MHiPS expands to Queensland!

Published

Friday, May 30, 2025 - 12:00 PM

Support from the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation (TFFF) has enabled the Centre for Community Child Health, along with our partner the Faculty of Education at the University of Melbourne, to collaborate with the Queensland Department of Education’s Partnership and Educational Precincts Initiative to co-design an adapted version of the MHiPS initiative tailored to the needs of Queensland schools, families, and young people. 

About 138,000 Queensland children aged 0-14 experience mental ill-health, a number that increases throughout adolescence. Suicide remains the leading cause of death for young people, with incidences higher in places characterised by limited specialised mental health services, such as rural and remote areas. The case for prevention is clear. 

The National Children’s Mental Health Strategy identifies education settings as ideal environments to build resilience, prevent the onset of mental illness, and optimise development in pursuit of lifelong wellbeing as well as academic success. Schools are universal, non-stigmatising environments where children can be engaged over time, which is particularly true in rural and remote communities. Rural schools are often also community hubs, and hold strong partnerships with families and community organisations that have great potential to support student wellbeing.  

MHiPS has been funded through TFFF’s Brain Health in Queensland Schools (BHiQS) strategic initiative, which aligns to the Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership Brain Builders initiative. The MHiPS team will work alongside the University of Queensland’s Queensland Brain Institute, who have also been funded under BHiQS for their Brain Healthy Schools initiative. Together, BHiQS intends to build a prevention-focused whole of system response that increases the capacity and capability of schools to support student and staff wellbeing, whilst also establishing clear pathways for referral for students requiring assessment and intervention.  

Following the assessment of possible sites to participate in a trial, and in ongoing discussion with the Queensland Department of Education, Mount Isa was identified as a suitable location to undertake the pilot, and community consultation began. All schools in the Mount Isa Educational Precinct have agreed to participate, and engagement in the first co-design workshop began in late May.

The MHiPS team would like to thank the schools in the Mount Isa Educational Precinct – Barkly Highway State School, Happy Valley State School, Healy State School, Mount Isa Central State School, Mount Isa School of the Air, Mount Isa State Special School, Spinifex State College - Junior, Sunset State School, and Townview State School – for their participation, and TFFF for their facilitation of the first Queensland-based MHiPS pilot.