Teachers
Immediate help
Having a tough time and need support right now? Help is available. Access confidential, 24/7 support.
For support following a natural disaster
We recommend the following three resources:
- The headspace resource, mental health support for Australian students, teachers and schools following large-scale incidents (PDF)
- Emerging Minds advice on How educators can support children in the short term following a disaster or community trauma and
- The Australian Psychological Society and the Australian Red Cross resource, Psychological First Aid: A guide to supporting people affected by disaster.


Supporting our Students' Mental health professional learning
Supporting our Students' Mental Health (SoSMH) is a professional learning opportunity for all school staff.
This free training has been especially developed by the department in response to the need for a short, accessible course to buidl the confidence and ability of school based staff to support the mental health of all students.
Mental health resources
Ways you can support the mental health of your students.
- Department of Education: I am a staff member (Care and Connect) – Recognising and supporting your students' wellbeing is one of the most important ways you can help them flourish. There are lots of resources to help you do this.
- ReachOut School – tools, advice and resources for students in Year 7 and beyond.
- Be You – Be You provides educators with knowledge, resources and strategies for helping children and young people achieve their best possible mental health.
- BITE BACK: Youth Educator Information – The Black Dog Institute's Bite Back is an online positive psychology program. Use their lesson plans to promote conversations around mental health and help your students develop healthy lifelong skills and habits.
Resources to support our own mental health.
- Be You: Wellbeing Tools for You – To look after your students' wellbeing, you need to look after your own. Be You provides a range of self-care practices to help you stay strong and resilient.
- Department of Education: I am a staff member (Care and Connect) – We all need help from time to time. Whenever things get tough, know that there are many excellent resources, including one-on-one support, to help you at any time.
- ReachOut: Teacher wellbeing – ReachOut has an extensive range of resources to help you improve and maintain your personal wellbeing.
Steps you can take to improve the overall mental health of your school.
- Department of Education: I am a staff member (Care and Connect) – School-wide wellbeing systems and practices will help to build and sustain a mentally healthy school community
- Department of Education: Mental health programs and partnerships – A range of evidence-based mental health programs that focus on prevention and early intervention are available to support schools.
- Be You – Be You provides educators with knowledge, resources and strategies for helping children and young people achieve their best possible mental health.
- Supporting our Students Mental Health - will provide you with the foundational knowledge and practical skills you need to effectively support all students. You will cover mental health theory, learn practical skills; and discover where, and when, to refer students for other available supports.
- Be You – A collection of professional learning modules for educators and school leaders that focus on deepening their knowledge and skills to promote student wellbeing and build mentally healthy communities.
- MyPL: Online Training Australia: Supporting Student Wellbeing and Mental Health – This registered and quality assured course for teachers in NSW public schools aims to develop your capacity to support the wellbeing and mental health of your students. 40 hours over 12 weeks through MyPL.
- PAX Good Behaviour Game – Training for K-6 teachers in NSW Public Schools to deliver the evidence based PAX Good Behaviour Game that has been shown to improve wellbeing, emotional regulation and academic outcomes.
- Mental Health First Aid Australia: MHFA in Schools – Youth Mental Health First Aid training will help you and your school community respond more effectively to mental health issues. Department of Education staff can enquire about training by contacting the Network Specialist Facilitator in your local Education Office.
- Anti-bullying: Resources for educators – Teachers can access a range of anti-bullying resources suitable for Early Stage 1 to Stage 5 classrooms. Preventing bullying behaviours and learning ways to respond well to bullying improves the wellbeing and mental health of all students.
- Department of Education: Time for a Health Check (DOCX 75KB) – Time for a Health Check is a series of lessons for stage 4 PDHPE students to empower them to recognise influences on their thoughts, feelings and actions.
- Department of Education: Exercise your mood – Exercise Your Mood is a Stage 5 integrated PDHPE unit that focuses on the concept of mental fitness and aims to empower students to plan strategies to improve the mental fitness of their school community in order to support their own and others' wellbeing.
- Department of Education: Mental fitness – exercising your brain – Stage 5 (DOCX 69KB) – Mental Fitness – exercising your brain provides lesson ideas to use with Stage 5 PDHPE students that will enable them to improve their mental fitness. Students can reflect on their sleep and physical activity habits, plan modifications to improve sleep patterns and practice mindfulness strategies.
- Department of Education: Life Ready support materials – Department of Education staff can access a range of teaching and learning materials that can be used when exploring mental health and wellbeing as part of the Life Ready course that must be delivered in Year 11 or 12 in government schools. Materials should be reviewed in full and endorsed by the school principal before use.
- R U OK?: Education Resources – R U OK? provides primary and high school teachers with toolkits containing lesson plans that encourage students to look out for others and help them to offer support when needed.