Mental health: Focus on farmers and rural young people

A boost of cash from the state government will keep the lights on for two rural mental health services at a time of great need.

Regional youth and farmers will benefit from an injection of government funds for rural mental health services, as industry leaders say demand for services is skyrocketing.

The award-winning mental health resource centre One Red Tree has received more than $1.4 million to remain open.

The $1.47 million across four years will ensure the Ararat service can remain operational and focus on entrenching provisional psychologists at regional schools.

In November, The Weekly Times reported the service – which provides psychological care for rural young people alongside Federation University by placing provisional psychologists in schools across Western Victoria – had called for about $340,000 of government funding.

One Red Tree co-founder and co-chief executive Tammie Meehan said four years of funding would allow the centre to operate without the stress of financial worry.

“We’ve been on a shoestring budget and just surviving since we founded in 2022,” Ms Meehan said.

“This means we can provide more support and build this program into what we dreamt it could be.”

Tammie Meehan and Carly McKinnis are founders of One Red Tree Resource Centre that provides mental health services to families and young people across western Victoria. Picture: Nicole Cleary

Ms Meehan said the service has been “absolutely swamped” by referrals, with the centre forced to close their books in late 2023 to keep up with existing demand for services.

“The need is extremely high, and I don’t think it’s getting any better, it’s getting worse.”

It comes after the National Centre for Farmer Health – which works on prevention and early intervention of mental health risk factors for farming populations – was initially not granted funding beyond June 30 in the latest state government budget.

But last week a government spokesperson announced a $900,000 investment in the centre, based in western Victoria, next financial year.

“The NCFH plays an important role identifying and preventing chronic disease and safety risk factors in the agriculture and farming community,” they said.

NCFH director Alison Kennedy, who called the initial decision not to extend the centre’s funding “disappointing”, welcomed the news.

“In many ways it makes me very proud of the strength of the work of the centre. It has illicited such support from the farming community, and to hear those stories shared from people who’ve been personally touched … it is really heartening,” Dr Kennedy said.

“We are very pleased the government has recognised that they did make an error and have taken that step to correct it. I also see this as an opportunity to really start having conversations about longer-term funding.”

Dr Alison Kennedy from National Centre for Farmer Health, pictured with Jaala Pulford. Picture: Chloe Smith.

The centre operates a number of farmer-specific programs, including Mental Health 4 Ag, ifarmwell, Sustainable Farm Families, The Ripple Effect, and the Primary Producer Knowledge Network.

Dr Kennedy previously said it was “a very unfortunate time” to cut farmer mental health funding.

“The need is absolutely there, to take that away is incredibly shortsighted and very disappointing.”