Wellbeing and Community

Affiliated Wellbeing Services

Doctors In Secondary Schools (DISS)

This initiative funds general practitioners (GPs) to attend up to 100 Victorian government secondary schools up to one day a week. The GPs provide medical advice and health care to those students most in need. The objectives of the program are to:

  • Make primary health care more accessible to students
  • Provide assistance to young people to identify and address any health problems early
  • Reduce the pressure on working parent/guardians.
More Information

Bellarine Community Health Psychologist

Bellarine Community Health provides counselling support to students 1 day a week

More Information

CatholicCare

CatholicCare provides support to students/families 2 days a week and groups to strengthen school community networks

CatholicCare provide a range of services such as;

  • CatholicCare Victoria Housing
  • Chaplaincy
  • Crisis Support
  • Family Support
  • Home Support
  • Mental Health
  • Multicultural Services
  • School Support
  • Youth Support
More Information

The Geelong Project

The Geelong Project operating out of BCYF has 2 caseworkers based at North Geelong Secondary College 1 day a week. If you are a young person, still in school and at risk of homelessness or dropping out of school, you may be eligible for support through The Geelong Project. The program focuses on early intervention for young people at risk of disengaging from or leaving school, becoming homeless and entering the justice system.

Support may include:

  • Case work with support around a range of issues including risk of homelessness, school disengagement and mental health
  • Group work
  • Case work support around a range of issues
  • Support in managing family issues
  • Support in managing school issues
The Geelong Project (MELI)

External Referral Services

The Student Wellbeing Team offers referrals to external agencies as needed. The following is a list of services we are lined in with:

  • Barwon Child Youth and Families (BCYF)
  • Barwon Health
  • Bethany Family Services
  • CatholicCare Refugee Services
  • Centrelink
  • Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS)
  • Jigsaw
  • Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)
  • Diversitat
  • Drummond St
  • Headspace & eHeadspace
  • Local Doctors & Paediatricians
  • MacKillop Child and Family Services
  • MacKillop Education
  • Orange Door
  • Refugee Nurse
  • The Salvation Army
  • Sexual Assault and Family Violence Centre
  • State Schools Relief Charity
  • Student Support Services Geelong North Network
  • Uniting Barwon
  • Victoria Police

Student Support Resources

Useful Apps

Beyond Now – Suicide Safety Plan
Beyond Blue
Apple app          Android app
If you or someone close to you is considering suicide, a safety plan can be a reminder of the reasons to live and ways to stay safe. The Beyond Now suicide safety planning app assists you to create your own suicide safety plan; a plan to keep you safe when experiencing suicidal thoughts. Using the app, you can list ideas and contacts to stay safe, including warning signs, coping strategies, reasons for living, and ways to make your environment safe. Convenient and confidential, Beyond Now puts your safety plan in your pocket so you can access and edit it at any time. You can also email a copy to trusted friends, family or your health professional to help them support you.

Breakup Shakeup
Queensland University of Technology
Apple App          Android app – Not avaliable
Feeling down after a breakup? Or just finding it hard to find motivation for anything? Have you lost some of your spark? Breakup Shakeup can help you come up with cool ideas what to do about it. Getting active and socialising are amongst the best things you can do to start feeling happier and stronger again.

Calm Harm
Stem4
Apple App          Android app
Calm Harm provides tasks that help you resist or manage the urge to self harm. You can add your own tasks too and it’s completely private and password protected.

Clear Fear
Help to manage your anxiety – Stem 4
Apple app          Android app
The fear of threat, or anxiety, is like a strong gust of wind. It drags you in and makes you want to fight it or run away. Instead, face your fear with the free Clear Fear app and learn to reduce the physical responses to threat as well as changing thoughts and behaviours and releasing emotions. Anxiety is a natural response to fear, threat and apprehension. However when anxiety is extreme or goes on for a long time, or the response to a threat is disproportionately large and affects a person negatively, it may become an anxiety disorder. Anxiety disorders are the most common form of emotional disorder and respond very well to a form of treatment called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or CBT. When you face your fear, you will reduce the threat and glide.

MindShift CBT – Anxiety Canada
Anxiety Canada Association
Apple app          Android app
Is anxiety getting in the way of your life? MindShift uses scientifically proven strategies based on Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) to help you learn to relax and be mindful, develop more effective ways of thinking, and use active steps to take charge of your anxiety.

MoodMission
MoodMission
Apple app          Android app
An app based on cognitive behavioural therapy designed to help individuals overcome low moods and anxiety by discovering new and better ways of coping.

niggle by Kids Helpline
Kids Helpline
Apple app          Android app
This app that allows you to capture your niggles and do something about them. Brought to you by Kids Helpline and Queensland University of Technology (QUT), niggle was created in collaboration with young people for young people. Track your wellbeing and get personalised information, videos, podcasts, quizzes and tips to help you tame your niggles. Plus, hear from other young people as they share their stories and find out what helped them! From feeling down or sad to sexual identity, dealing with conflict, loneliness and more – this is your take home, self-help toolkit that is here for you 24/7 for all things related to mental, social and emotional wellbeing.

Meditation Apps

Calm – Meditation and Sleep
Calm.com
Apple app          Android app
Join the millions experiencing better sleep, lower stress, and less anxiety with our guided meditations, Sleep Stories, breathing programs, stretching exercises, and relaxing music. Calm is recommended by top psychologists, therapists, and mental health experts. Calm is the perfect mindfulness app for beginners, but also includes hundreds of programs for intermediate and advanced users. Guided meditation sessions are available in lengths of 3, 5, 10, 15, 20 or 25 minutes so you can choose the perfect length to fit with your schedule.

Headspace – Meditation and Sleep
Headspace Inc
Apple app          Android app
Get happy. Stress less. Sleep soundly. Headspace is your guide to everyday mindfulness in just a few minutes a day. Choose from hundreds of guided meditations on everything from managing stress and anxiety to sleep, productivity, exercise, and physical health — including short SOS meditations for when you’re on the go. And to help you find some space during tough times, Headspace is here for you with the new Weathering the storm pack.

Insight Timer – Meditation App
Insight Network Inc
Apple app          Android app
Guided meditations and talks led by the world’s top meditation and mindfulness experts, neuroscientists, psychologists and teachers from Stanford, Harvard, the University of Oxford and more. Music tracks from world-renowned artists. Join millions learning to meditate on Insight Timer to help calm the mind, reduce anxiety, manage stress, sleep deeply and improve happiness.

Meditation Nest
Luni
Apple app          Android app – Not avaliable
The best meditation app for everybody, and for your daily wellness. Meditate for just 5 minutes per day to reduce stress, improve focus, sleep better, relax faster, breathe easier, and more.

Smiling Mind
Smiling Mind
Apple app          Android app
Smiling Mind is a FREE mindfulness meditation app developed by psychologists and educators to help bring balance to your life. Just as we eat well and stay fit to keep our body healthy, mindfulness meditation is about mental health and looking after the mind. Our programs are designed to assist people in dealing with the pressure, stress, and challenges of daily life.

Digital Resources

Better Health Channel – Young people and health services
betterhealth.vic.gov.au/…/young-people-and-health-services

Better Health Channel – Trauma, reaction and recovery
betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/trauma-reaction-and-recovery

Beyond Blue
youthbeyondblue.com
Beyond Blue’s youth program, Youth Beyond Blue, aims to empower young people aged 12–25, their friends and those who care for them. Visit youthbeyondblue.com, for information, resources and support for young people dealing with depression , anxiety and suicide. This includes access to drugs, alcohol and mental health

Bite Back
biteback.org.au
Online activities, info and positive wellbeing and resilience in young people (12-25yrs).

The BRAVE Program
brave-online.com
Online program supporting young people who are experiencing anxiety, as well as their families.

Bullying. No Way!
bullyingnoway.gov.au
Tailored online information for students about bullying.

The Butterfly Foundation
butterfly.org.au/bullyingnoway.gov.au
Online and phone counselling, information, and support groups for people concerned about eating disorders.

Head to Health
headtohealth.gov.au
A website that links Australians to online and phone mental health services, information and resources.

Headspace
headspace.org.au/young-people/life-issues
Tailored information for 12 to 25-year-olds relating to general mental health, physical health, work and study, and drugs and alcohol.

eHeadspace
headspace.org.au/eheadspace
Online and telephone support for young people aged 12-25 years and their families.

Kids Helpline
kidshelpline.com.au
Kids Helpline is Australia’s only free, private and confidential 24/7 phone and online counselling service for young people aged 5 to 25.

Livewire
livewire.org.au
Online community to help young people (12-20yrs) living with illness or disability.

Minus18
minus18.org.au
LGBTQIA+ resources and research, along with useful toolkits from our team and the wider community for youth and adults.

MoodGym
moodgym.com.au
An online program that helps young people and adults learn about cognitive behaviour therapy skills for preventing and coping with depression.

OCD Not Me
ocdnotme.com.au
Online program including information, practical skills and support for young people (12-18yrs) with OCD.

Office of the eSafety Commissioner
esafety.gov.au/education-resources/classroom-resources
A suit of classroom resources providing primary and secondary students with dedicated content to help empower them to safely explore the online world.

Q Life
qlife.org.au
Australia’s first nationally-oriented counselling and referral service for people who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and/or intersex (LGBTIQA+) provides early intervention, peer-supported telephone and web-based services to people of all ages across the full breadth of people’s bodies, genders, relationships, sexualities and lived experiences.

Reach Out
au.reachout.com
Practical support, tools and tips to help young people get through anything from everyday questions through to tough times.

Reach Out Forums
schools.au.reachout.com/articles/using-the-reachout-forums
Moderated peer-support community for 14 to 25-year-olds on mental health and wellbeing topics.

Student Wellbeing Hub
studentwellbeinghub.edu.au
This is a space for educators, parent/guardians and students to build safe, inclusive and connected school communities that promote wellbeing and learning.

What’s Your Grief?
whatsyourgrief.com
As mental health professionals who have experienced significant losses ourselves, we know individual grief is unique and there is no “right” way to cope. Our goal is to create a community that provides hope, support, and education to anyone wishing to understand the complicated experience of life after loss.

Yarn Safe – Headspace
headspace.org.au/yarn-safe/
Safe space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander teens to talk about mental health and social and emotional wellbeing.

Youth Health and Wellbeing Supports in Barwon – School Nursing Program
Watch this video for more great information Information Video
This video contains information for young people living in the Geelong and Barwon area, on what Health and Wellbeing Services are available to support them, in their school and in the community. This video was developed by the School Nursing Program.

Youth Law Australia
yla.org.au
Providing free, confidential legal information and help for young people under 25.

Phone Lines

1800Respect 1800 737 732

Butterfly Foundation 1800 334 673

Canteen 1800 835 932

eHeadspace 1800 650 890

Family Violence 1800 015 188

Kids Helpline 1800 551 800

Lifeline 13 11 14

Q Life 1800 184 527
Available 3pm to midnight

Suicide Line 1300 651 251
Avaliable 24/7

Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467
For people having suicidal thoughts, family or friends affected by suicide and healthcare professionals treating suicidal patients

Youth Beyond Blue 1300 224 636

Young Carers 1800 242 636
For those living with or caring for a family member with mental illness

Parent/Guardian Support Resources

Adolescence is a time of social and physical development and self-discovery. For some, it is an arduous transitional period. Social and academic pressures can overwhelm some adolescents and may sometimes lead to a decrease in self-esteem and an increase in emotional disturbances.

This site hopes to help you to access reputable information to guide you as a Parent/Guardian so that you can support your child or children to navigate their way through adolescence. You may also wish to peruse the student portal links.

Digital Resources

Better Heath – Alcohol and Teenagers
www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/alcohol-teenagers

Better Health – Trauma: Reaction and Recovery
www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/trauma-reaction-and-recovery

MoodSpot
mindspot.org.au
An online program for stress, worry, anxiety and depression in people aged 18-25.

Raising Children – The Australian Parenting Website
raisingchildren.net.au
Providing free, reliable, up-to-date and independent information to help your family grow and thrive together.

Reach Out
parents.au.reachout.com
Helping parents support their teenagers through everyday issues and tough times

Regional Parenting Service – City of Greater Geelong
geelongcity.vic.gov.au/news/item/8d203a13a48a2a8.aspx
For local Parenting Programs

Student Wellbeing Hub
studentwellbeinghub.edu.au
This is a space for educators, parent/guardians and students to build safe, inclusive and connected school communities that promote wellbeing and learning.

Switchboard Victoria
www.switchboard.org.au
Switchboard Victoria provides peer-driven support services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender diverse, intersex, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) people, their families, allies and communities.

Supportive Phone Numbers

Barwon Health – Mental health, drugs and alcohol 24/7 phone service 1300 094 187
If the situation, or person’s safety, becomes an emergency, phone 000 immediately
barwonhealth.org.au/services-departments/item/access-team-formerly-triage
27/4 Support line for young people and families.
Tips when calling:
1. You will be asked to make selections to help us direct your call to the most appropriate Mental Health service
2. It may take a few minutes, but your calls are important and we speak with you as quickly as we can
3. If you cannot wait on the line, please select the option for a call back so that we know you have called and a Mental Health clincian can return your call. Your place will be held in the queue.

Parent Help Line 132 289
Parentline is a statewide telephone counselling, information and referral service for parents and carers with children from birth to eighteen years.
8am-midnight, 7 days a week

Life Line 13 11 14
www.lifeline.org.au
Access to crisis support, suicide prevention and mental health support services

1800 RESPECT 1800 737 732
National Sexual Assault, Domestic Family Violence Counselling Service

Safe Steps 1800 015 188
www.safesteps.org.au
Family Violence Response Centre For women and children fleeing domestic violence.

Men’s Referral Service 1300 766 491
www.mrs.org.au
The Men’s Referral Service is a telephone service for men who are thinking about their anger, behaviour, relationship issues or parenting, and need help and support or women who are experiencing violence from a male family member.
9am-9pm, Monday to Friday

Switchboard 1800 184 527
www.switchboard.org.au
Switchboard Victoria provides peer-driven support services for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and gender diverse, intersex, queer and asexual (LGBTIQA+) people, their families, allies and communities.

Child Protection 1800 075 599 (After Hours – 131278)
To report concerns of a child physical and/or sexual abuse

Wire 1300 134 130
www.wire.org.au
WIRE stands for Women’s Information and Referral Exchange. Support and referrals to connect with relevant workshops and networks for developing a career pathway and obtaining work experience. Violence against women is a significant human rights issue in Victoria. Everyone has a right to safety in homes, schools, at work and on the streets.