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Mental Health Practitioners initiative

Policy last updated

16 October 2026

Scope

  • Schools

On this page

Date:
24 Jan 2024

Policy

Policy

This policy outlines how schools plan for and implement the Mental Health Practitioners initiative, to provide students with access to support from qualified mental health practitioners.

Summary

  • Under the Department of Education’s Mental Health Practitioners (MHP) initiative, all government secondary schools and specialist schools with secondary-aged students are funded to employ a suitably qualified MHP.
  • MHPs are fully qualified psychologists, social workers, occupational therapists, mental health nurses or counsellors of a prescribed class.
  • MHPs work to enhance mental health promotion and prevention activities in the school by building the capability of teaching staff and school leadership to identify and respond to changes in student mental health and wellbeing.
  • MHPs provide time-limited direct counselling and other early intervention services for students experiencing mild to moderate mental health concerns.
  • MHPs coordinate supports for students with complex needs, including proactively working with other departmental Health Wellbeing and Inclusion Workforces (HWIWs) and external health professionals to engage further support as required.
  • Refer to the Guidance tab for more information and resources on the MHP initiative.

Details

The Mental Health Practitioners (MHP) initiative, operating in both secondary schools and specialist school settings with secondary enrolments, was established to boost schools’ capacity to support the mental health and wellbeing of their students.

The initiative provides funding to schools to employ a suitably qualified school-based MHP, who must be a fully qualified:

  • nurse with a specialisation in mental health
  • occupational therapist
  • psychologist
  • social worker
  • counsellor of a prescribed class.

MHPs must also:

  • for qualified psychologist, occupational therapist and mental health nurse applicants, be fully registered with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA)
  • for qualified social work applicants, be eligible for registration with the Australian Association of Social Workers
  • for qualified counsellor applicants, have completed a Bachelor of Counselling or a Master of Counselling and be a practicing/fully qualified member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) or the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA).

MHPs are employed at the Education Support (ES) classification Level 1 Range 4. All MHP positions must be advertised as ongoing unless employing an additional MHP or backfilling an MHP who is on leave. Refer to the specific qualification and registration requirements and guidance on recruitment: Recruiting a mental health practitioner.

MHPs report to the school principal (or their delegate) and work flexibly within the school’s existing wellbeing team across the 3 tiers of support by:

  • enhancing mental health promotion and prevention activities in the school by:
    • embedding mental health promotion and prevention strategies and programs
    • building the capability of teaching and school leadership staff to manage student health and wellbeing
    • contributing to whole school health and wellbeing plans
  • providing early intervention and supports for students with mild to moderate mental health needs, including counselling support for individual students and/or small groups
  • coordinating supports for students with complex needs by proactively working with regional staff and other health professionals where required.

Funding

Funding to employ an MHP is provided to schools through the Student Resource Package (SRP). Funding for secondary schools is under ‘Core Student Learning Allocation Funding’ in the SRP (Reference 119). Funding for specialist schools is under ‘Targeted Initiatives’ in the SRP (Reference 131).

Schools experiencing persistent recruitment challenges can apply to use MHP initiative funding in different ways to support student mental health. Mental health coordinators (MHCs) are available to support with this process.

Informed consent must be sought from a parent/carer (or the student if they are 18 years or older) before an MHP provides individual/small group intervention or counselling support to students. Schools must use the MHP consent form to obtain informed consent.

Where a relevant school staff member (such as a teacher, year level coordinator, MHP or principal who knows the student sufficiently well) considers the student to be a mature minor for the purpose of the decision to engage with an MHP, refer to the guidance chapter on Referral and consent processes, and the Mature Minors and Decision Making policy.

Schools must follow the MHP referral and consent process outlined in the guidance section when referring students to an MHP.

Contact

Regional mental health branches support schools and MHPs to implement the initiative effectively and make sure it meets the school’s specific needs. For more details, go to the guidance chapter Regional supports for schools.

Regional contacts for schools:

In addition to their regional contacts, schools can direct general queries about the initiative to: mental.health.practitioners@education.vic.gov.au

Guidance

Guidance

This guidance contains the following chapters:

  • Recruiting a mental health practitioner
  • Mental Health Practitioner initiative funding
  • Mental health practitioner scope of practice
  • Regional supports for schools
  • Practice supports for Mental Health Practitioners
  • Disability and mental health
  • Referral and consent processes
  • Student risk assessment and safety planning
  • Complaints process

Recruiting a mental health practitioner

Recruiting a mental health practitioner

Qualifications and registration requirements

Mental health practitioners (MHPs) must:

  • hold a Bachelor qualification or specialist/post graduate qualification (where applicable) in one of the following disciplines:
    • nursing with a specialisation in mental health
    • occupational therapy
    • psychology
    • social work
    • counsellor of a prescribed class
  • for fully qualified nursing, occupational therapy and psychology applicants, hold full registration with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency
  • for fully qualified social work applicants, be eligible for membership with the Australian Association of Social Workers
  • for qualified counsellor applicants, have completed a Bachelor of Counselling or a Master of Counselling and be a practicing/fully qualified member of the Australian Counselling Association (ACA) or the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia (PACFA)
  • have demonstrated direct counselling experience
  • hold a current Working with Children Clearance and meet the requirements of all other suitability for employment checks – refer to Suitability for Employment Checks.

The MHP qualifications checklist (DOCX)(opens in a new window) outlines the full list of minimum requirements and desirable characteristics for each profession.

Schools are responsible for ensuring that MHPs maintain current full (that is, not student or provisional) registration during their employment tenure. This includes annual registration checks to ensure the currency of MHP’s registration status.

School mental health and wellbeing needs

Schools are strongly encouraged to advertise broadly for a MHP, across all 5 discipline areas (mental health nurses, occupational therapists, psychologists, social workers, counsellors of a prescribed class) to broaden the pool of applicants from which to select. Refer to the Resources tab for the MHP position description, recruitment template and other supports.

Recruitment documentation

Schools are required to use the standard MHP position description which outlines the core requirements of the role. The position description template is available on the School Jobs Vic(opens in a new window) platform. When creating a job posting, schools are required to select option ‘9 – Mental Health Practitioner’ for Selection Criteria, Role, Responsibilities, and Who May Apply. Schools must also include their school context in the position description, ensure the employment status reads ‘Ongoing’ and select ‘Mental Health Practitioner’ under role type, making the posting visible to applicants searching for MHP vacancies.

To read more on advertising, recruiting and attraction strategies, refer to the Recruitment advice (DOCX)(opens in a new window) (staff login required).

Selection panel

Schools are strongly encouraged to include a regional mental health coordinator (MHC) on their interview panels for MHP recruitment. At least one panel representative should have in-depth knowledge or experience in the mental health field.

Recruitment support for schools

MHP initiative central team: mental.health.practitioners@education.vic.gov.au

School Jobs Vic and schools recruitment support: schools.recruitment@education.vic.gov.au

Schools can also contact their regional MHC for support with MHP recruitment.

Alternative funding

Schools with persistent recruitment challenges must contact their regional mental health branch for support with short-term alternative options that may include submitting an Alternative Funding Plan to the department.

For contact details, go to the guidance chapter Regional supports for schools.

Mental Health Practitioner initiative funding

Mental Health Practitioner initiative funding

Mental health practitioner FTE funding allocations via the Student Resource Package

Schools receive funding for a mental health practitioner (MHP) via the Student Resource Package (SRP) based on student enrolment numbers. Confirmed MHP funding is communicated to schools every 2 years via the SRP Guide.

Indicative FTE, released in September/October of the year prior, provides an indication of the likely FTE a school will receive in the confirmed SRP based on enrolment projections and may be used only for planning purposes.

FTE allocations are fixed from the SRP confirmed budget for a period of 2 years. At the conclusion of the 2-year period, MHP FTE funding allocations are reviewed and adjustments made to account for significant enrolment increases.

A school may wish to increase the FTE of an MHP using additional funding sources. This can include (but is not limited to) using funding from the Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu. Schools are encouraged to contact their mental health coordinator (MHC) to discuss funding options.

Surplus FTE

Where a school receives an increase to their FTE via the SRP, they are encouraged to discuss the willingness and availability of their existing MHP to increase their work hours. If the existing MHP does not have the capacity to increase their work hours and there is only a minimal FTE increase (for example, 0.1 or 0.2 FTE), rather than attempt to recruit to this small time fraction, a school can consider allocating the surplus funding to mental health programs, resources and training instead.

Schools must contact their MHC in these instances to develop and record a plan and agreement for the use of the surplus funding.
When recruiting an MHP, schools must advertise the full FTE outlined in the SRP.

Cash allocation

Schools receive MHP initiative funding through the SRP and it is split into a 94% credit allocation for salary costs and 6% cash allocation for non-salary costs including essential equipment (for example, secure filing cabinet, mobile phone) and professional development opportunities for MHPs. The cash component is not transferrable to other budget areas, even if not expended.

Schools are encouraged to discuss appropriate expenditure of unused funding with their MHC. Further information regarding initiative funding can be found on Student Resource Package – Targeted Initiatives.

School facilities

To ensure student privacy and confidentiality is maintained, schools must have a dedicated consulting space that is:

  • secure
  • private
  • appropriately soundproofed for counselling.

Schools must pay for any refurbishments or extra building work needed. For more information refer to the Building Quality Standards Handbook, section 5.5: Acoustic engineering(opens in a new window).

Mental health practitioner scope of practice

Mental health practitioner scope of practice

Mental health practitioners (MHPs) report to the school principal (or their delegate) and work flexibly within the school’s existing wellbeing team across the 3 tiers of support. The MHP role includes:

  • enhancing mental health promotion and prevention activities in the school by:
    • embedding mental health and wellbeing strategies and programs across the school
    • building the capability of teaching and school leadership staff to manage student health and wellbeing
    • contributing to whole school health and wellbeing plans
  • providing early intervention supports for students with mild to moderate mental health needs, including counselling support for individual students and/or small groups
  • coordinating supports for students with complex needs by proactively working with regional staff and other health professionals where required.

All MHPs are employed under the Victorian Government Schools Agreement (VGSA 2022) as a Mental Health Practitioner. MHPs must be a fully qualified:

  • mental health nurse
  • occupational therapist
  • psychologist
  • social worker, or
  • counsellor of a prescribed class.

While some MHPs have the qualifications to complete tasks such as cognitive assessments or Disability Inclusion Profiles, these tasks are not part of the MHP role.

MHPs have an intentionally broad job description to ensure that they can meet the unique needs and priorities of their school community.

Schools must understand and uphold the boundaries of the MHP role. This is because schools don’t have the same clinical governance and risk management as clinical environments (for example, hospitals).

In scope MHP activities

This guidance lists what MHPs must do, can do and must not do in their role. MHPs and schools are strongly encouraged to speak with their regional mental health branch if they are unsure if an activity fits in the scope of practice.

MHPs must:

  • comply with the Child Safe Standards
  • comply with the Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes policy
  • undertake mandatory reporting where needed
  • conduct risk assessments and write safety plans for students
  • report critical incidents where appropriate
  • record activities on departmental reporting platforms, for example, supportED
  • raise any concerns they have with their principal or line manager.

MHPs can:

  • undertake time-limited direct counselling (approximately 6 to 8 sessions, depending on the needs of the student) for students presenting with mild to moderate mental health concerns support groups of students with key mental health and wellbeing topics, like exam stress or sleep hygiene
  • build school staff capability on mental health and wellbeing issues
  • contribute to a whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing
  • undertake mental health promotion activities
  • facilitate referrals to internal and external services where needed.

Out of scope activities

Certain activities are out of scope for MHPs. These are:

  • managing high-risk student presentations alone. Presentations are high-risk if they are assessed by the MHP as presenting risk or safety concerns or where the mental health concern is having a significant impact on the student
  • counselling students who ‘drop in’ to the wellbeing space without providing informed consent
  • providing specialised or tertiary level counselling to students with complex presentations. For example, complex trauma, victims of sexual abuse, treatment of eating disorders or psychosis treatment
  • direct counselling support for school staff (school staff can access the Employee Wellbeing Support Services (EWSS) if required) or parents/carers
  • discipline-specific functions that fall outside of the MHP role (for example, mobility assessments by occupational therapists or cognitive assessments by psychologists)
  • observing classrooms without consent
  • conducting home visits, transport to appointments or outreach sessions outside of the school
  • conducting behaviour management
  • completing funding applications, such as Disability Inclusion Profile assessments and reports
  • leading the development of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) or behaviour support plan
  • leading Student Support Group (SSG) meetings
  • leading teams of staff (for example, wellbeing coordinators)
  • leading curriculum or independently supervising a class
  • providing career advisory services
  • providing professional supervision to other staff members
  • undertaking prevention or promotion activities or providing direct individual or group therapy to primary school students.

Records management

MHPs and schools must use supportED for student referrals and school-level service delivery.

The supportED platform supports users to comply with the department’s Records Management policy for the creation, management, storage, and disposal of school records.

The platform offers a secure space for storing and managing all case information. Access is tailored to a school’s wellbeing team structure and its roles.

MHPs must comply with the department’s Digitisation Action Plan for MHP initiative records.

For more information on supportED, please go the guidance chapter Practice supports for Mental Health Practitioners or go to supportED – Home (staff login required)(opens in a new window).

Regional supports for schools

Regional supports for schools

Regional mental health branches

Regional mental health branches provide oversight and support to schools implementing the department’s Mental Health Reform initiatives including:

Each regional mental health branch comprises the following roles:

  • Regional Mental Health Manager (RMHM)
  • Mental Health Coordinators (MHCs)
  • Mental Health Engagement Coordinator (MHEC)
  • Project Officers.

Regional Mental Health Managers provide regional level oversight of mental health reform initiatives.

Project Officers provide administrative support for the MHP initiative.

Mental Health Coordinators support MHPs in their role by:

  • acting as a point of contact for schools
  • supporting recruitment of MHPs, including as a selection panel member
  • coordinating professional supports and professional learning for MHPs
  • leading progress monitoring and reporting activities.

Mental Health Engagement Coordinators support MHPs in their role by:

  • giving expert advice on the intersection between disability and mental health
  • building MHP capability on how to effectively deliver supports to students with disability
  • supporting MHPs to educate school leaders about the importance of making sure education and mental health supports meet student need through reasonable adjustment
  • identifying what helps or stops students with disability using mental health services and other supports.

Contact the regional mental health branch

Schools can contact their regional mental health branch on the links below:

For general inquiries related to the MHP initiative, please contact mental.health.practitioners@education.vic.gov.au or read:
Mental Health Practitioners initiative: Mental health practitioner practice supports.

Practice supports for Mental Health Practitioners

Practice supports for Mental Health Practitioners

MHP Resource Hub

The MHP Resource Hub (Hub) gives MHPs access to a range of high-quality, evidence-based tools and resources to support their practice and ongoing professional development. The Hub is password-protected and can only be accessed by MHPs, Mental Health Coordinators (MHCs) and Mental Health Engagement Coordinators (MHECs). MHPs are given access credentials to the Hub by the Central MHP initiative team upon commencement of their employment.

MHP Practice Advice Line

The department has partnered with Orygen for the provision of a Practice Advice Line service available to all MHPs. The service provides MHPs with an opportunity for secondary consultation and practice support from senior clinicians at Orygen who have highly developed expertise in youth mental health. MHPs are given access to the Practice Advice Line when starting in their role. The service is available between 9:00 am and 5:00 pm every day of the school year. MHPs can also call Orygen for on-demand support or to pre-book consultations of up to 60 minutes duration.

MHP group supervision

The department has partnered with Orygen to deliver group supervision for MHPs. Group supervision enables the MHP workforce to connect and reflect on their practice with peers, in a safe and supported environment, facilitated by an experienced clinical supervisor. Regular participation in Group Supervision supports MHPs in their professional practice, promotes continuous learning, and assists them to deliver high-quality mental health support within school settings. It also supports MHPs to meet the continuous professional development and supervision requirements of their relevant professional association/registration body.

Professional supervision

As school-based departmental employees, MHPs receive access to a range of professional supports including their school-based line manager, their school’s health and wellbeing team, the Education Support Class Performance and Development Process, MHCs and the Employee Wellbeing Support Services (EWSS). While clinical (discipline specific) supervision is the responsibility of individual MHPs, professional supervision is provided to MHPs.

MHPs will have access to regular professional supervision including reflective practice activities, professional learning, workshops and discussion and de-briefing opportunities via the MHC and MHEC. Schools may also fund professional learning opportunities relevant to their MHP. A discussion between the MHP and school principal is encouraged to determine if this is an appropriate option.

supportED – case management platform

supportED is a case management platform for MHPs, principals and school wellbeing teams. The department rolled supportED out in schools in Term 3, 2026 to replace the MHP Caseload Reporting Tool (CRT). MHPs and schools must use supportED for new student referrals and school-level service delivery. Access to the CRT platform will continue until the end of 2026 to support the transition.

supportED streamlines how schools manage MHP referrals and related student records. The platform offers a secure space for storing and managing all case information. Access is tailored to a school’s wellbeing team structure and its roles.

supportED benefits schools by:

  • providing one platform to manage MHP referrals, service delivery, and student support
  • helping schools follow the Records Management policy
  • keeping sensitive student information safe
  • pulling information from CASES21. This reduces double-handling and administrative workload
  • collecting data in a consistent way. It presents MHP demand and delivery using dashboards.

For more information on supportED including access requests, login, training and support, please go to supportED – Home (staff login required)(opens in a new window).

Disability and mental health

Disability and mental health

Mental Health Practitioners (MHPs) offer various support options for the mental health and wellbeing of students with disability. The following supports are available to MHPs to support them with this work.

Regional Mental Health Engagement Coordinators

Regional Mental Health Engagement Coordinators (MHECs) give expert advice on the intersection of disability and mental health. They help to build skills for providing effective support to students with disability.

MHPs can access a MHP Inclusive Resources SharePoint run by the MHECs. This site has resources that focus on the intersectionality of mental health and disability.

To get support from a MHEC, contact the school’s regional mental health branch:

Mental Health Practitioners and Disability Inclusion

MHPs can play a range of roles for Disability Inclusion, including:

  • individualised support: providing supporting information as a ‘specialist’ for students they directly support. For example, by noting the advice, or support provided in intervention records, or by attending Student Support Group (SSG) meetings
  • informing or supporting school-wide supports: supporting schools to develop and embed whole of school approaches
  • capacity and capability uplift: delivering professional learning on mental health and wellbeing issues based on the school’s need.

MHPs must not lead the development or coordination of Disability Inclusion Profiles. Where appropriate, they can contribute or participate in the process.
MHPs must only provide supporting information for student Disability Inclusion Profiles when they have done one of the following:

  • provided or are providing direct one-to-one support to a student
  • consulted with the school or family on a specific issue
  • provided targeted intervention at the Tier 2 level.

For more information, go to: Disability Inclusion: increased support for students with disabilities(opens in a new window)

Inclusive Classrooms

Inclusive Classrooms provides many high quality courses. They offer blended and fully online options. These include 'Supporting Students with ADHD Traits' and 'Supporting Students with Autism'.
Courses are made for Department of Education school staff. This includes teachers, education support staff, and school leaders. The goal is to help them improve their skills in inclusive practice.

MHPs can register for courses, and all course participation is fully funded.

For more information, go to: Inclusive Classrooms professional learning program(opens in a new window).

Referral and consent processes

Internal referrals

Where schools have an established wellbeing team, referrals must be made through the wellbeing lead or equivalent in the school. The wellbeing lead is responsible for ensuring internal referrals made fit within the mental health practitioner (MHP) scope of practice, that is, students with mild to moderate concerns.

Where the MHP is the school’s wellbeing lead, referrals to the MHP service by students, staff or parent/carer(s) must follow the school’s agreed referral process before they are accepted.

A referral is required prior to each intervention/service an MHP conducts with an individual student or student group. Schools may use their own internal referral process when referring a student to the MHP. Schools may also use the department’s template referral form (DOCX)(opens in a new window) which includes key elements such as the reason for referral. In addition to providing the MHP with the reason for referral, school staff should consider providing the MHP with information on:

  • general student demographic information
  • prior assessments, for example, behaviour/social emotional assessments, learning difficulties, prior risk assessments
  • previous engagement with allied health professionals (where relevant)
  • attendance records
  • known diagnoses.

Once a referral to the MHP service has been accepted, informed consent (from the parent or carer or, where applicable, from students directly) is required before an MHP can provide direct support to students. For consent to be informed, the parent/carer and student must be advised:

  • of the details of the service, including the purpose of the service
  • what information will be collected and how the information will be used and shared
  • that they can withdraw from the MHP service at any stage.

Schools must seek informed consent prior to service provision from an MHP. Blanket consent (for example, consent for the provision of all future services to be provided sought at the beginning of a school year/term) is not considered informed consent and therefore cannot be used by schools.

Schools must use the MHP consent form (DOCX)(opens in a new window) to obtain informed consent.

The consent form must be signed by a parent/carer prior to a service commencing (unless a student is over the age of 18 or considered a mature minor).

If written or electronic consent cannot be obtained, verbal consent can be obtained via telephone or web conferencing. All of the information contained in the consent form must be communicated and a clear and thorough record of the conversation documented. The MHP consent form is available in English. The MHP consent form must not be translated to ensure that all of the information in it is consistent and not lost.

The department provides funding for interpreting and translation services to support communication with parents and carers of children and young people:

  • who are enrolled in Victorian government schools
  • whose parents are from a language background other than English and require communication to be undertaken in their first language.

Schools and MHPs must use the department’s Interpreting and translation services if parents/carers need help to understand and give informed consent.

Referrals to external mental health services

In situations where students need to be referred to external services, MHPs will follow existing processes in place at the school. Where existing processes for external referral have not been established, the mental health coordinator (MHC) will work with the school to establish an appropriate process.

Mature minors

In some circumstances, a student may consent to engaging with an MHP on their own behalf, if an appropriate school staff member considers the student to be a mature minor (as outlined below) for the purpose of making that decision.

In accordance with the department’s Mature Minors policy, a student may ask to make schooling decisions on their own behalf, without the involvement of their parents. In those circumstances, the appropriate school staff member may assess whether the student is a mature minor with respect to providing consent to receive the MHP service. There is no specific age when a young person may be considered sufficiently mature and capable of making their own decision.

Assessing a student as a mature minor

When considering whether a student is a mature minor for the purposes of providing informed consent, the appropriate school staff member can take into account the extent to which the student understands:

  • what the MHP service involves
  • what the MHP service is for
  • why the MHP service is needed
  • why it applies to them
  • the potential consequences of engaging with or not engaging with the MHP service
  • how the information they provide to the MHP service will be used and in what circumstances their information might be shared with others
  • any other options available (if relevant).

The MHP can make their own judgement as to whether the student is a mature minor for the purpose of providing informed consent for the MHP service.

If an MHP considers a student to be a mature minor for the purpose of receiving mental health support via the MHP initiative, the student can self-refer and sign their own consent form.

For more information, refer to Mature Minors and Decision Making.

If a referral is received but appropriate consent is not received, the MHP service is unable to proceed, and this must be documented by the MHP.

In these circumstances, schools should work with the parent/carer and student to consider other suitable support options including referrals to external agencies. Refer to the Resources tab for referral options.

Informed consent that has been granted at a point in time for a student to receive MHP support can be withdrawn at any time and services must cease if consent is withdrawn.

Privacy, confidentiality and information sharing

The MHP consent form details how a student’s privacy and confidentiality is safely managed and outlines the circumstances under which the disclosure of student information to the principal (or delegate) may be required.

An MHP may disclose student information to an appropriate staff member in particular circumstances on a ‘need to know’ basis to perform primary functions.

Such circumstances include:

  • supporting student education
  • social/emotional wellbeing
  • reducing risk of harm to student or others
  • making adjustments or providing a safe workplace.

For more information, refer to Privacy and Information Sharing.

File transfers

Schools must share student information when students transfer out of the school. They must also receive student transfer information when students transfer into the school.

When a student file is transferred between MHPs at Victorian government schools, the requesting MHP must fill out an MHP file transfer form (DOCX)(opens in a new window). This must also happen for student files transferred between an MHP and a non-government or interstate school. MHPs must send the form to the MHP or relevant staff member at the previous school. MHPs can, and must, share information about students on a 'need to know' basis. This means that MHPs only share information necessary, for them to do their job. This must be within the privacy rights of the individual. Information shared must be shared within the Child and Family Violence Information Sharing Schemes.

For more information visit: Legal obligations and child safety frameworks(opens in a new window).

CASES21 must be used to transfer student information between Victorian government schools. In addition to this, an MHP or relevant staff member can share 'need to know' information:

  • over the phone or in person
  • by email
  • in hardcopy, by giving copies of relevant student records, sent by registered mail.

Sensitive student information sent by email must:

  • be encrypted
  • include sensitivity labels.

For more information about student file transfers between schools, go to: Enrolment: Student transfers between schools.

Student risk assessment and safety planning

Student risk assessment and safety planning

Mental health practitioners (MHPs) may conduct a mental health risk assessment in response to an incident or emergency, or where there are significant concerns for the student's wellbeing. This includes, but is not limited to, suicidal ideation, self-harm, substance misuse and other risk-taking behaviour, a sexual offence, physical violence and suspicions, disclosures or incidents of child abuse.

A risk assessment must occur if there is a serious risk to the student’s safety. In this circumstance, appropriate reporting procedures need to be undertaken to address the student’s safety in line with the department’s reporting obligations. If a student is engaged with the MHP service as a result of a risk assessment, consent must be sought via the MHP consent form.

Refer to: Managing and Reporting School Incidents (Including Emergencies) and Child Abuse (including grooming) – Identification and Response.

Schools may develop a student safety plan as part of the risk assessment process. If needed, a safety plan must be adapted to include:

  • student safety at school and online
  • informing parents/carers of increased risk as it occurs (if this would not give rise to a safety or wellbeing risk for the student)
  • diffusion and regulation strategies to manage risk at school
  • safe people and places in the school
  • thresholds for involving emergency services, for example, an ambulance, police, DFFH and Child Protection.

Instances such as self-harm and attempted suicides must be documenting using the department’s safety plan template – refer to Self-Harm and Attempted Suicide Response.

Mandatory reporting

All school staff, including MHPs, have a range of reporting and legal obligations to protect children and young people from abuse. School staff must be aware of and comply with their legal obligations to report suspected child abuse and provide ongoing appropriate support.

MHPs must comply with mandatory reporting obligations under the Children Youth and Families Act 2005 (Vic) with the MHP following the requirements of a ‘mandatory reporter’.

MHPs must also be aware of and comply with their legal obligations to report suspected child abuse and provide ongoing appropriate support.

MHPs must follow the Four Critical Actions(opens in a new window) where there is an incident, disclosure or suspicion of child abuse. The Four Critical Actions outline who an incident, disclosure or suspicion should be reported to.

When dealing with an incident, disclosure or suspicion of child abuse, staff should ensure that the principal and school leadership team is made aware of the concern and are involved in providing ongoing appropriate support.

If an incident or allegation involves an employee, volunteer or contractor at the school, staff must also follow the department policy on Reportable Conduct and report the incident to the department's Conduct and Integrity Division on 03 7034 6768.

Where a school staff member has reported a concern to Child Protection but they continue to have concerns for the child after Child Protection has closed the case, they may escalate the matter through Child Protection complaints management processes or reporting concerns from the principal to their regional area executive director.

Failure to disclose the information may be a criminal offence unless there is a ‘reasonable excuse’ or an individual has an 'exemption' from doing so.

For further information, refer to Child Abuse (including grooming) – Identification and Response.

Complaints process

Complaints process

If parents/carers or students would like to make a complaint about the mental health practitioners service, they can use the Parent Complaints policy. This policy sets out the whole-of-department parent complaint-handling framework, across all 3 tiers of the complaints process (school, regional office and central office). This policy is intended for all people who might need to access the department’s parent complaint process, including parents, mature minors, school staff, regional office staff and central office staff.

Resources

Resources

Recruitment support

Professional supports for MHPs

Other departmental wellbeing initiatives and supports

The department also has a range of programs and initiatives to build the capacity and capability of schools to respond to a range of issues and support the mental health and wellbeing of students.

Schools can contact their regional and area-based Health, Wellbeing and Inclusion Workforces (HWIW) to engage with:

Critical incident support

Mental Health Practitioners are not responsible for leading management of a critical incident.

External referral options for mental health services

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