Victoria announces funding boost for school counselling services amid cyberbullying surge

The Victorian government has committed an additional AUD 12 million over two years to expand school-based counselling services, citing a 37 per cent increase in student wellbeing referrals linked to online bullying and harassment since 2024. The funding will support 150 additional counsellor positions across state schools, with priority given to regional and disadvantaged communities where access to mental health services is limited, and will complement the state's implementation of the Let's Stop Bullying campaign materials.

Counselling supports recovery, but the operational challenge lies in surfacing the child who needs help before a crisis becomes entrenched. Backed by Startmate, Guardii detects patterns of sustained targeting, escalation and coercion in children's direct-message conversations across platforms, alerts parents and school professionals to a child in distress in real time, and enables rapid connection to counselling or emergency services when acute-distress or suicide-risk signals are identified, ensuring that expanded clinical capacity reaches the children who need it most.