Australia is providing a new, free phone application with information, ideas and guidance for parents to help them provide additional support for their child’s mental health and wellbeing.

The Raising Healthy Mind App was developed by the Raising Children Network as part of its program to support parents’ mental health literacy by building knowledge and confidence concerning the social and emotional wellbeing of children. The government is providing $1.5 million over three years to help fund the program.

Minister for Health and Aged Care, Greg Hunt, said “Each year, more than 300,000 Australian children experience a mental health disorder, and diagnosis and treatment at an early stage is important because it can reduce the length and severity of the problem. Early diagnosis with this new app will give parents and carers the confidence to recognize early signs of social or emotional problems and help them to seek support if it’s needed.”

The app is targeted towards parents with children aged 12 years and under and includes information on health, development and wellbeing based on the child’s age. The app is a resource family can use to recognize warning signs and seek support.

The 2021-22 Budget invests a record $2.3 billion in reformed mental health care, through the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Plan. This includes a number of initiatives for children and young people including:

• $54.2 million to create new Head to Health Kids mental health and wellbeing centres for children up to 12 years, in partnership with the state and territory governments;
• $42.3 million to support access to parenting education and support, to build parenting strategies and help parents to identify problem behaviours early; and
• $26.8 million to support Kids Helpline and meet the increased demand as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The app complements existing dedicated online mental health and wellbeing resources available for all parents and carers on the Raising Children Network’s website and can be downloaded from the usual app stores on mobile phones.