Scoping Study into Approaches to Student Wellbeing: Final Report

The enhancement of student wellbeing is emerging as an important approach to the development of students’ social, emotional and academic competence and a significant contribution to the ongoing battle to prevent youth depression, suicide, self harm, antisocial behaviour (including bullying and violence) and substance abuse. The Australian Government is committed to reducing disadvantage in Australia and to improving students’ educational outcomes and school retention rates. Identifying and reducing the barriers to learning, including those linked to student wellbeing, can help to maximise the educational and social outcomes for all students. The Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) has identified “the active participation of young people in economic and social life” as a strategy for reducing depression, drug and alcohol abuse, crime, vandalism and other problems faced by young people. The purpose of the present Scoping Study, commissioned by the Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) as a project of the National Schools Drug Education Strategy (NSDES), aims to explore the value of developing an overarching national framework/policy statement that encompasses a more holistic and comprehensive approach to student wellbeing as a first step towards embedding student wellbeing in a school’s curriculum. The project will investigate current national and international research and State/Territory government and non-government approaches to student wellbeing, and make recommendations about future directions in this area.