Tuesday, 22 March 2022

Mental health in schools program

Mr HALSE (Ringwood) (19:09): (6279) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Education. The minister recently shared online a statistic that in 2019–20 the recurrent Victorian government expenditure exceeded $15 500 per government school student. This is a point of pride. As a Labor government we continually invest in our young people and their education. Victoria was, it should be noted, the first Australian state to make education free, secular and compulsory for all students aged six to 15 no matter where they come from or what their home looks like. We continually invest in this outstanding legacy of making sure that everyone has access to a fantastic education.

In my electorate alone over my term as the member for Ringwood the Andrews Labor government has invested more than $47 million in our local schools, building outstanding facilities. But although world-class facilities are fantastic and a great starting point, education, as we know, is about much more than infrastructure. It is about much more than the academics. It is a holistic investment in future generations and every single angle of wellbeing and educational pursuit and growth. Buildings are fantastic, and building brand new buildings is a fantastic achievement, but what really matters is that holistic approach.

Our mental health practitioners in secondary schools program utilises this safe space and gives children and young students access to the types of facilities that they need to make sure that their education is holistic. A year ahead of schedule we have put a mental health practitioner in every single government secondary school in my electorate of Ringwood, of which there are three. The action I seek from the Minister for Education is to provide an update to the house on this program’s implementation in secondary schools in Ringwood and what levels of support it will open up for the typical Ringwood student.