As we get ready to head back to the United States, we are left with many new ideas to implement back home. From what we saw during our agency visits, Australia’s mental health and child welfare services are both similar to and different from these services in the United States. Australian social service agencies tend to receive adequate funding from government programs and typically do not rely on philanthropic funding or payment by consumers. This means that access to these services is not limited by high healthcare costs and inadequate funding like it so often is in the United States.

Some of the facilities we visited were brand new and had state-of-the-art technology, whereas in the United States social services agencies often make do with inadequate facilities. This reflects the emphasis of Australian values on mental and physical health and wellbeing rather than the United States’ focus on money.

At the same time, there were definite similarities between agencies and services in Australia and the United States. For example, the process of responding to allegations of child abuse or neglect is very similar in both countries. Agencies in Australia also use the DSM-V diagnostic codes and many of the same evidence-based interventions as agencies in the United States.

Australia and the United States both are guilty of responding to people of color and indigenous populations in different ways than European-descended populations. Some agencies like the Bouverie Center made a huge effort to include dolls, artwork and family structures that were inclusive of all individuals of Australia; but most of the others that were predominately run by white or European descended individuals lacked an inclusive atmosphere and staff. In the United States, the same unbalanced service delivery can be seen.

Ashley Casey and Sarah Leonard

The majority of time spent suring our second week in Melbourne was at regional agencies.  We were able to ask questions about the services they provided as well as any questions regarding the effectiveness of their services.  We can hopefully take our questions and answers and use what we learned to develop our services in America.

One of the most lasting impressions made at these agencies was the level of funding and support for the Australian child welfare system.  Every building we met in seemed to be well kept and modern, while often in America, the buildings many social work services are in poorly maintained and old buildings.  I think this can be attributed to the priority that Australians put on their child welfare system. They have a better understanding of the importance of child mental health and its impact on the entire population.

We learned that the foster care system has an emphasis on rebuilding families and keeping children connected to their roots.  Children in the foster care system rarely get adopted by an outside family, and is more of a last resort for these children.  While visiting the University of  Melbourne, we were able to learn how different types of bias can affect services provided for children.

Specifically, we analyzed a case and decided whether we thought the child in questiuon should stay with his foster family or enter a group home for further treatment.  Two groups received the same case, but in the first, the child’s name was Abasi and his foster family was low income, and in the second, the child’s name was Shawn, and his foster family had high income.  these two changes were done to show how easily bias can affect a social worker’s decision for further care based on race and income.

Another critical thing we leanred about in Melbourne was traum informed care and working with children from refugee backgrounds.  Like America, Australia has a large number of refugee and asylum seeking families and individuals entering the country.  We discuessed the multiple reasons that families need to leave their home lands and the emotional, social, and physical labor that families go through when fleeing.  Children in these families often feel more strain than their parents due to their start of development and need for stability in chikldhood.  Therefore, providing useful resources and coping strategies to this children is critical in order to make sure that they grow up healthy, both physically and mentally.

These trauma informed strategies for coping can be applied to many forms of trauma.  Trauma affects many individuals, yet is a very broad topic.  Each type of trauma is unique to the indidvual and their experience, and learning about broad coping mechanisms can help to be applied to each form.  The information we learned from these agencies is very applicable to many forms of social work, and can be adapted to work in America as well.

Mary Tillman and MK Crimmel

After the Great Ocean Road, we had a free day on Sunday so we decided to make a beach day! A few of us made our way down to Brighton Beach where we got to see the very colorful Brighton Bathing Boxes. We took a bunch of pictures by the bathing boxes and the freezing water. Lunchtime came around and we were all starving so we got some good food and smoothies at a restaurant near the beach.  We also decided to go to St. Kilda Beach where we got to see some more penguins. It was a cloudy day but we made the best of it. We really took advantage of this free day because we had a really busy week ahead of us.

Monday morning started off with some really good pancakes both homemade and bought. Once we got to Batyr they handed us a variety of pamphlets and documents about different mental illnesses and different ways in which they can be prevented from happening. This agency’s main focus is to reduce the stigma around mental health by having young speakers talk about their stories to other young people in hopes of helping them seek help if they feel like they need it. Fun fact, their logo is an elephant because they want to address the elephant in the room and the name batyr was the name of an elephant who could actually talk. Afterward, we had to get on a train to go visit Maribyrnong City Council’ Phoenix Youth Hub where we got the chance to talk to two of the girls participating in one of the hub’s programs and they helped us make buttons with positive messages on them.

We visited the Bouverie Center the following day. They are a family institute and their mission is to improve relationships with family and others. We had a really unique experience at this agency because they had us partake in an actual scenario of a family struggling to stay together. Once we got to our apartment, a group of us got together and went to the pool and the sauna to relax and have a fun time.

On Wednesday, we had a long travel to our agency visit at Family Life. Everyone was exhausted this day but we pushed through and listened to everyone’s really well-done presentations. They gave us little snacks and the last two ladies who talked to us about trauma gave us little toys to play with and help us stay awake.

Finally, our final day of agency visits we went to Mind Australia where one of the researchers talked to us about how they work with people ages from 16-64 years old and the programs they have with the main focus on YPARC. Then we divided into two groups to go to two different YPARC facilities and got the opportunity to see them and ask any questions we might have had. It was our last night in Australia for this program so we had our departure dinner at an Italian restaurant, We had good conversations and said our goodbyes. This was truly an incredible and humbling experience and we are glad we came on this trip!

Ashley White and Leobeliz Perdomo Blanco

We can’t believe that our time in Melbourne has come to an end. The three weeks that we spent here have been incredible and have provided us with an endless amount of memories that we will cherish forever. This past week in Melbourne focused more on agency visits but we still got the chance to explore the city and its outskirts. We also got the opportunity to spend the last night all together as a group at a departure dinner. I thought this dinner was a great way to end the trip as we all got to reflect on our time in Melbourne and enjoy a delicious meal.

Though the last week was very busy in terms of agency visits, it flew by, and we learned more about child welfare and mental health in Australia. The agencies we visited were very informative and I felt as though they were a bit more interactive. We visited Batyr, Bouverie Center, Family Life, and Mind Australia and out of the agencies we visited, we found that Batyr and the Bouverie Center grasped our attention and interests the most.

Batyr’s moto, “giving a voice to the elephant in the room,” truly articulates the organization’s motives and goals. The staff works to reduce the stigma surrounding mental health and does so in many ways. Speakers of Batyr go from place to place talking about their experiences with mental health and essentially “give a voice to the elephant in the room.” They make it clear that it is okay to seek help and that people are there to listen. The also provide workshops for young people to participate in where they are able to talk about their personal experiences in a safe environment and also learn how to open up about these experiences to others.

The Bouverie Center is an organization that focuses on improving the lives of families and youths through services that focus on relationships. During this agency visit, we were given the opportunity to role play and fully engage ourselves in a “mock” session. During this session, we acted as the clients and also gave feedback on the session. This allowed us to see what it is truly like to be a social worker at the Bouverie Center because we witnessed the way they handle situations. We found it amusing how the social worker was able to balance each client’s’ stories and feelings. Visiting this agency was very beneficial to us and we know that we will use all of the information we gathered in our future careers.

Although our time in Australia has come to an end, we will always remember this trip. It has provided us with so many memories, new friendships, and an appreciation for a new culture. Living in Melbourne for three weeks gave us enough time to submerge ourselves into the daily life of an Australian and this opportunity serves us wonders. We are ready to go home but now we are going home more educated and informed on the world around us. It will be difficult to get used to the time difference given that we feel as though we just adjusted to the Australian time zone, however, a few sluggish days when we get home are well worth the great experience that we had in Australia.

-Cristina Renee Pliego & Alexis Wilson

Throughout the Melbourne trip, I loved when we visited agencies that discussed their work in the schools in Australia. As a future school counselor, it is so important that I gain this insight and learn about new ideas that I could implement in the school that I will work in someday. During our last week, two of these agencies we visited were Batyr and Family Life.

At Batyr, we learned all about the organization and the work that they do for youth across the continent. Their motto is “Giving a voice to the elephant in the room,” accompanied with their elephant Batyr logo. The main goal of Batyr is to break the stigma surrounding mental health, and the way that they send this message is by having speakers go out and tell their stories during assemblies at schools. We learned about the shocking statistic that out of every 30 students in Australia, 7 are having mental health issues but only 2 reach out for any kind of help.

Those who wish to become speakers or just want to practice sharing their story attend a Being Herd workshop where they are encouraged to tell their story with a few others who have also experienced struggles with mental health. Then if they choose, they can go through training to speak at the schools. As a school counselor, I would love to invite young people to come speak at my school. I think that it is so beneficial for students to hear about others who have seen victories with their mental health. It shows them that there is hope for them and they do not need to suffer alone.

At Family Life, we heard a presentation from two women who work in the schools of Bayside and Frankston. Their job is to initiate different school-focused youth services. For instance, we learned about one program that has to do with removing gender stereotypes among young men. This program is designed for boys who may not fit the typical mold of what a man is “supposed” to be like. It seems like a great way to teach the next generation that there is nothing wrong with them if they do not fit that mold that they see expressed in the world. In addition, the facilitators of these school programs conduct trauma workshops for faculty. This workshop is 2 hours long and explains the basic science behind trauma and how best to help students in schools who have experienced trauma in their lives. Another program discussed had to do with recruiting parents to develop a community-based initiative with the school. This idea is a great way to help get parents more involved in the schools.

Through these visits specifically and along with the other agency visits, I have learned so much about ways that I could incorporate different programs as a school counselor. Also, I have learned a lot about mental health and child welfare, in general. The trip to Melbourne was incredible and I am very grateful!

Megan Caldwell