Mental Health Council Supports Tasmanian Labor School Mental Health Policy

The Mental Council of Tasmania would like to express support for the announcement made today by
the Hon. Rebecca White MP, opposition spokesperson for health, on the Tasmanian Labor policy to
introduce compulsory social and emotional learning (SEL) programs into the school curriculum in
Tasmania.

Through this proposed initiative, Tasmanian Labor have acknowledged the need for widespread
prevention and early intervention initiatives in schools that will assist Tasmanian children to build
resilience and develop the skills to maintain their own mental health and emotional wellbeing.

“We are pleased to see that whilst we are focussed on reforming the mental health system to deliver
a better model of care for everyone, this policy addresses the need to ensure we are actively putting
measures in place that will prevent mental illness and equip our children to assess how they are
feeling and confidently seek help when they need it,” said Mental Health Council of Tasmania CEO,
Connie Digolis.

“By starting initially in Primary schools and making it part of the compulsory curriculum, this
initiative seeks to guarantee that no child will fall through the cracks in terms of providing them the
best chance we can offer to build their social and emotional wellbeing skills at this crucial stage of
life.”

“It is the hope of the Mental Health Council that this policy be adopted with bipartisan support as
part of the ten year plan for reform the ‘Rethink Mental Health Project.’ Labor has proposed that
this program will have no additional costs as part of the budget so it will be important that it is
adequately resourced in order to have maximum impact for Tasmanian children, said Ms Digolis.”

Advice on how to report sensitively and accurately on mental health and suicide can be found at:

http://www.mindframe-media.info/for-media

Download policy …

SEL_policy_final.pdf
Catherine Delpero Communications Officer|Mental Health Council of Tasmania