2.1 Principles

The Strategy draws on principles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. It is underpinned by a set of eight fundamental principles (see Figure 2). These principles should be used to guide the way governments, commissioning bodies and service providers operationalise the actions outlined in this Strategy.

These principles recognise that a child’s mental health and wellbeing is inseparably linked to their relationships, and familialand situational context. Parental wellbeing is associated with the parent-child relationship and the wellbeing of the child. The optimal mental health system is child-centred (giving priority to the interests and needs of children), supports the child, their family and, when necessary, their community. We also recognise the impact that community membership can have on perceptions and experiences of mental health and wellbeing.

The optimal mental health system does not wait until a child is experiencing a mental illness before providing supports, but is prevention focused, promoting the wellbeing of all children from birth and enables access to early intervention whenever necessary. For this to occur, parents, carers, and professionals need to have an understanding about what is typical for children at various developmental stages, and what are the signs that the child might be struggling. In the optimal system, families are armed with this knowledge and with strategies for supporting their child’s social and emotional development from birth, as is the case with physical development. To help families to listen to and support children, the Strategy focuses on opportunities to monitor and promote children’s mental health and wellbeing, as well as empowering help seeking when additional support is required.

In the optimal mental health system, all doors lead to help and services are designed and delivered based on the needs of children and families. This means that services are culturally responsive and are developed, delivered and evaluated using the principles of genuine co-design. It also means that a child does not require a diagnosis before help is available; service access would be based more on how they are functioning socially and educationally rather than on whether they meet diagnostic criteria. There is also coordination and collaboration between the services that support children and families, minimising stress and burden on children and families during times of difficulty and adversity.

The Strategy presents the rationale for relevant services working together in supporting children and families, both within sectors and across sectors including health, education, justice, disability and social services (see Objective 2.2). From the child and family perspective, all services that they interact with would communicate and work together, to ensure a streamlined and comprehensive experience of care. This includes seamless referral processes when moving between services – for example, in the transition from childhood to adolescent services.

In the optimal mental health system, programs and services work with children and families to provide a consistent and high quality of support, including clinical intervention where relevant. Programs and services need to be accessible (and continue to be over time) to all children and families, and be developmentally appropriate and culturally responsive. This means that families can access local services regardless of their resources, geographic location (including rural and remote) or cultural background. The optimal system is also comprised of evidence-based programs and services, where the impact on outcomes is monitored and evaluated, and funding is allocated accordingly.

The Strategy emphasises the importance of effective services and programs for all children and families. We cannot promote help-seeking without ensuring that the help available is effective. To ensure children’s experiences of services are positive, the Strategy recommends a system where mental health and wellbeing services are co-designed (or at least informed) by the children and families who are likely to use them, with ongoing evaluation, and opportunities for feedback and quality improvement. Ensuring services are based on the needs of their communities might require changes to existing services or perhaps even new service types. Our intention is that the standard of support and care provided to all children and families is consistent, no matter their circumstances.

The scope of supports needed for children and families extends beyond just the health sector. Increasing attention on social determinants is expected to reduce the number of children and families vulnerable to poor mental health. In this context, while the Strategy is strengths-based and focused firmly on supporting and engaging with families, it cannot be assumed that the family home is a safe environment for every child. The Strategy addresses situations where remaining in a particular family environment has not been deemed to be in the best interest of a child. In such cases, the Strategy emphasises the duty of care owed by the State to children for whom they are proxy parents (see Objective 2.4).