Around 1 in 7 Australian children will experience a mental health disorder each year. However, there is a significant gap between needs for mental health services and the accessibility and availability of mental health services for children in Australia. This unmet need is likely to be even larger for children living with a mental health disorder in regional, rural or remote (RRR) Australia. Along with reduced access to high quality health and mental health services, RRR children are more likely to be exposed to a number of adverse early life experiences that result in poorer long-term mental health outcomes, including social disadvantage, domestic and family violence, poorer access to high quality early education, and natural disasters. Thus, this workstream aims to advance understanding of the mental health of children and families in RRR Australia. The workstream will examine a) the mental health needs of this population; b) the availability and accessibility to appropriate child and adolescent mental health services in RRR communities; and c) how we can leverage and apply digital technologies and interventions to improve child, adolescent and parent mental health in RRR communities.

Please email Manna Institute if you’d like to know more about this research group or express your interest to join here.