Mental health will be easier to access for Pilbara’s youth as two headspaces open in Karratha and Hedland

Mental health services for young people in the Pilbara just got a big boost as two new headspace centres open up in Karratha and Port Hedland. Last week, the National Youth Mental Health Foundation held launch events for its two new Pilbara headspace centres. Pilbara manager for Anglicare Charlene Senior said there was a big demand for the new centres as the Pilbara currently lacks quality mental health services for young people. “There’s a huge need for young people in the Pilbara community,” Ms Senior said, “There’s no other services that are providing the early intervention and prevention work for this age group.” “Seventy-five per cent of all mental health incidences is when a person is between the ages of 12 to 25.” National Rural Health Alliance data indicates that mental health illness in regional Australia occurs at similar levels to metropolitan areas. However, the rates of suicide and self-harm are higher in regional communities. In 2019 the age-standardised suicide rate was 60 per cent higher outside of capital cities. Headspace CEO Jason Trethowan said young people living in the regions faced similar mental health problems as people in the cities but lacked the same level of support. “It’s important to have a service for young people so they can seek help when they’re experiencing difficult times,” Mr Trethowan said. “Many young people experience anxiety, depression or issues associated with relationship breakdowns, loneliness or impacts of social media. “I think all rural communities across Australia would say they’re different and there’s definitely differences between Port Hedland and Karratha as communities, but the issues that young people are experiencing can often be the same. “They may just have different levels of support or different avenues for accessing care. “It’s important that we have services close to people’s homes, and young people often don’t have things for them. “They have adult services they have to go to, or hospital systems but this is designed by young people.” The new Karratha and Port Hedland clinics will feature general, physical, sexual and drug-related health services. Young people who attend the clinics will also be able to utilise nationally run programs online. Ms Senior said that while Port Hedland did a better job than many towns in addressing mental health issues, she also believed the scope of the issue was more severe in its community. “Port Hedland is leading the way for us here in the Pilbara, because their engagement rates for occasions of service with young people is 51 per cent to Aboriginal young people,” Ms Senior said. “So the majority of people that they’re seeing in their centre are Aboriginal young people, which is amazing. “Many of the other issues are much the same, it’s a mining town with the transient population and limited resources. “In some ways I think Port Hedland and South Hedland’s issues are a little bit more intense because they’ve got less support within the community.” A 2019 study by the Royal Flying Doctor Service revealed that Indigenous Australians were 1.2 times more likely to die from mental disorders compared with non-Indigenous Australians. They were also 1.7 times more likely to be hospitalised from them. The Karratha headspace features a Youth Advisory Group which will help advise and direct the centre’s programs. Elise Murray, who is part of the youth advisory group for headspace Karratha, said their headspace was designed to be a laidback and inviting place to attract more young people. “Our headspace has lots of people who come and go,” Ms Murray said. “We have a stress relief club which is a really cool thing for students that runs once or twice a week. “There’s programs that run for emotion management, we’ve got psychologists, therapists and just people you can have a yarn with which is really amazing.” Headspace was founded by the Australian Government in 2006 and is headquartered in Melbourne. Lifeline 13 11 14