, there is no one in the federal government specifically tasked with advocating for the wellbeing of children between six and 12 years old.
“Schools are where most children will be, but we haven’t done enough to support schools to draw on health and support services. We expect people to go and find help. But families with complex problems struggle to find the help they need. “I do worry a lot, particularly with comments like [that],” Sal said. “She’s quite responseless as to the reason why. I can’t really help her. I love her, but I don’t have the answers, and I’m not a psychologist. I don’t know how to make her feel better other than tell her I love her.”
Chief executive of Smiling Mind, Addie Wootten, said children fell into a legislative blind spot. “We’re seeing this escalation of problems, and that’s not surprising given where we’ve been with COVID and the impact on learning and development,” she said. For example, work on the national strategy is “continuing” and 17 mental health kids hubs for children up to 12 will be established around Australia. About 70 per cent of schools use Beyond Blue’s mental health initiative, while 230,000 teachers are subscribed to Smiling Mind’s digital tools.