Introduction
Young people in rural and remote areas, including the Macedon Ranges, face unique structural, economic, and social challenges that contribute to poorer mental health outcomes and a heightened risk of suicide compared to their metropolitan peers. Orygen's modelling predicts an additional 82,000 young Victorians aged 12-25 could experience mental health disorders due to COVID-19, a 32 per cent increase.
The Macedon Ranges Shire Council Youth Strategy 2018-28 identified mental health as the most critical issue for young people, who face significant disadvantages in accessing support, as highlighted by the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System. The shire's geographical makeup, lack of public transport between townships, and limited out-of-hours mental health services exacerbate these challenges, often requiring young people to travel up to an hour to access care. Immediate action is needed to improve youth mental health support in the Macedon Ranges.
Key issues related to youth mental health were brought up at the recent Youth Summit in March 2024. In response, Macedon Ranges Shire Council's Youth Services team has engaged with key stakeholders, including service partners, lived experience representatives, local high school students, and teachers. The Youth Services team is now inviting feedback from the wider community regarding youth mental health, with a key focus on accessibility, experience, outcomes, and service design.
Feedback will support our work in advocating for a shire-specific service and/or space that overcomes some of the unique structural barriers that exist for young people accessing supports in the shire.
Young people, parents, guardians, clinical and non-clinical support workers, and other key stakeholders are encouraged to complete our survey below, or contact us at youth@mrsc.vic.gov.au
The survey will be open until 5pm on Tuesday 2 July 2024.
With your feedback, we aim to:
- advocate for State and Federal investment into a youth mental health service model that will improve health and wellbeing outcomes for young people in the shire
- advocate for infrastructure to support the delivery of holistic and integrated youth (mental health) services in the shire
- provide recommendations to service providers to inform improved outcomes for youth mental health outcomes in the short, medium, and long-term.
If you or someone you know needs support, call Lifeline on 13 11 14.
Privacy collection notice
Macedon Ranges Shire Council is committed to protecting your privacy. The personal information you provide through this consultation is being collected for the primary purpose of attribution alongside your feedback for record-keeping or validation purposes (where we may require proof of residency for example, to ensure the validity of localised feedback) and to enable two-way communication where appropriate, to keep you updated in relation to this consultation.
Where required, the personal information being collected will be provided to Macedon Ranges Shire Council staff or contractors, to help inform feedback and enable them to communicate with you in relation to the consultation where appropriate. If the personal information is not collected, we will not be able to contact you in relation to your feedback and may not be able to consider your feedback if localised feedback is required. Personal information is required to be deidentified in any public summary of feedback.
Your personal information will not be disclosed to any external party without your consent, unless required or authorised by law. If you wish to gain access to, or alter any personal information you have supplied through this consultation, please contact Macedon Ranges Shire Council via phone (03) 5422 0333 or email mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au. Information provided will be stored in accordance with Council’s Record Management Policy and destroyed in accordance with the Public Records Act 1973.
You can access our Privacy Policy on Council's website, and it is available for inspection at Council’s customer service centres.
