Almost 20% of pre-school children in Australia show symptoms of psychosocial distress, and almost 670,000 school-aged children experience mental, behavioural, or neurodevelopmental disorders each year (Australian Psychological Society [APS], 2022) . Anxiety, depression and conduct disorder are amongst the leading causes of disease burden for Australian children aged 5-14 years. Children who are not supported while still in the early stages of psychological distress, can face significant challenges later in their lives, including their academic performance as they can struggle with poor engagement at school, and face learning difficulties; and other areas of daily life including managing emotions, maintaining strong social relationships, engaging in productive work etc.


The COVID-19 pandemic - which resulted in school shutdowns, social isolation, loneliness, and tremendous economic strain for many families and communities across Australia, particularly those living in regional areas and/or from marginalised, culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds - further exacerbated the mental health and wellbeing of Australian school-aged children, with research demonstrating these impacts are persisting.


I am currently studying a Masters in Professional Psychology at Charles Sturt University while also serving as the part-time General Manager of Policy and Social Impact at the Australian Psychological Society, thus am aware that the Society has consistently advocated for 1 psychologist to be allocated for every 500 students in schools. Yet in reality, the number of psychologists supporting children in schools is far lower for a number of reasons, including a chronic shortage in the psychology workforce, which meets only 35% of projected demand, the cost of hiring school psychologists unless supported by government grants, and the cost of studying psychology unless supported by scholarships.


I want to provide an oral presentation on the case for more psychologists in Australian schools, practical recommendations to address the current challenges, and opportunities to learn from international experience.