The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS) within the Northern NSW Local Health District (NNSWLHD) serves several local government areas, including Tweed Byron, Ballina, Kyogle, Richmond Valley, Lismore Shires, Grafton, and Clarence River. NNSWLHD CAMHS offers seven specialised mental health services for young people aged 0-17 years and their families. These services include both inpatient and community-based support, ensuring a comprehensive range of care options for youth.
CAMHS provides a variety of free services aimed at early intervention and prevention, offering brief and long-term community-based interventions, as well as access to inpatient care. The services are specifically designed to support young people who are experiencing moderate to severe mental health challenges, providing expert care for their mental health needs. The overarching goal is to deliver accessible and safe services that empower children, young people, and their families to foster positive mental health and wellbeing.
To access CAMHS, individuals can either visit their nearest Community Mental Health Service or obtain a referral from a healthcare provider such as a GP or paediatrician. Alternatively, you can contact the Mental Health Line at 1800 011 511 for guidance and support. For referral pathways to specific CAMHS services please refer to the information below.
In case of an emergency or immediate safety concerns, please dial 000 for urgent assistance.
Our Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services are located at:
Ballina Community Child and Adolescent Mental Health
Nexus Building, 72 Crane St
BALLINA NSW 2478
Phone: (02) 6681 9600
Byron Central Hospital
54 Ewingsdale Road
EWINGSDALE NSW 2481
Phone: (02) 6639 9400
Grafton Community Mental Health
175 Queen Street
GRAFTON NSW 2460
Phone: (02) 6641 8250
Lismore Community Child and Adolescent Mental Health
17 Conway Street
LISMORE NSW 2480
Phone: (02) 6620 7995
Tweed Valley Community Mental Health Service
771 Cudgen Road
CUDGEN NSW 2487
Phone: (07) 5506 7540
Child and Adolescent Mental Health services we offer include:
- Child and Adolescent Eating Disorders Service (CASEDs)
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The CASEDs team is a specialist program within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service.
CASEDs provides specialist multidisciplinary care for children and young people aged 8-17 and their families who have a formal diagnosis of an eating disorder and who are already engaged with a CAMHS or Child and Family Health service prior to the referral to this specialist service.
This step-up/stepdown service provides intensive support to children and young people who have not progressed in treatment with CAMHS or Child and Family Health treatment in the community teams.
This service is provided through a combination of face to face and virtual support with a focus on intensive family-based intervention.
Referrals to this service are via CAMHS or Child and Family teams only.
- Got it!
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The Got It! (Getting On Track In Time!) team provides early intervention mental health services for children and their families in Kindergarten to Year 2.
The Got It! team have staff at both Byron Community Health and Yamba Community Health centres and provide a district-wide program across Northern NSW.
Schools complete an Expression of Interest for Got It! to provide the following service:
- Training for all school staff in an evidence based Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) program
- Support for school staff delivering a SEL program, for all K-6 children in the classroom.
- Interviews and discussions with parents/carers of children in K-2 who may have concerns about their child’s behavioural and/or emotional wellbeing
- The 8-week ‘Care2Kids’ program for a small group of children, and their parents and/or carers
Got It! works closely with the Department of Education and school staff to ensure that the program is delivered in a way that is appropriate for each individual school.
Contact:
Byron Community Health: (02) 6639 9400
Yamba Community Health: (02) 6603 0900
- Perinatal Infant Mental Health Service
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The Perinatal Infant Mental Health Service (PIMHS) is a community-based service for parents with a severe, acute or complex mental illness, or who are at imminent risk of relapse/episode and who are pregnant or have a child under the age of two.
PIMHS provides time limited, intensive (minimum weekly) support, provided through direct patient care or consultation liaison for up to 3 months.
The service is located at the Lismore Mental Health campus and provides services across Northern NSW Local Health District.
Referrals are accepted via Community Mental Health Services.
- Safeguards
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The Safeguards Team is a service within the community for children and adolescents aged 0-17 years experiencing acute mental distress, and their support network.
The Team includes Psychiatry, Psychology, an Aboriginal Mental Health Worker, Nurses and Mental Health Clinicians.
The Safeguards Team will provide short term support with the aim of stabilising the immediate crisis, building strengths and capabilities, and assisting children and adolescents and their support network to access practical supports including linking children and young people to services which can provide ongoing support if needed. Children and adolescents will be provided timely and accessible services either via face-to-face, or via telehealth and telephone, depending upon their preference.
The Team covers the local government areas of Tweed Byron, Ballina, Kyogle, Richmond Valley and Lismore Shires, Grafton and Clarence River and provides access to care through extended hours, including weekends.
Referrals are received through the Mental Health Assessment Teams.
Further contact details:
Phone: (02) 6620 7995 or email NNSWLHDSafeguards@health.nsw.gov.au. - School Link
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The NSW School Link initiative is a state-wide collaboration between NSW Health and the NSW Department of Education to improve the mental health, wellbeing and resilience of children and young people.
School Link Coordinators are based at these sites:
Tweed Valley Hospital Community Mental Health
Phone: (02) 6677 3600Byron Community Mental Health
Phone: (02) 6639 9400Lismore Community CAMHS
Phone: (02) 6620 7995Grafton Community Mental Health
Phone: (02) 6641 8250 - Whole Family Team
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Whole Family Team is specialist family centred outreach program within the Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service (CAMHS). Whole Family Team support families where a parent is experiencing mental health and/or alcohol and other drug related issues, and where there are significant child protection concerns.
The team includes a Psychiatrist, Psychologists, Social Workers, Nurses, Aboriginal Health Workers and Mental Health Clinicians.
Our team works with families to develop an understanding of the specific needs of each family member and to develop agreed goals. We provide assessment and evidence-based therapeutic interventions related to Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drug issues and parenting.
Referrals to Whole Family Team are made by the Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ). Consideration is also given to similar referrals from Brighter Futures, Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drug services.
The program covers the Lismore, Ballina, Casino, Kyogle, Evans Head, Urbenville and Byron Bay areas.
Contact details:
Conway Court, Upper Ground Floor,
17 Conway Street
Lismore NSW 2480Phone: (02) 6620 7995
- The Child and Adolescent Assessment and Triage Service (CAATS)
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The Child and Adolescent Assessment and Triage Service (CAATS) operates within the community and is here to help children, young people aged (0-17years) who are experiencing mental health concerns and their families. The Team includes mental health clinicians and psychiatry and will assess the type of care required and connect children and young people with the right services including medical, other mental health care providers or other Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services. They will also help families and caregivers who need guidance and support.
The service covers the local Northern NSW government areas of Tweed, Byron, Ballina, Kyogle, Richmond Valley, Lismore Shires, Grafton and the Clarence River.
Referrals to the Child and Adolescent Assessment Triage Service can be made by your health care provider including a doctor or paediatrician or phoning the Mental Health Line on 1800 011 511 or through schools.
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Inpatient Unit (Kamala)
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The Kamala Child and Adolescent Inpatient Unit is an 8-bed acute mental health facility within the Richmond Network Mental Health Campus at Lismore Base Hospital. It provides care on a voluntary or involuntary basis under the NSW Mental Health Act 2007. Referrals mainly come from the NNSWLHD and MNCLHD, covering a large area from Port Macquarie in the south to Tweed Heads in the north, Urbenville in the west, and Grafton in the south. Kamala offers a safe, therapeutic environment for children and adolescents aged 12-17 with complex mental health issues, providing diagnostic assessments, therapeutic programs, and clinical management.
Referrals are made through the Mental Health Access Line (MHAL) or Child and Adolescent Assessment and Triage Service (CAATS), which directs cases to the appropriate local service. For urgent concerns, young people may present to the Emergency Department of the local NNSWLHD or MNCLHD hospital.