Is headspace making a difference to young people’s lives?

Appendix B
and each SA3 in non-capital cities across Australia 38 .
Scope – headspace services
In addition to the main centres, and in an attempt to maximise access to headspace, a number of
additional outreach-type services are provided:
• Outreach sites are defined as those working outside of the headspace site premises
in a one-to-one capacity in order to engage a young person. This model is used on an
as-needed basis. In-reach or visiting services are defined as headspace services which are
established at another service or school to provide primary assessment and consultation.
Staff are provided from the main site and the hours of service to the site are regular.
• Satellite sites are centres which are established when a fully operational main site reaches
a critical mass. Satellite sites require ongoing infrastructure, operational support, staffing,
supervision and clinical governance from a main site. Satellite sites do not receive
independent funding from the headspace national office. Satellite sites may not include all
components of the headspace platform and may not be open full-time.
As these outreach-type services offer varying levels of support and access periods, and the
geographic areas in which they are established remain in-scope for a new and independent
headspace centre, these outreach-type centres were not included in the centre expansion analysis.
However, there were two exceptions to this: a funded outpost of headspace Launceston in Devonport
which attracts additional funding and fits the profile of a full centre, and a satellite site in Wyong
which offers the core services and relies on like-services within the area for operational costs. These
two centres, which are considered satellite sites but meet the profiles for funding of full centres, were
included in the centre expansion analysis on the advice of headspace and DoH.
Current Centre allocations (Rounds 1 – 8)
In order to accurately describe the costs and effects of expanding headspace beyond 100 centres
using the current expansion model, it is important to take into account the history of the expansion of
headspace centres from inception of the program at Round 1 in 2006 through to the most recently
announced Round 8 list of centre locations.
Table B1 headspace centres Rounds 1-8
Round Year of Establishment Number of Centres
1 2007 10
2 2009 20
3 2012 10
4 2013 16
5 2014 15
6 to be established in 2015 16
7 to be established by Dec 2015 10
8 to be established by Dec 2016 5
Following the completion of Round 8 there will be 102 fully operational centres. As noted above,
Devonport (Round 4) is designated an ‘outpost’ as it receives additional funding, and Wyong (Round
6) is a ‘satellite’ and does not receive separate funding. The inclusion of these centres explains the
inconsistency in terminology in the question regarding expansion of headspace beyond 100 centres,
when in fact there are 102 centres.
For each Round of centre expansion from 1 – 8 we describe:
• the increase in coverage of the target population
• the increase in centre level and hNO costs, and
• the proportion of the target population left unserved by a headspace centre based on the
38
Lord Howe Island and Illawarra Catchment Reserve, which contain youth populations of 30 and 3 respectively, were
excluded from the centre expansion analysis.
Social Policy Research Centre 2015
headspace Evaluation Final Report
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