Is headspace making a difference to young people’s lives?

Appendix C
Figure C5 Total number of services received
Looking at the type of service received at the first visit (Figure C6), the majority of clients in all three
groups went to see a psychologist, with the share of those who did so in the two intervention groups
being around 10 percentage points higher compared to the entire population. On the other hand, a
higher share of those in the entire population saw an intake worker on their first visit compared to
those in the two intervention groups. The distribution of clients from the three groups across other
service type categories is relatively similar.
Figure C6 Service type at first visit
Summary
In summary, headspace intervention group clients appear to be reasonably representative of the
entire population based on their demographic characterisics, mental health issue at presentation,
particularly as captured by primary issues. Differences are observed in terms of gender and age,
with the headspace intervention group more likely to be older and female when compared with the
overall headspace client population. There are certain differences in the patterns of service use
(e.g. total number of services received, service type used) between intervention group clients and
the entire population, which are explained by the sampling framework and high rate of young people
having only one occasion of service
‘Counterfactual’ survey young people aged 12-17 — Young Minds Matter
Young Minds Matter: The Second Australian Child and Adolescent Survey of Mental Health
and Wellbeing (YMM) was conducted in 2013/2014 with the aim of providing current information
Social Policy Research Centre 2015
headspace Evaluation Final Report
173