In a bid to stop young people entering the hospital system over their mental health issues, a specialised facility is set to open in Central Queensland.
The youth mental health facility is slated for a Berserker site, in Rockhampton, as part of the state government’s $50m pledge to improve treatment for young people.
Queensland Minister for Health Tim Nicholls joined Rockhampton MP Donna Kirkland to announce its construction, which will provide six beds for people aged 16 to 21.
The unit will operate on a Step Up Step Down model in a residential-like environment, seeking to avoid hospital admissions and help young people transition back into the community.
“These facilities are about helping people to stop them presenting into our hospitals and needing acute services by providing caring environments supported by clinical care in community services before they proceed to the stage of needing acute care in our hospitals,” Mr Nicholls said.
“But equally, for those who have been treated and are making the journey back into the community, this is about a step-down facility.
“This is about helping them get back into community, get back into everyday living, whether that’s going to the shops, catching public transport, going somewhere, getting training or other services and assistance.”
According to the National Study of Mental Health and Wellbeing in 2022, 39 per cent of people aged 16-24 reported having a mental health condition.
Ms Kirkland said data suggested that across Queensland almost 50 per cent of youth were struggling with mental health issues.
“We see those issues starting at home, sometimes then traversing into more acute needs in our hospital system,” she said.
“This is filling the gap in the middle.
“And it means that they can be here for a period of up to 28 days.
“They have that 24/7 wraparound clinical support care in an environment that is a little bit more like home and less like a hospital and less like an institution.”
Construction is set to begin in early 2027 and the project completed by the end of next year, with a similar facility confirmed in Townsville.