The South Australian Department for Education’s School Mental Health Service (SMHS) has been awarded a nation-first accreditation.

The SMHS employs occupational therapists, psychologists and social workers to deliver mental health services in secondary schools.

The SMHS pilot began in 2022 as a targeted strategy to support the increasing numbers of students with mental health challenges. In early 2023, it was announced the service would be rolled out statewide at up to 65 of the state’s most disadvantaged schools.

Under the program, the schools have a SMHS practitioner either full time (5 days per week) or part time (2.5 days per week), based on the number of students enrolled at the school.

The service, which was recommended for accreditation by Australia’s leading human services Auditing Agency, HDAA, provides mental health practitioners based in schools to support young people with mild to moderate and emerging mental health concerns.

Assessed under the National Safety and Quality Mental Health Standards for Community Managed Organisations, designed by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care, the accreditation ensures the service delivers high quality and safe mental health services within schools.

Chief Executive, Professor Martin Westwell said the nation-first accreditation reflects the exceptional work being done in SA schools by the SMHS.

“Schools are increasingly called upon to help support students with mental health challenges which impact their learning, behaviour and wellbeing”, said Professor Westwell.

“The SMHS plays a crucial role in addressing these impacts and works with students and families, school sites, other departmental staff, and external agencies to improve students’ mental health and emotional wellbeing”.

The accreditation standards provide a nationally consistent statement about the level of care that students, families and carers can expect from a community managed mental health service.

Accreditation is based on the following key standards: Practice Governance, Partnering with Consumers, Families and Carers, and the Model of Care.

SMHS is the first education-based service in Australia to undertake accreditation against these standards and one of the first organisations in the country to seek accreditation under this new framework.