university support program
Tertiary students experience poorer mental health than the general population (Productivity Commission, 2019). Being a student is associated with stressors that can affect mental health, including academic demands, living away from home and support networks, and financial stresses. International students may also face language and cultural challenges. Therefore, it’s important that we build the capacity of staff to better support their students’ mental health and wellbeing.
What is the University Support Program?
The University Support Program provides training and education opportunities to Australian universities to build their capacity and confidence to engage in conversations about mental health and wellbeing.
We work with a three-stage approach:
- Planning
- Preparing the community through training and education, consultations and implementation of frameworks so that in the event of exposure to suicide, you are in the best place to respond appropriately.
- We use a conversational approach to help you:
- Notice what is happening for a student or colleague,
- Inquire about what you have noticed and,
- Provide appropriate support in the context of your role within the university.
(See the Real Talk resource for a detailed explanation)
- Response
- Support and guidance to implement the steps outlined in the Responding to suicide: a toolkit to support Australian Universities following exposure to a suicide. Including support to manage media and recovery action planning and critical incident review and support as required.
- Support and guidance to implement the steps outlined in the Responding to suicide: a toolkit to support Australian Universities following exposure to a suicide. Including support to manage media and recovery action planning and critical incident review and support as required.
- Recovery
- Following a critical incident, we can provide further training and education on the Responding to suicide toolkit, as well as consultation and review of the university suicide prevention and postvention policy and frameworks.
- Following a critical incident, we can provide further training and education on the Responding to suicide toolkit, as well as consultation and review of the university suicide prevention and postvention policy and frameworks.
Training and education sessions (see workshops below) are available either online or in-person; they are interactive, strengths-based, and evidence-informed, and can also be modified to align with existing mental health and wellbeing initiatives at your university.
headspace can also work with you to develop and strengthen mental health and wellbeing frameworks, including a tailored approach to responding to a suicide that impacts your university community.
What are the service offerings available to universities?
- Postvention Response & Support
A dedicated team are available to assist in responding to a death by suicide. We can support the development of a postvention plan, as well as assist in response and recovery activities. - Policy & Framework Review
Develop existing policies and frameworks to help embed a whole of university approach to mental health and suicide postvention at your university. - Executive briefing
A 30-minute session aimed at the executive level university staff to highlight the importance of a whole of university approach to suicide postvention and how headspace can support your university. Please contact us to arrange a briefing session.
How can my university benefit from this program?
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Staff may feel more confident and skilled to engage in conversations about mental health and wellbeing particularly when they are concerned about a student, or colleague,
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Feel better equipped to respond to the suicide of a student that promotes help-seeking and reduces risk for the community,
- Strengthen the mental health support available to students by increasing awareness of the referral pathways to appropriate Local, State and National support services.
For more information about how headspace can support your university:
Workshops
We offer four different workshops online via zoom or in-person. Open to all staff of universities.
1. Real talk 1: a conversational approach to supporting university students and staff - 60 minutes
A presentation that builds the capacity of all university staff to engage in relevant conversations around mental health, including introducing the NIP it in the bud framework; what to Notice, how to Inquire and what supports to Provide someone experiencing mental health difficulties. Click to register for an upcoming workshop.
2. Real Talk 2 in Practice: an interactive workshop - 2 hours
An interactive session that takes a deep dive into case studies to build on the knowledge and skills from Real Talk 1 to engage in conversations and offer a variety of supports relevant to individuals at your university. Attending the Real Talk 1 beforehand is preferable but not essential. Click to register for an upcoming workshop.
3. Responding to suicide: a toolkit to support Australian universities - 90 minutes
This session focuses on the planning and response phases of postvention activities following a suicide, including guiding principles of postvention and immediate responses. Click to register for an upcoming workshop.
4. Recovery after suicide: strategies to support university staff & students - 90 minutes
This session focuses on the recovery phase of postvention, to support all staff to engage in activities to build mentally healthy universities following a suicide. This session is appropriate regardless of whether your university has been impacted by a suicide previously. Click to register for an upcoming workshop.
See the full schedule of workshops and register on Eventbrite.
Frequently Asked Questions
Find a date and time that suits you on our Eventbrite page and register your details. You will then receive a confirmation email with a link to join online.
If you cannot attend any of the workshops currently scheduled on Eventbrite, please contact us on [email protected]
If you are interested in scheduling one of our workshops specifically for your staff, we can modify the content to align with your existing mental health and wellbeing initiatives.
Please email [email protected] to organise.
Privacy Statement
headspace is committed to ensuring that the personal information you provide to us remains secure, is only used for the purposes for which it is collected and that you are aware of what information is held and your rights. View the full headspace University Support program privacy statement.
The headspace University Support Program has received grant funding from the Australian Government under its National Suicide Prevention Leadership and Support Program.