Mental health

The mental health and wellbeing of students and staff is a key priority for Australia’s universities. Universities Australia has developed many programs and frameworks, some of which are detailed below:

Real talk Framework

Launched in October 2021 and developed in partnership with headspace, the Real Talk mental health framework is designed to inform a series of two-hour workshops carefully tailored for Australian university staff to help them notice changes in a person’s mood or behaviours, start a conversation about mental health, and provide appropriate support. The framework can be downloaded on our publications page.

Accompanying the framework is the Real Talk fact sheet, which provides a shorthand of steps for Australian university staff to take in responding to someone they believe might need support. The fact sheet can be downloaded on our publications page.

Responding to suicide: a toolkit for Australian universities

Launched in September 2020 and developed in conjunction with headspace and Everymind, the Responding to Suicide toolkit delivers interactive, online training for senior university leaders. The toolkit can be downloaded from our publications page.

Other initiatives

Universities Australia has undertaken further initiatives and provides advice to organisations aligned to the goal of looking after the mental health and wellbeing of students and staff at Australian universities. Other initiatives include:

• provided advice to Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, as it develops a National University Mental Health Framework.