School-based counselling’s systemic barriers scrutinised in coronial inquiry into teen’s suicide death

The NT Coroner is set to put school-based counselling and mental health services under the microscope after the suicide death of a 13-year-old girl.

The systemic barriers to school-based counselling in the NT are set to be scrutinised as a coronial inquiry opens on Tuesday to investigate the suicide death of a school-aged girl in Darwin.

NT Coroner Elisabeth Armitage in October said she would examine the adequacy of Education Department policies, procedures and counselling after a 13-year-old girl died by suicide on January 28, 2022.

An Education Department spokeswoman said there were 30 school counsellor positions – including 10 psychologists – available to the Territory’s 152 schools.

There were 32,780 students enrolled across the NT in the 2022-2023 financial year.

The spokeswoman said the Department employed an additional 53 wellbeing and inclusion positions.

“All requests for wellbeing and inclusion services, including counselling sessions, are sent to the department for allocation to a wellbeing and inclusion professional who are either social workers, psychologists, speech pathologists, senior teachers or occupational therapists inclusive of school counsellors and positive behaviour implementation coaches,” she said.

“This is an equitable way to allocate resources across the Territory and ensure all government schools have access to wellbeing and inclusion professionals as needed, not just a select number of schools.”

The spokeswoman said the Department supported the National Student Wellbeing Framework and the National Child Mental Health and Wellbeing Strategy, and had a formal agreement with Be You to provide professional learning, resources and support to schools and educators in implementing whole school approaches to wellbeing.

A 2018 review of school-based mental health services found the number of counsellors available to NT students had not increased since 2010.

The review found the Territory’s young people had limited access to specialised youth counselling outside of the child protection and juvenile justice system.

“School counsellors bring this focus to students,” the review noted.

“While adult counselling is more readily available, child and youth counselling is a rare and specific skill.”

The review found all NT schools – regardless of size, remoteness, and need – had “no real option of service, except for critical incident response”.

Education Minister Mark Monaghan. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

Education Minister Mark Monaghan previously told this publication a spate of youth suicides early in his career were a key driver in his goal to better the NT’s education system.

Mr Monaghan said the value of school counsellors could not be understated.

“Ensuring each and every student has easy access to a school counsellor is a non-negotiable for me,” he said.

“It is these essential health care professionals which can and have changed lives, they can make a student feel accepted, understood and safe.”

Opposition Education Spokeswoman Jo Hersey. Picture: Glenn Campbell

Opposition Education Spokeswoman Jo Hersey said every life lost to suicide was “one too many” and demonstrated an urgent need for youth-focused mental health services.

“School-based counselling provides an opportunity for early intervention and identification of mental health concerns among students,” Mrs Hersey said.

“The Labor government’s triage model where schools are required to consult with a contact person in the Mitchell Centre is clearly not working.

“Labor went against the advice that their government’s own Education Engagement Strategy Reflections paper put forward, which states that schools want a ‘better student counselling support system’, including a head space at school.”

Originally published as School-based counselling’s systemic barriers scrutinised in coronial inquiry into teen’s suicide death