The students made the recommendation after taking part in the Youth Takeover project, facilitated by Campaspe Cohuna Local Learning and Employment Network in partnership with Rochester Secondary College and Rochester and Elmore District Health Service.
Over eight weeks, students explored different areas of REDHS, spoke with health professionals and community members, conducted a community survey and developed recommendations about the future of healthcare in Rochester.
Rochester Secondary College teacher Annalese Oliver said students had identified a number of gaps in local health services, particularly from a youth perspective.
“They weren’t just asking, ‘what services do we have?’ but ‘what is missing, who might be missing out, and what might our community need in the future?’” she said.
The students took ownership of every step — designing and distributing the survey, collecting responses both online and face-to-face, analysing the data and working as a team to shape their findings into real recommendations.
“It was really rewarding to see them realise that the information they were collecting could have genuine value for their community,” Ms Oliver said.
The students identified improved access to youth mental health services as a significant priority, with a local headspace service among their key recommendations.
“They understand that living regionally can mean fewer services and greater barriers to accessing them,” Ms Oliver said.
Ms Oliver said the students understood the additional barriers that could come with accessing services in a regional community.
“Their message was essentially that young people shouldn’t have to leave their community to find the support they need,” she said.
The project also drew on the students’ previous involvement in an intergenerational program with residents at Yalukang aged care facility.
Ms Oliver said those relationships had broadened the students’ understanding of mental health beyond their own age group, with students also recommending individual counselling and wellbeing support for people transitioning into aged care and their families.
The students’ findings have since received political support, with state Member for Northern Victoria Wendy Lovell calling on the Victorian mental health minister to establish a headspace youth mental health service in Rochester.
Ms Lovell visited REDHS during parliament’s winter break and heard the students present their findings.
She said the students’ survey highlighted issues including a shortage of GPs, long waiting times, limited access to specialist services and transport difficulties.
Ms Lovell also pointed to the lasting impact of the 2022 floods on Rochester’s young people.
“It is now four years since the 2022 floods, but the recovery is not yet complete,” Ms Lovell said.
“Many houses are still waiting to be rebuilt, and young people are still working through the after-effects of seeing their homes and lives drowned in the deluge.”
Headspace chief executive Jason Trethowan said the location of headspace services was ultimately determined by the Federal Government and the health minister, informed by population health needs assessments from primary health networks.
“With mental health being one of the main health issues faced by young people in Australia today, it would be fantastic to have a headspace centre in every community,” he said.
There are currently 176 headspace services nationally, including 43 in Victoria, with the Federal Government also committed to funding 20 new headspace outreach programs in rural and remote communities by July 2027.
Mr Trethowan said young people without a local headspace centre could access support through the Victorian Government’s school-based mental health services and Regional Phone Counselling Service, while young people and families across Australia could also access free and confidential support through headspace.
For Ms Oliver, the most heartening part of the whole Youth Takeover experience was watching students not only spot a gap in services, but articulate clearly and confidently why that gap matters to the people around them.
“What impressed me most was that students weren’t simply identifying a service they wanted, they were identifying a gap and explaining why that gap matters,” she said.
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