The Children’s Hospital at Westmead
The Children's Hospital at Westmead (CHW) is part of The Sydney Children's Hospital Network and is the largest, highly respected paediatric centre in New South Wales (NSW), providing excellent care for children from NSW, Australia and across the Pacific Rim. Established in Camperdown in 1880 with four doctors and six nursing staff, the hospital is now a stand alone public hospital and registered charity with 3,000 staff in 150 departments, The Children's Hospital at Westmead serves over 50,000 sick children and their families each year in a family-focused healing environment.
The Department of Psychological Medicine provides specialist mental health consultation, clinical and advocacy services for children and young people who are experiencing psychological or behavioural problems or disorders associated with medical illness or health concerns; developmental or intellectual disability; and complex psychosocial circumstances or trauma. The department partners with the Child Development Unit including Disability Specialist Unit and Parramatta Early Childhood Assessment Team. The Disability Specialist Unit (DSU) is a multidisciplinary diagnostic and assessment team which conducts developmental, intellectual, functional and health assessments for children and adults who have, or are suspected of having, a developmental delay or intellectual disability.
MH-CYP: Ministry of Health
MH-CYP is the child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) policy, service development and service planning unit of the Mental Health and Drug & Alcohol Office (MHDAO), Ministry of Health, and has a state-wide brief.
MH-CYP aims to improve the mental health of NSW children, adolescents and those who care for them by working collaboratively with policy makers and service providers to support the best use of available evidence, the dissemination of relevant information and the development of meaningful partnerships for service planning and development, workforce development and clinical service innovation.
MH-CYP are responsible for developing, managing and coordinating NSW Health policy and strategy relating to child and adolescent mental health, including School-Link. It provides clinical leadership to Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) and facilitates improved literacy to CAMHS providers, the community and advocates for CAMHS issues, funding programs and improvements.
Department of Education
The NSW Department of Education (DoE) delivers high quality, internationally competitive public education and training from early childhood (pre-school), through to the compulsory years of schooling (Kindergarten to Year 10), and senior secondary education. Around 741,000 students are taught by over 50,000 full time teachers in more than 2,200 NSW Government schools - including pre-schools, primary schools, central schools, high schools, colleges and specialist schools. DoE also provides TAFE NSW courses, adult and community education courses, migrant English programs, post-secondary art courses and advice to the NSW Government on higher education.
The Department has in place a range of programs and services to support participation and the achievement of positive outcomes by students with disabilities from their early years prior to entering school through to post-school preparation for adult life and the workforce and to lifelong learning. The Department provides staff with specialist expertise, including student counsellors and careers advisers, in schools and TAFE NSW who are available to assist all students, including those with disabilities. Schools and campuses may also have peer support programs and student associations.