We are proud to celebrate the announcement of the future Geraldton Youth Hub, thanks to a $1.4million investment by the State Government, through Lotterywest.
This project is over two years in the making, and the funding will enable the refurbishment of the upstairs area of 193 Marine Terrace Geraldton to establish a Youth Hub for the young people of Geraldton, their community and the broader Mid-West region.
The downstairs of this building is already the home of headspace Geraldton, a highly credible mental health service within the region, operated by Youth Focus. Together the additional floor will establish a safe, supportive and youth friendly ‘one stop shop, creating a collaborative space for Youth Focus to work alongside other service providers.
The future Geraldton Youth Hub will increase access to services for young people across the region. This is especially important in rural, regional and remote areas, where the prevalence rates for poor mental health and psychological distress among young people are frequently higher than for their metro counterparts on a range of measures.
There is significant need for this service expansion in the Mid-West, where:
- mental health was the second leading cause of disease burden in the Midwest region contributing 13% to the total disease burden for the region and 14% in young people aged 15 to 24 (Department of Health Western Australia, 2021).
- between 2016 and 2020, the average annual age-standardised rate of deaths from suicide and self-inflicted injuries per 100,000 people was more than double the Australian and Perth Metro average.
- during the same period, hospitalisations for mental health conditions and intentional self-harm were equivalent to the Perth metro area (Community Insight Australia, 2023).
- 79% of respondents reported needing to seek support for their mental health in the last 12 months, and 42% of these people did not get the support they needed. (2023 Going the Distance report)
The Youth Hub will provide the opportunity to establish multi-service delivery to young people through a co-located, integrated model. By working together with other service providers and organisations, we can better address the complex challenges facing the health and wellbeing of young people in Geraldton.
A strong focus of this project will be on engaging with community members from diverse backgrounds and areas of expertise to design the space, and the way in which the service is delivered.
We’re grateful for the support of the State Government, Lotterywest, local service partners, community members, young people, our landlord Blair Armstrong, and of course, our people.
Works are set to commence in 2025 and more information, updates and opportunities to be involved will be shared as the project progresses.
The team and the community are so excited for this much needed Youth Hub to become a reality!