A new, dedicated support hub providing free, trauma informed mental health care for young people across Canberra has now launched.
The Youth Trauma Service, delivered by Uniting, offers support for young people aged 13 to 17 years, or up to 18 years if attending school. It is the first of its kind in Australia and provides flexible, innovative trauma therapy and inclusive support for those with complex needs.
Located in Lyneham, the new service is co-located with existing mental health services – headspace Primary Care and headspace Early Psychosis – to form a new youth services hub. This enables strong collaboration across the sector to ensure young Canberrans can get the right care at the right time. GPs and other service providers can refer to this service directly while young people, families and carers can also self-refer.
The Youth Trauma Service has commenced operations with an early cohort, allowing timely access for young people and enabling service providers to actively shape service provision and models of care with the benefit of lived experience.
The outreach model, referral pathways and opening hours will continue to be refined through co-design workshops before the service expands to the wider community. The workshops will also decide on a new name for the service.
To refer a young person or to access the service visit uniting.org/youth-trauma-act
The Youth Trauma Service forms a key part of the ACT Government's Youth at Risk Project and is jointly funded by the ACT and Australian Governments with more than $4 million committed over two years.
