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

3. Access and Engagement with Centres
Figure 3.5 Average SOFAS scores at presentation by age and gender-sexuality group, headspace
clients 2013/14
Note: LGBTI include young persons who reported their gender as trans or intersex and their sexuality as lesbian, gay,
bisexual, questioning and other. Cell sizes are provided in Appendix E.
Source: Authors calculations from hCSA data.
Indigenous headspace clients recorded consistently lower functioning than non-Indigenous young
people across most age cohorts when they first attended headspace. Indigenous young people who
were 22-25 years old had the poorest levels of functioning (Figure 3.6).
Figure 3.6 Average SOFAS scores at presentation by age and Indigenous status, headspace clients
2013/14
Source: Authors calculations from hCSA data.
Reason for attending headspace
As shown in Figure 3.7, the main reason reported by young people for attending a headspace
centre was because they were having problems with how they were feeling (68%). The second
most commonly self-reported reason was ‘problems with relationships’ (11%), followed by ‘problems
with school or work’ (6%). A very small percentage of young people sought help for physical health
problems (2%) or vocational assistance (1%).
Social Policy Research Centre 2015
headspace Evaluation Final Report
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