Northern Beaches Council will fund a youth outreach service that provides holistic support and counselling services for all young people.

The Youth Wellbeing Hub will act as a triage and assessment facility for young people and their families. Qualified staff will assess client needs, refer them on to an appropriate service and ensure the referral is taken up and followed through.

Council will award the Burdekin Association a $90,000 grant per year, for two years, from Council’s Merger Savings Fund.

Northern Beaches Mayor Michael Regan said the allocation of these funds was based on a broad level analysis of community needs and interests, including extensive engagement for the draft Community Strategic Plan.

“More than 2000 people participated in developing a vision and identifying long-term priorities for the region. Better services for young people were identified as something which needed immediate attention.

“Currently no such services exist in the northern part of the LGA and existing school counselling services are heavily booked. The project will meet an urgent need for help through a partnership with a professional service provider.

“Recent research conducted by Mission Australia (2016) shows one in four young people are living with a mental disorder. Around one in five respondents (approximately 20,000) in their survey were either ‘extremely concerned’ or ‘very concerned’ about depression and family conflict. These stats speak for themselves and are the reason we need such a facility.” Mayor Regan said.

The Youth Hub will be a safe space for young people, their families and support persons to go to for help with a range of issues or concerns from bullying to drug and alcohol issues, not just young people in crisis.

The Burdekin Association has been providing a range of services to young people and their families in Northern Sydney area for 35 years. Services include direct support, outreach, family support, community engagement and intervention, case management and accommodation options.