Mental Health Fund and Menu

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.