Victorian mental health program celebrates 10 years of family support
28 Aug 2026
The Families where a Parent Has a Mental Illness program was expanded across Victoria in 2016. It works with mental health services and families to identify support needs and connect people with appropriate help.
Support can include peer groups, referrals to other services and financial assistance. The program also has workers who focus specifically on the needs of children, young people and young carers.
Over the past decade, the program has helped mental health services place greater attention on parenting and the impact of a parent’s mental illness on their children.
Staff are encouraged to ask people receiving mental health care whether they have children and to understand what support those children may need. This can help families receive assistance earlier and address concerns affecting more than one family member.
The program also promotes a family-focused approach to care. This means looking beyond the individual receiving treatment and considering their children, relatives, carers and other people who provide support.
Michelle Hegarty, Child and Young Person Coordinator with the program, said children can sometimes be missed when services focus mainly on the mental health needs of adults.
Helping children understand a parent’s mental illness can give them a clearer picture of what is happening at home and help them find appropriate support.
The difference this approach can make was highlighted by a family who took part in a consultation after a father became unwell. His children were unsure about what was happening and the family found it difficult to discuss the situation.
A family meeting gave them an opportunity to talk about the diagnosis and its effect on everyone. The children later attended a CHAMPS peer support session with their father, where they learned about mental illness and met other young people with similar experiences.
Hegarty said health professionals do not need to be specialists in family work to take a family-inclusive approach. Listening, asking questions and understanding the family’s circumstances can help build trust and provide more appropriate support.
The program will continue working with mental health services to strengthen family-inclusive care across Victoria.
Victorian mental health program celebrates 10 years of family support
Source: Victorian Department of Health — Families where a Parent Has a Mental Illness program.