Introducing the National workforce centre for child mental health: Improving the lives of infants, children and families

Though many Australian infants and children experience mental health difficulties, these difficulties often go undiagnosed or the families lack access to appropriate services. This article describes the state of child mental health and the mental health sector in Australia then introduces a new initiative for improving workforce capacity: the National Workforce Centre for Child Mental Health. This Centre is a collaboration between Emerging Minds, the Australian Child & Adolescent Trauma, Loss & Grief Network at the Australian National University, the Australian Institute of Family Studies, the Parenting Research Centre, and the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners, and aims to build the identification, assessment, and support skills of professionals and organisations who work with children or parents.