headspace centres FAQ 2014

headspace centre expansion

1. Where will the new centres be located?
New South Wales: Griffith - Murrumbidgee (Griffith), Orange, Sydney - Castle Hill, Broken Hill - Far West (Broken Hill), Goulburn
Queensland: Moreton Bay - north (Caboolture), Gladstone, Brisbane east (Capalaba), Bundaberg
Victoria: Swan Hill, Melbourne - Greensborough, Gippsland (Bairnsdale), Grampians (Horsham)
Western Australia: Geraldton
South Australia: Limestone Coast (Mount Gambier)

2. How are the locations determined?
The location of future centres is determined after extensive scoping work to identify the areas of greatest need across Australia. This also involves assessing the viability and potential success of the headspace model in that area.

The process to determine locations for centres is done in consultation with the Department of Health, headspace and the State and Territory Governments. The final decision is made by the Commonwealth Government.

Determining the location of centres is based on several considerations to ensure that headspace delivers services in the areas of greatest need. They include (but are not limited to): the distance from existing headspace centres; the number of young people in the area; population growth; social and economic disadvantage; and local capacity to establish a headspace presence.

3. Who runs the centres and how are they funded?
A headspace centre provides a platform to bring together a range of services in local communities for young people aged 12-25.

After the location is announced, each headspace centre is managed by a lead agency that is chosen through a selection process run by headspace National Office. The lead agency is supported by a consortium of local service providers including GPs, mental health specialists, youth-focused drug and alcohol services and vocational support services.

headspace, is funded by the Australian Government (through the Department of Health) under the Youth Mental Health Initiative. The Commonwealth Government funding allows for existence of the headspace site, including rent, infrastructure and some salaried staff. The model relies on accessing other Federally-funded programs, to enable the fulfilment of co-located GPs and allied health professionals for example who are self funded through their billings against the MBS.

4. What is the process for setting up the recently-announced new centres and how long does it take?

Expressions of Interest (EOI) will be sought for each of the 15 locations from organisations interested in taking up the headspace lead agency role. The EOI process for each location will be advertised in relevant capital city and regional newspapers and on the headspace website in the coming months.
Information sessions will be held in each of the 15 proposed locations. These sessions will be well-publicised and will outline the headspace model and the process to be utilised to establish the new centres.
Submission documentation will be made available on the headspace website ( http://www.headspace.org.au/about-headspace/about-us/new-centres)
For headspace centres where more than one compliant/suitable EOI is received, a selected tender process will then be adopted to identify the preferred lead agency.
For headspace centres where only one EOI is received that satisfies the Evaluation Criteria, the respondent will move directly to "preferred agency" status and will be required to prepare a Business Plan.
A sub-committee of the headspace Board (known as the headspace Evaluation Team) will assess all EOIs, Business Plans and tenders (where applicable). All submissions will be assessed against a specified set of 'Evaluation Criteria'.
Recommendations for awarding the contracts will then be put to the fullheadspace Board for final approval.
After the lead agency is confirmed and the grant agreement signed there are some key milestones towards getting the centre up and running:

Grant agreement signed and executed
New centre manager recruited
Facility lease secured
Facility fit-out completed
Other main tasks include:

MBS Allied Health and GP workforce recruited
All headspace funded positions recruited
Service promotion and community engagement
Branding materials & website developed
Launch of new centre
It is expected that the next 15 centres will be established over two years.