Bridging gaps in mental health care
December 2025
The wellbeing of young people can be boosted with timely mental health care.
The COnnecting Mental-health PAediatric Specialists and community Services program (COMPASS) was established in 2021. It was developed with the regional primary care network, local clinicians, and the local child and adolescent mental health service. COMPASS provides access to a multidisciplinary online community of practice and consultations with a child psychiatrist. It is enhancing community clinician confidence in managing child and adolescent mental health concerns, reducing reliance on specialist services, and fostering collaborative care.
Our impact
Clinicians reported improved knowledge about:
- how services are organised – 16%
- access to mental health services – 15%
- diagnosing mental health conditions – 11%
- referring children and adolescents – 20%
- management of self-harm for children increased from 35.5% to 74.5% (non-pharmacological) and from 13.5% and 41.2% (pharmacological).
COMPASS is associated with reduced professional isolation and burnout.
Next steps
The next phase focuses on scaling COMPASS in areas where access to child and adolescent psychiatry expertise is scarce. This includes rural areas and growth corridors where families may struggle to pay out-of-pocket costs for private mental health care.
COMPASS provides community clinicians with access to a multidisciplinary online community of practice and a child psychiatrist to improve their confidence in navigating the mental health system and providing care. It was developed in partnership with the North Western Melbourne Primary Health Network to strengthen paediatric mental health care.
This case study originally appeared in the Centre's 2025 Impact Report.