Mental Health Fund and Menu

Policy

The purpose of this policy is to provide guidance on how schools can plan for and implement the Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu initiative to support student mental health and wellbeing.

Summary

• In recognition of the important role schools play in supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children and young people, the department has created the Schools Mental Health Fund (the Fund) and evidence-based Schools Mental Health Menu (the Menu).
• The Fund is underpinned by the evidence-based Menu. The Menu is a list of endorsed programs, staff and other supports that schools can use to improve the mental health and wellbeing of their students in line with the individual needs of their school.
• The department has developed a School Mental Health Planning Tool to support and simplify schools’ decision-making processes when planning their mental health and wellbeing interventions from the Menu.
• To support schools to purchase items off the Menu, all Victorian government schools now receive the Fund.
• Following a staged rollout, as of Term 1 2024, all Victorian government schools receive the Fund.
• Refer to the Guidance tab for detailed information and resources on the Fund and Menu, including guidance on the funding model, the categories of mental health supports available to schools and the School Mental Health Planning Tool.

Details

The Victorian Government has invested $217.8 million over 4 years to support student mental health and wellbeing, including approximately $200 million over 4 years and $86 million ongoing to create a Schools Mental Health Fund (the Fund). Underpinning the Fund is the evidence-based Schools Mental Health Menu (the Menu).

Recommendation 17 of the landmark 2021 Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System recognised the important role schools play in providing universal support for the mental health and wellbeing of young Victorians. The Royal Commission acknowledged that mental health and wellbeing is an important issue for all students. In response, the department established the Fund which focuses on positive mental health promotion and whole-school approaches. Underpinning the Fund is the evidence-based Menu.

Schools Mental Health Menu

The Menu is a list of endorsed programs, staff and resources that can support schools to improve the mental health and wellbeing of their students in line with their established priorities. The Menu helps schools to make informed choices on how to spend their funding.

The Menu is designed to give schools confidence to identify programs, staff and resources from the Menu that improve the mental health and wellbeing outcomes of their students.

Providers included on the Menu meet a range of criteria, including:

• evidence of program effectiveness in supporting student mental health and wellbeing outcomes
• alignment with department priorities
• ease of implementation by schools
• availability of providers
• cost-effectiveness.

The Menu includes programs, staff and resources across 3 tiers of support that were externally assessed for how well they support student mental health and wellbeing, ensuring schools can access a range of supports to meet their needs.

The 3 tiers are:

• Tier 1: Positive mental health promotion
• Tier 2: Early intervention and cohort specific support
• Tier 3: Targeted support

Schools are encouraged to have a strong and sustained focus on Tier 1 to promote student wellbeing actively and to reduce risk factors that lead to poor mental health outcomes.

The Menu is publicly available and provides Catholic and independent school sectors with insight into effective evidence-based programs and resources to support student mental health and wellbeing.

School staff can keep up to date with professional development opportunities to help them implement the Fund and Menu by following the department’s Student Mental Health Branch Arc page.

Related policies

• Alcohol and Other Drugs — Students
• Annual Implementation Plan
• Bullying Prevention and Response
• Behaviour — Students
• Casual Relief Teachers
• Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes
• Child Safe Standards
• Data Collection and Surveys
• Doctors in Secondary Schools
• Equal Opportunity and Human Rights — Students
• Family Violence Support
• Framework for Improving Student Outcomes
• Mental Health in Schools
• Procurement — Schools
• School Review
• Student Engagement
• Student Resource Package — Overview
• Suicide Prevention and Response
• Working with Children and other Suitability Checks for School Volunteers and Visitors

Relevant legislation

• Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act 2006 (Vic)
• Child Wellbeing and Safety Act 2005 (Vic)
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth)
• Disability Standards for Education 2005 (Cth)
• Education and Training Reform Act 2006 (Vic)
• Education and Training Reform Regulations 2017 (Vic)
• Equal Opportunity Act 2010 (Vic)

Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu

This guidance is designed to give schools best practice guidance in accessing and implementing the Schools Mental Health Fund and the Schools Mental Health Menu and contains the following chapters.

• Background
• Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu objectives
• Schools Mental Health Fund model and procurement advice
• Schools Mental Health Menu
• School Mental Health Planning Tool
• Case studies

Background

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System was undertaken between 2019 to 2021 and highlighted the important role of education settings in promoting positive mental health and wellbeing.

The Royal Commission recommended that the Victorian Government:

• funds evidence-informed initiatives, including anti-stigma and anti-bullying programs, to assist schools in supporting students’ mental health and wellbeing
• develops a digital platform that contains a validated list of these initiatives
• develops a fund, modelled on School Readiness Funding for kindergartens, to support schools, with priority given to those in rural and regional areas, to select the most appropriate suite of initiatives for them.

The government accepted all recommendations of the Royal Commission and the 2021–22 Victorian State Budget provided $200 million over 4 years and $86 million ongoing to create the new Schools Mental Health Fund (the Fund). Underpinning the Fund is an evidence-based Schools Mental Health Menu (the Menu), which aims to give schools the confidence to select, purchase and implement mental health and wellbeing programs that best meet the needs of their students, and to connect with specialist services where required.

The role of schools in supporting mental health and wellbeing

The Victorian Government is committed to improving student outcomes across our state. By focusing on wellbeing alongside learning, schools will support the ongoing development of children and young people, supporting them to thrive, contribute and respond positively to challenges and opportunities in life.

For most people, mental health issues emerge when they are young. Half of all mental disorders emerge by the time people are 14 years old and three quarters by 25 years old – the same period when most people are in education. Schools play a key role in providing a positive and inclusive learning environment for all students and equipping young people with wellbeing skills and capabilities to support their learning and wellbeing.

We know that:

• a student’s ability to learn is influenced by their wellbeing and a student's wellbeing is influenced by their engagement in learning
• schools provide positive and nurturing environments for students to develop a sense of belonging, the ability to develop positive and respectful relationships and communicate and collaborate effectively, the capacity to regulate their emotions and a positive regard for their physical health and safety
• by building high resilience, schools equip students with the skills and capabilities they need to tackle current and future challenges to their wellbeing and mental health
• schools play an important role in identifying signs of mental health issues, providing early support, and referring students to health services.

The role of student voice in improving mental health and wellbeing in schools

Victoria’s vision for learning and wellbeing recognises the fundamental importance of empowering students and the contribution that student voice, agency and leadership make to improved student health, wellbeing and learning outcomes.

We know that young people who are empowered by school leaders and educators to find their own voice in supportive school environments are more likely to develop a confident voice, a capacity to act in the world, and a willingness to lead others. We know that when student voice, agency and leadership is authentically enabled, there is a positive impact on self-worth, engagement, purpose and academic motivation, which contribute to improved student learning and wellbeing outcomes.

Schools are encouraged to ensure student voice informs how they design and implement mental health and wellbeing approaches and engage with the Fund and Menu. The Amplify practice guide for school leaders and teachers provides useful advice on how to create the conditions, employ the practices and develop the behaviours, attitudes and learning environments that are conducive to student voice, agency and leadership.

The Inclusive student voice toolkit (DOCX) has been designed to complement the Amplify practice guide, and provides resources to support the voice, agency and leadership of students with disability.

Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu objectives

The Schools Mental Health Menu (the Menu) is designed to give schools confidence to make informed choices on how to spend their funding on programs and interventions that meet their students’ mental health and wellbeing needs. The Menu and supporting resources enable school leaders to better understand their school’s mental health and wellbeing needs and to identify appropriate interventions to improve student health and wellbeing outcomes.

The Schools Mental Health Fund (the Fund) and Menu build on an existing suite of health and wellbeing programs and interventions in schools including:

• Doctors in secondary schools
• headspace counselling for secondary students
• Mental Health in Schools
• Mental Health in Primary Schools
• Primary Welfare Officers
• Mental Health Practitioners in Secondary Schools
• Victorian School Nursing Program
• Behaviour – Students
• Student Support Services
• Respectful Relationships
• School-wide positive behaviour support framework

The Fund and Menu are designed to address the following objectives:

• implement Recommendation 17 of the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System with fidelity
• provide schools with evidence-based options to support student mental health and wellbeing
• ensure primary and secondary schools can access a range of supports including prevention, early intervention and targeted support
• provide a framework for schools that supports them to choose the right evidence-based interventions
• scale up existing department or other government funded programs and services that support student mental health and wellbeing
• work with providers to improve access and offer new evidence-based services and programs for schools
• evaluate and develop the Menu over time to ensure quality, impact and value for money.

Schools Mental Health Fund model and procurement advice

The Schools Mental Health Fund (the Fund) is allocated directly to government schools through SRP cash and credit allocations. The Fund will be released annually in line with the 3-year roll-out schedule and in line with regular SRP timelines (indicative, confirmed and revised SRP cycle).

The funding model comprises:

• $25,000 base allocation amount for all schools
• additional enrolments-based funding for schools with 251+ students
• a 10% additional loading for rural and regional schools. This is in response to the Royal Commission’s call for a particular focus on rural and regional schools
• a moderately higher per student rate for primary school settings (applied after enrolment threshold is reached). This is in response to the Royal Commission’s recognition that secondary schools are typically larger and many already have access to several department-funded mental health programs (including Mental Health Practitioners, GPs in schools, headspace counselling)
• a 60/40 credit/cash split acknowledging the implementation priorities for the Fund and Menu.

More information on the Fund can be found on the Student Resource Package – Targeted Initiatives page.

The following arrangements apply. Schools:

• must only use their Fund allocation to purchase programs, staff or resources from the Menu
• may use a component of their Fund allocation to fund relief teachers to enable school staff to attend professional learning or other activities related to implementation of the Menu
• can use additional funds to purchase programs, staff or resources from the Menu, for example Equity Funding (social disadvantage or catch up)
• must spend and acquit their Fund allocation during the calendar year the funding was received. The department’s Credit Carryover Policy applies to any unspent credit component of the Fund at the end of each calendar year. For more information on the Credit Carryover Policy, refer to: Student Resource Package – Managing the Budget: Credit Carryover Policy.

Reporting and acquittal

The department’s Strategic Online Planning Tool (SPOT) captures school intentions to use the Fund and Menu. Schools are required to identify planned activities that utilise Menu items and planned Fund expenditure within schools’ annual implementation plans (AIPs).

Schools can also report on their progress in implementing funded activities via SPOT, in line with existing AIP processes. The funding planner supports schools to consider how they will use allocated Equity Funding, Disability Inclusion Tier 2 Funding and Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu.

Schools are supported to acquit fund spending with project codes for salary and cash expenditure in CASES21. The Schools Mental Health Fund: instructions for reporting expenditure is a step-by-step guide on reporting credit and cash expenditure.

Procurement

Schools are expected to follow the Rules of use when using their Fund allocation to purchase from the Menu. Following the Rules of use will support schools to ensure they:

• receive the best value for money offering
• have the required oversight in place to monitor service quality and other specifications
• comply with legislative and procurement policy requirements.

All procurement documentation must be stored by schools for audit purposes. Resources and templates are available to support schools to meet their procurement obligations at each step, and this includes procedural advice on procurement thresholds.

Engaging staff

If schools choose to employ new staff or extend current staff to support their mental health and wellbeing priorities as part of this initiative, advice on important considerations regarding eligibility and suitability can be found at Recruitment in Schools. The Skills checklist assists schools to understand the skills and qualifications necessary for staff to be employed in schools when using the Fund. All professionals working in schools should be engaged according to the department’s employment protocols.

To contract a health service or mental health professional to provide mental health services to students, schools can use the School council health services agreement (DOCX) (staff login required). More information on engaging staffing, including mental health professionals, can be found in the Procurement rules of use.

Aggregated buying

Schools may choose to collaborate with other schools to address common mental health and wellbeing objectives. Pooling funding may help schools to:

• access programs, staff or resources from the Menu that are beyond the reach of a single school’s allocation, yet are identified as a collective need by multiple schools in a local area
• support a larger community-focused initiative that needs sustained support to result in long-term practice change
• strengthen links with local schools and other education settings, enabling a more collaborative approach to identifying and meeting the needs of children and families in the local community.

Advice on how schools can pool funding or enter an aggregated buying arrangement are available at Rules of use.

Schools Mental Health Menu – 3 tiers of supports

The Schools Mental Health Menu (the Menu) includes programs, staff and resources across the 3 tiers of support. All Menu items were externally assessed for how well they support student mental health and wellbeing, ensuring schools have access to a range of options to meet their needs.

There are 3 tiers of support:

• Tier 1: Positive mental health promotion
• Tier 2: Early intervention and cohort specific support
• Tier 3: Targeted support

A strong and sustained focus by schools on Tier 1 is encouraged to promote student wellbeing actively and to reduce risk factors that lead to poor mental health.

When delivered early enough, universal prevention programs can prevent the onset of mental ill-health by helping to establish protective factors. This includes developing coping skills in young people, improving emotional regulation processes and contributing to creating a more positive, inclusive and supportive school environment. This can minimise social risks for mental ill-health, such as bullying or poor teacher-student relationships.

Since even small effects of universal programs can produce life-long outcomes, improvements and significant real-world impact, there is a strong argument in favour of these programs (Orygen Evidence Summary: A review of secondary school-based mental health prevention programs).

As well as increasing a person's opportunity and choices in life, promoting mental health and wellbeing as a core role in education helps students:

• flourish in their learner journey
• build resilience against adversity
• develop protective factors against mental ill-health
• gain the skills and confidence to self-seek help for early intervention.

Menu categories

Tier 1: Positive mental health promotion

Universal interventions to help schools to create a positive, inclusive and supportive school climate, building the preconditions for optimal student learning, development and wellbeing.

Tier 1 includes the following.

Whole-school approach to positive mental health

Programs, training and resources that target the whole school (leaders, teachers, staff, students, parents and carers) to embed safe, positive school cultures and learning environments.

Social and emotional learning

Programs, training and resources designed to support delivery of the Victorian Curriculum F–10 and to assist students to gain the knowledge and skills needed to understand and regulate their emotions, behaviour and relationships with others and build resilience effectively.

Wellbeing animal programs

Programs, training and resources that use wellbeing animals to improve student mental health and wellbeing.

Mental health literacy

Programs, training and resources focused on:

• understanding mental health and associated risk/protective factors
• recognising, managing and preventing mental ill health encouraging help seeking behaviours
• building staff capability to notice when students may be showing signs of mental health issues.

Eating disorders support

Programs, training and resources that support students to develop a positive body image, healthy attitude and behaviours towards the body, eating and physical activity and encourage help seeking.

Alcohol and drug education

Programs, training and resources to support schools to provide students with effective alcohol and drug education.

Bullying prevention

Programs, training and resources designed to identify, address and prevent all forms of bullying.

Local community-led mental health interventions

Place-based initiatives and partnerships with local organisations designed to support positive mental health.

Peer support

Programs, training and resources focused on equipping students with strategies, skills and tools to provide safe and appropriate support to peers. These programs increase students understanding of mental health, destigmatise mental health and promote help seeking. Refer to the Peer support fact sheet for schools (DOCX) for more information.

Tier 2: Early intervention/cohort specific

Early interventions and those for specific cohorts of students complement universal interventions and provide essential additional support for students with specific needs or vulnerabilities.

Tier 2 includes the following.

Therapeutic programs

Programs and interventions delivered by professionals for groups of students that reduce the impact of mild mental health problems.

Trauma informed programs

Programs and interventions designed to raise awareness, provide management tools or tailored support for students who have experienced trauma or adverse life experiences.

Disaster, grief and loss programs

Programs and interventions designed to raise awareness, provide management tools or tailored support for students who have adverse life experiences including natural disasters, grief and loss.

Support for diverse cohorts

Programs and interventions designed to improve cultural safety and inclusion, and address racism and discrimination for students, including Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students, lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans and gender diverse, intersex, queer, questioning and asexual (LGBTIQA+) students, students from refugee backgrounds and students with disability.

Tier 3: Targeted support

Interventions for individuals or small groups of students with emerging or diagnosed mental health needs or students experiencing mental ill health. These must be delivered by a trained mental health and wellbeing professional, such as a psychologist, social worker or occupational therapist in a school or community setting. Interventions can be offered in person, online, by phone or hybrid (a combination of virtual and in-person modes). A full list of mental health and wellbeing professionals that schools can purchase are in the Skills checklist.

School Mental Health Planning Tool

The School Mental Health Planning Tool (the Tool) is designed to help schools better understand the mental health and wellbeing needs of their school and to select programs, staff and resources from the Schools Mental Health Menu (the Menu) that can improve mental health and wellbeing outcomes for students. The Tool provides a framework to simplify schools’ decision-making process when planning their mental health and wellbeing interventions from the Menu.

The Tool is informed by the Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO) Improvement Cycle to support a logical planning process and includes statements and questions for schools to discuss with their wellbeing and school improvement teams. The Tool highlights the importance of student voice to inform school planning and approaches. The Tool also navigates users to other relevant supporting information and resources.

The Tool guides schools to:

• utilise available data to inform their assessment of student mental health and wellbeing needs
• identify the strengths and capabilities their school already has, that can help address student needs and inform their school’s approaches
• better understand challenges or gaps in provision that require attention
• consider their capacity to implement and sustain interventions with a view to ensuring the measures are practical and appropriate to their own unique context.

The Planning Tool is a fillable PDF form and will need to be saved to your computer before completing in Adobe Acrobat.

Schools are encouraged to submit their completed tool via the ‘submit’ button in the form or census@education.vic.gov.au to enable high-quality program monitoring and evaluation.

Case studies

Victorian schools have drawn on a range of implementation models to successfully improve outcomes in student mental health and wellbeing over time. These stories of success and best practice are summarised below.

Case study 1: Rural primary school

A rural primary school has 102 students. An analysis of the Attitudes to School Survey (AtoSS) data indicates a downward trend in school connectedness. The school decides to implement Positive Education, a whole-school approach to positive mental health. In addition, the school also engages an Arts Therapist for specific cohorts to reduce the barriers experienced by some students, and trains one staff member in Community Understanding and Safety Training (CUST) delivered by community members associated with Local Aboriginal Education Groups and Koorie Engagement Officers to support the high number of Koorie students at the school.

Case study 2: Metropolitan P-12 college

A large P-12 college in metropolitan Victoria has 2,611 students. The school has students from a wide range of backgrounds and wants to ensure that teachers have the skills and knowledge to meet the students’ needs through cross-cultural responsiveness training. The school has also identified a higher number of students experiencing mental health issues. The school trains some of its teachers in Youth Mental Health First Aid to ensure early identification of students at risk and the school employs a school psychologist at 1.0 FTE and ensures support from SSS is integrated into their processes. The school also has plans to engage a teacher to provide additional wellbeing support to primary students. This teacher will have the portfolio and time allocation to build the capability of staff to embed the school’s social and emotional learning program. Finally, the school engages a dog therapy program to support small groups of students experiencing anxiety and school refusal.

Resources

The Menu

• Schools Mental Health Menu
• Schools Mental Health Menu summary (DOCX)
• Schools Mental Health Skills Checklist (DOCX) (staff login required) – outlines the professional roles, key activities and minimum expected qualifications of staff available for schools to purchase through the Menu

Planning tools

• Schools mental health planning tool (PDF) (staff login required) – this resource is a fillable PDF form that school staff will need to save to their computer before completing. It is designed to help schools better understand the mental health and wellbeing needs of their students and to simplify their decision-making process for selecting items from the Menu
• Strategic Planning Online Tool (SPOT) – the department’s strategic planning online tool for schools
• Mental health and wellbeing toolkit – provides expert guidance and resources on mental health and wellbeing promotion and support aimed at schools, their communities, health and wellbeing workforces and mental health practitioners
• Inclusive student voice toolkit (DOCX) – provides resources to support the voice, agency and leadership of students with disability

Factsheets and guidance

• Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu factsheet (DOCX) – provides an overview of the design, roll out and implementation of the Fund and Menu
• Whole school approaches factsheet (DOCX) – summarises whole school approaches that are available on the Schools Mental Health Menu
• Koorie Education Workforce and schools factsheet (DOCX) – provides information for the Koorie Education Workforce (KEW) and schools on how the Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu can support the wellbeing and mental health needs of Koorie students
• Peer support factsheet for schools (DOCX) – provides an overview of peer support and information about how schools can implement peer support programs or purchase related services, programs or professionals from the Menu
• Schools Mental Health Fund: instructions for reporting expenditure (DOCX) – provides guidance to schools on reporting both cash and credit expenditure transactions for the Fund
• Procurement rules of use (DOCX) (staff login required) – provides guidance to schools to ensure compliance with departmental procurement policy and procedures when purchasing items from the Menu

Other resources

• Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System final report – provides 65 recommendations that set out the reforms needed to transform Victoria’s mental health system, including one directly related to education (Recommendation 17)
• Framework for Improving Student Outcomes (FISO 2.0) policy – provides tools and resources to assist schools to implement the FISO 2.0
• Student Mental Health Branch Arc page – a suite of professional learning sessions and recordings to assist school staff in familiarising themselves with the Fund and Menu