Big boost for youth mental health across Great South Coast

Media Release

A team of newly-trained Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructors is coming to a community near you, further increasing the number of trained Mental Health First Aiders ready to support our young people.

These new Instructors will be delivering courses across the Great South Coast Region including Warrnambool, Moyne, Corangamite, Glenelg and Southern Grampians Shires.  This complements the Teen Mental Health First Aid training that is also being delivered in the majority of the Secondary schools across the Great South Coast.

With a focus on school staff, parents, carers and community leaders the Youth Mental Health First Aid course teaches adults the signs and symptoms of common mental health illnesses, where and how to get help when a young person is developing a mental illness and how to provide first aid in a crisis situation.

“We know young people thrive when they know there is a community of adults around them who care about them and feel supported by them. I am grateful to be able to build the skills of adults in my community that will help us to confidently support young people and react in a crisis” says Tiana Richardson, new Youth Mental Health First Aid Instructor and Partnership Broker from Glenelg and Southern Grampians LLEN.

Through the delivery of mental health education across the Great South Coast region of Victoria, we develop a shared language and knowledge around mental health. This is essential to reducing stigma, increasing mental health literacy and encouraging positive help-seeking behaviours.

“We applaud the community members who have committed their time to undertake Youth and Teen Mental Health First Aid Instructor training. We know that when we work together, we can change lives,” said Bernard Galbally, Youth Live4Life’s Chief Executive Officer.

Live4Life is the only mental health education and youth suicide prevention model designed specifically for rural and regional communities.

This initiative has been developed through a partnership between the Victorian Department of Health, Western Victoria Primary Health Network, Youth Live4Life Ltd. and the Great South Coast Suicide Prevention Place Based Trial. Special thanks to the local advisory committee members who have supported this project.

For comment, contact: Bernard Galbally, CEO Youth Live4LIfe Ltd on 0413 167 843.  
Tiana Richardson is also available for an interview on 0400 558 681. 

For more information, visit live4life.org.au or view Live4Life’s Media Backgrounder

Winner VicHealth Award for Improving Mental Wellbeing 2018. Winner YACVic Rural Youth Award for Most Innovative Youth Project or Program in Rural or Regional Victoria 2018. Highly Commended LG Pro awards 2020. Live4Life features in the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System’s final report as a case study ‘highlighting innovation in community-led mental health solutions for young people’. 

Photo: MHFFA

L-R

Chadley Peerman, Nikki McCarthy, Kate Couchman, Leanne Mitchell, Jacqui Gore, Lauren Westhorpe, Tracy Crispe, Jennifer Rowan and Tiana Richardson

New instructor Tiana Richardson,  Partnership Broker from Glenelg and Southern Grampians LLEN