Petition Mental health beds for adolescents in the Hume region

The petition of certain citizens of the State of Victoria draws to the attention of the Legislative Council that young people in country Victoria, especially in the Hume region, face severe disadvantage when experiencing mental health crises. There are no local adolescent inpatient beds. The only exceptions are two beds in Mildura and two beds in Traralgon, leaving central and northeast Victoria with nothing despite the Hume region and country Victoria serving more than 1.3 million people. Right now, adolescents in the Hume region experiencing a mental health crisis are admitted to emergency or adult wards. These are environments that are unsafe and inappropriate for their age. For families, the closest adolescent unit is in Box Hill, which is up to a four-hour drive depending on where they live and even then, there is no guarantee of a bed. Statewide, just four of Victoria’s 58 acute adolescent beds are located outside of Melbourne and not a single one is in the Hume region. The consequences are profound. Rural young people already face higher rates of mental illness and suicide, and without local services, these risks are magnified. Families are left unsupported, forced to choose between unsafe care or exhausting travel far from home.


The petitioners therefore request that the Legislative Council call on the Government to urgently fund and establish at least eight dedicated adolescent inpatient mental health beds in the Hume region to ensure that young people can access safe, timely and age-appropriate care close to home.