Student Resource Package – Core Student Learning Allocation Funding (Student-Based Funding)

Mental Health Practitioners (Reference 119)

The Mental Health Practitioners (MHP) initiative provides funding to government school campuses with secondary enrolments to employ a mental health practitioner (mental health nurse, occupational therapist, psychologist or social worker) for between one and five days a week.

Mental health practitioners provide direct counselling support to students and other early intervention and whole-school health promotion activities, as well as coordinating support for students with complex needs.

For further information on the MHP initiative, refer to Mental health practitioners in secondary and specialist schools in the department’s Mental health and wellbeing toolkit.

Student Resource Package (SRP) funding is provided to cover the salary of an ongoing school-based mental health practitioner. All secondary school campuses will receive an allocation between a minimum of 0.2 FTE and a maximum of 1.0 FTE, depending on the number of their secondary student enrolments.

FTE allocations will be fixed from the release of the Confirmed SRP (April 2023) for 2 years. At the conclusion of the 2-year period, FTE allocations will be reviewed and adjustments will be made where schools have a significant increase in student enrolments.

This funding is provided for the Mental Health Practitioners initiative only and allocated funding must be spent for this purpose. Prior to spending any accrued unused funding, schools must engage with their Regional Mental Health Coordinator (MHC). Further information and advice about suitable alternative uses for unused funding can be found on the MHP initiative Policy and Advisory Library page or via Regional MHCs.

Please note, schools that participated in the 'Health Promoting Schools' pilot with Melbourne University and the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute will see a one-off increase in the cash component of their 2024 confirmed SRP payment. This increase covers the cost of CRT time-release for participating staff.

Eligibility

Funding is provided to Community, Language, Secondary and Primary/Secondary Combined campuses with secondary enrolments. Funding is also provided to Virtual School Victoria.

Funding is allocated as credit and cash funding.

The following schools/campuses do not receive this allocation:

• Frankston Special Developmental School
• Rubicon Outdoor School
• Outdoor School
• Bendigo Senior Secondary College – Netschool Campus

Calculation

Campus FTE allocation (Part 1) = Secondary enrolments × 0.0008119

Funding calculation (Part 2) = Campus FTE allocation (rounded to 1 decimal) × Rate

Rate

Rate = Midpoint of an Education Support, Level 1 Range 4, position including school SRP on costs