Ballarat mental health services easier to find thanks to new online resource
A digital platform offering a directory of mental health and social emotional wellbeing, suicide prevention, and support after suicide services is now available to the Ballarat and Goldfields region.
CEO of Ballarat Community Health, Sean Duffy says the site brings resources together to make service navigation easier for the community.
“The website supports individuals in the Ballarat & Goldfields region to navigate and access local, state-wide, and national programs and services to support mental health and wellbeing and to reduce the risk and impact of suicide,” Mr Duffy said.
The website was developed with input from people with a lived experience of suicidality and/or mental illness, as well as family members and carers, and service providers in the Ballarat Goldfields region.
Users can search for the services that best meet their needs by answering a few simple questions, or by typing into the search bar. If users prefer to talk to someone about finding the right services for them, phone contacts are also provided.
Rowena Clift, CEO Western Victoria Primary Health Network said the website works to bolster the supports already provided in the area.
“The site includes a number of links to trusted websites with information on a variety of topics across the categories of mental health and social emotional wellbeing, suicide prevention and support after a suicide”.
“We need to continue to design and develop new services that directly influence the outcomes in preventing suicide, and this website is just one step along that journey,” Ms Clift said.
The Ballarat Mental Health Website offers a directory of supports that covers services in the Ballarat Goldfields region. This includes the following 6 local government areas:
- City of Ballarat
- Golden Plains Shire Council
- Hepburn Shire Council
- Moorabool Shire Council
- Pyrenees Shire
- Shire of Central Goldfields
The Ballarat Mental Health Support website was created as part of The Ballarat Suicide Prevention Place-Based Trial (BSPPBT). The website is an initiative of the Western Victoria Primary Health Network (WVPHN) in partnership with the BSPPBT Leadership Group and the Victorian Government, managed by Ballarat Community Health.
This project is supported by the Victorian Government.
