The Alliance would like to thank the National Mental Health Commission for the opportunity to comment on the draft National Guidelines for including mental health and wellbeing in early childhood health checks. The draft National Guidelines provide an important opportunity for engaging with families and children at a fundamental developmental age and illustrate key considerations for providing a framework for health practitioners to implement mental health screening in early childhood health checks. The Alliance notes and supports the inclusion of prioritising equity of access by addressing financial, practical, and geographic barriers. Additionally, the guidelines provide a sound approach to early childhood health checks and supports the use of culturally safe and trauma informed practices that are foundational to the framework and supports the identification of the need for a nationally consistent approach to implementing mental health screening in early childhood health checks.
Submission