Page 1624 - Week 05 - Thursday, 2 June 2022

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probably not 40 per cent more shoes than we had before. I am really looking forward to the work that is going to follow on this topic of general consumption.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Mental health—MindMap youth navigation portal

Ministerial statement

MS DAVIDSON (Murrumbidgee—Assistant Minister for Families and Community Services, Minister for Disability, Minister for Justice Health, Minister for Mental Health and Minister for Veterans and Seniors) (4.41): On 19 October 2021 the ACT government released the online youth navigation portal MindMap. MindMap is the first of its kind to provide a consolidated and coordinated approach for young people seeking support and assistance for their mental health and links with existing services within the Canberra region. Children and young people, along with parents and carers, are able to find the right services and supports for their needs with the platform. There are also youth navigators to assist, and clinical support if required.

We know, through the review of children and young people undertaken by the Office for Mental Health and Wellbeing in 2019, that young people find it hard to navigate the mental health sector and are not aware of the supports available here in the ACT or how best to access these supports. We know this is true also for parents and carers looking for the right services for the children and young people in their lives. We heard that young people wanted the knowledge and skills to manage their mental health and wellbeing and to be empowered to take ownership of their journey.

MindMap provides a safe space for young people to engage in an appropriate way to find the right services and supports for their mental health and wellbeing, with a range of features including online chat, phone support and email. Through searching the site anonymously, young people can seek and find the support they need. MindMap is staffed by youth navigators and clinical youth navigators through Marymead who are available between 12 pm and 11 pm, seven days per week.

MindMap has almost 100 services linked to the site and has nearly 300 resources to support young people seeking information on mental health. MindMap was developed with young people, for young people, and will continue to evolve to ensure that the site is offering up-to-date support for our community. I am pleased to provide an update on the implementation of MindMap and the current data we are seeing through the site.

Since the launch, MindMap has been accessed by over 9,100 people, with over 25,000 pages viewed. The youth navigators have received over 150 telephone calls, which has progressively increased since the launch. The chat feature is the preferred method for young people seeking to engage with a youth navigator for assistance. The key issues that are being raised are support for anxiety and depression, both within the search functions but also via telephone and through the chat feature. Other topics relate to relationships, abuse and family violence, feelings and emotions, self-harm and suicide prevention, social and emotional wellbeing, and eating disorders and body


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