Once complete the hub will coordinate services and support to prevent young people in the region from falling through the gaps.

“We are looking forward to welcoming young people and their families to the centre once the building work is completed,” Anglicare NT executive manager of mental health, Jade Gooding said. 

Three months of building works are scheduled to commence early this month, to be undertaken by IOF NT with Nilon Construction and Carpentry - a Darwin based builder specialising in residential building work and small scale commercial projects.

“The internal fit-out of the centre will be welcoming, fun and youth friendly, incorporating valuable input from consultations already held with young people and community members," Ms Gooding said. 

The highly anticipated support service has had a rocky start with a couple of delayed opening dates. 

First announced in 2017, the Federal Government has invested more than $1.3 million to establish this new service in Katherine, and was first expected to be in operation in the middle of 2018. 

The location was locked in last year in August, at the central Randazzo Centre, across from the Woolworths Complex. 

The proposed fit out is expected to cost more than $500,000. 

Katherine has been identified as an area of high need, with high rates of reported psychological distress among young people with significantly higher youth suicide rates across the Northern Territory.

The application states that opening hours will vary, “but will typically operate from 9am to 8pm for four days a week between Monday and Friday. The clinic will be closed one day a week when outreach and community visits are undertaken.”

“The Headspace model is based on early intervention with the knowledge that adolescence and early adulthood is a critical time in a person's life, with research showing that 75 per cent of mental health disorders emerge before the age of 25,” Ms Gooding said. 

According to a Headspace spokeswoman, work has been steadily progressing at the Katherine Terrace site and extensive consultations have taken place with young people and stakeholders in the local community to help shape the new service.

The new Headspace centre is being established in Katherine in response to a community need for youth mental health support in the region. 

Following a tender process, Anglicare NT was selected to deliver the Headspace Katherine centre, which is funded by the Australian Government under the PHN Youth Mental Health Program and the Northern Territory Government.

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