion resonates with Linus Faustin. As a postgraduate
international student at Bond University, he was crippled with
depression. It was only after his tutors reached out that he realised he
had a problem.
Churchill fellow and psychiatry registrar Dr Benjamin Veness, a
student mental health advocate, thinks the biggest issue with student
mental health is that universities don’t consider it a core priority.
“I would love to see a ‘health in all policies’ approach, particularly in
academic policies,” he said. By this, he means mental health should
be considered in situations like granting assignment extensions,
supporting a student’s reintegration after a break from uni, and even
in teaching styles.
“Are we teaching in a way that helps build students’ confidence and
maximise their opportunities to succeed?” he posed.
For the framework to be truly effective, he thinks it requires more
than token student input. “That’s the bit that’s often missed in these
kinds of projects,” he said.
Three-quarters of mental disorders emerge in people aged under
25. Aside from its potentially devastating individual consequences,
mental illness is expected to cost the global economy $16 million
over the next two decades; twice the estimated cost of cancer. ■
*Name has been changed.