The rates of social workers and school psychologists available to students in Tasmania is lower than the nationally regarded standard.
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Revelations there would be a ratio of one social worker for every 890 students, and one school psychologist for every 1025 students came out in a state government response to a question without notice from Labor education spokesperson Josh Willie.
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The figures were alarming to Australian Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools spokesperson and Queensland University of Technology Early Childhood and Inclusive Education expert Professor Marilyn Campbell who said best-practice for school psychologists was at least one for every 500 students.
Professor Campbell said the number arose from a NSW coroner recommendation after the suicide death of a student in the state.
"I think [the numbers in Tasmania] are a definite concern because we know the mental health of our young people is deteriorating, and that's been going on even before COVID," she said.
"Young people seem to have more distress, anxiety, depression and suicide ideation."
Professor Campbell said the capacity of school psychologists to pick up on issues and action them was an important one to counteract rising levels poorer mental health. She said intervention often prevented eventual suspension.
The amount of suspensions doled out to Tasmanian students was the base of Mr Willie's question, and it was shown the state was on track to record the highest amount of suspensions since at least 2019 with 4353 issued in the first two terms of 2021.
The concerns were reiterated by Australian Association of Social Workers chief executive Cindy Smith, who said the organisation recommended a ratio of one social worker to every 500 students.
Ms Smith said, like school psychologists, social workers had the potential to negate suspensions.
"Behavioural issues with young people that result in suspensions are possibly linked to underlying issues at home, such as poverty, family violence and intergenerational disadvantage. Social workers can identify and assist with addressing these issues and provide early intervention," she said.
"Schools are ideal for providing services for young people because they can be as general or as specialised as the students require. Many young people are reluctant to use services within a mainstream service, or may not have the independence necessary to access these."
State Health Minister Sarah Courtney said the latest student wellbeing survey showed 86 per cent of students felt safe in Tasmanian schools.
She said the government continued to work to employ "record numbers of professional support staff to assist students with participation and engagement, early learning, health and wellbeing, and literacy and numeracy".
"[We are] investing an additional $8 million to boost our investment in trauma support for students in Tasmanian Government Schools to $22 million," Ms Courtney said.
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