We hear a lot about the youth mental health crisis, but Raising Superheroes asks a different question: What if we could prevent much of the suffering before it begins?
Filmed across Australia and the world, this uplifting new feature documentary from director Shannon Harvey goes in search of the people, ideas, and communities already changing the story. It makes the evidence-based case that mental health is shaped long before a crisis, and that all of us have a part in shaping it.
Why ARACY is taking action: Every child in Australia should be able to thrive, wherever they live and whatever their circumstances. Getting there depends on the systems around them working together. Right now, they do not.
Our own consultation with young people through the Young and Wise report repeatedly places mental health at the top of their priority list for parents and policymakers to support them with. Yet, responsibility for children sits across portfolios, jurisdictions, and sectors. Evidence sits in one place, funding in another, and delivery in a third. Nowhere is this clearer than in mental health: half of all mental illness starts before the age of 14, yet prevention efforts receive only a fraction of Australia’s mental health funding [1].
Fixing a fragmented system is work none of us can do alone. ARACY exists because no one else holds the whole child. That is why we are proud to be part of the Wellbeing and Prevention Coalition in Mental Health [2]. Led by Prevention United, this alliance of over 150 organisations is advocating to establish prevention as a core, funded pillar of our national mental health response—including a commitment to a minimum 5% investment in prevention and mental health promotion.
Join us at the premiere in Sydney, Melbourne, or Brisbane to see what prevention looks like in practice, and be part of the national public campaign our sector has needed for a long time.
[1] APO. “Raising Superheroes premieres.” https://apo.org.au/classified/event/336106
[2] Prevention United. “The Wellbeing and Prevention Coalition in Mental Health.” The Wellbeing and Prevention Coalition in Mental Health – Prevention United
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With six connected areas, The Nest ensures young Australians have everything they need for the best start in life, helping them reach their highest potential.
Using The Nest, has helped ARACY to be at the forefront of disease prevention and the promotion of holistic health for young Australians.
Here you’ll see some examples of how The Nest has been used in organisations outside of ARACY across Australia.
