Student Resource Package – Targeted Initiatives

Mental Health in Primary Schools (Reference 130)

The Victorian Government is providing $200 million over 4 years and $93.7 million ongoing to expand the Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) initiative to every government and low-fee non-government primary school in Victoria.

In 2026 every primary school will receive funding to employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing. This funding is provided for the Mental Health in Primary Schools initiative only and allocated funding must be spent for this purpose.

Eligibility

All government school campuses with primary enrolments will receive MHiPS funding, including:

• Primary
• Primary/Secondary (primary enrolments only)
• Specialist (primary enrolments only)
• Language (primary enrolments only).

‘Secondary’ and ‘Camp’ schools and campuses are ineligible for MHiPS funding.

Funding is allocated through credit funding.

Calculation

Participating government school campuses receive funding at the Classroom Teacher 2 salary mid-point, plus on costs, to employ a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader. Each government school campus’ Full Time Equivalent (FTE) varies between 0.5 FTE to 1.0 FTE, based on primary enrolments.

Funding allocation = Rate (including school on-costs) × Base FTE

Rate

Rate = Classroom Teacher 2 mid-point salary plus school on-costs.

Enrolments used to calculate MHiPS funding will be updated at each SRP cycle (‘Indicative’ to reflect principal enrolment projections, ‘Confirmed’ to reflect February census enrolment and ‘Revised’ to reflect audited enrolments).

Schools that received Primary Welfare Officer funding in 2025

In 2026 all government schools will have transitioned from the Primary Welfare Officer (PWO) initiative to MHiPS.

All former PWO schools transitioning to MHiPS will receive the higher of either their:

1. PWO allocation in the year prior to transitioning to MHiPS
2. MHiPS allocation as calculated above.

Funding will appear under the MHiPS funding line in the SRP.

Contact information

For further information contact mentalhealth@education.vic.gov.au