REVOLUTION
IN MIND
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DO YOU NEED HELP URGENTLY?
If the situation is an emergency please call 000.
If you wish to speak to someone immediately who can help call:
Kids Helpline
1800 55 1800
www.kidshelpline.com.au
Lifeline Australia
13 11 14
www.lifeline.org.au
CONTACT ORYGEN
If you are looking for our partner organisation Orygen Youth Health Clinical Program operated by Melbourne Health who provide specialist youth mental health assessment and treatment to 15–24 year olds in the western and north western areas of Melbourne please visit www.oyh.org.au or for referrals call their triage service 1800 888 320.
Orygen’s main office is located in Parkville, Victoria.
Street address: 35 Poplar Rd, Parkville VIC 3052 Australia
Postal address: Locked Bag 10, Parkville VIC 3052 Australia
Phone:
Main number: +61 3 9966 9100
Media and communications: +61 487 088 393
Executive office: +61 3 9966 9574
Research administration: +61 3 9966 9571
Finance: +61 3 9966 9575
Facilities management: +61 3 9966 9500
Opening Hours: 9am-5pm (AEDT).
We currently only operate clinical services in the north and north west of Melbourne through our headspace centres.
If you need to access a clinical service and you live in another part of Australia you can access a range of services through the headspace centres operating around Australia. Visit www.headspace.org.au for more information.
Contact US
Complete the contact form below and we’ll direct your enquiry to the right team.
MEDIA CONTACT
For all media enquiries, please contact Hugh Tobin, Director of Communications and Marketing on 0487 088 393 or email media@orygen.org.au
VISITING ORYGEN
Orygen has recently moved into its new facility at the Parkville site. Our address is still 35 Poplar Road in Parkville. The map below shows how to access our new facility.
Parking:
There is paid parking available at the Parkville site on a per hour basis with a daily maximum of $12 per day.
The machine takes $2, $1, 50c, 20c coins and does not give change.
Public transport:
The Orygen Parkville site is close to the Royal Park train station and the Number 58 Tram.
ORYGEN RECOVERY (YPARC)
Orygen Recovery is Orygen’s Youth Prevention and Recovery Care (YPARC) service, designed with and for young people aged 16-25 who have experienced poor mental health.
Its location means access to mental health services is increased for young people in Melbourne’s north-western suburbs and the inner city.
Youth Prevention and Recovery Care services are referred to as step up/step down services. They are community-based residential facilities that provide a short-term ‘step up’ (from the community) to prevent a young person’s admission to hospital or a ‘step down’ from hospital to further assist with recovery. Young people may stay at Orygen Recovery for up to 28 days, but this may be shortened or extended depending on the young person’s needs.
Orygen Recovery is funded by the Victorian Government.
THE PROGRAM
The Orygen Recovery program for young people involves a variety of daily activities, including group work, psychosocial support, individual goal setting, social interaction, life-skill building and more. Some activities are educational, while others are all about interaction and fun.
The program has been collaboratively created with young people and everyone is encouraged and supported to participate (as well as give feedback so we can continually improve).
Every activity has a recovery focus and staff aim to support young people holistically – with their physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, financial, and environmental health and wellbeing. Young people will also have plenty of downtime to hang out with visitors and rest, reflect, and rejuvenate.
Below is an example of the weekly program, though it is subject to change:
THE FACILITY
Orygen Recovery is built over two levels, with 10 bedrooms on each level. The lower level is called garrang (meaning wattle) and the upper level is called bunjil, (meaning eagle). The names were chosen by young people with lived experience of mental ill-health in consultation with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.
Orygen Recovery is built over two levels, with 10 bedrooms on each level. The lower level is called garrang (meaning wattle) and the upper level is called bunjil, (meaning eagle). The names were chosen by young people with lived experience of mental ill-health in consultation with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation.
Orygen Recovery offers:
- pleasant, accessible, home-like and environmentally conscious surroundings designed to support young people’s recovery;
- private bedrooms and ensuite bathrooms for young people plus a communal kitchen, dining and living areas and breakout spaces, visiting areas and green spaces;
- clinical consulting, staff and support areas; and
- an outdoor garden for leisure, recreational activities and visits.
THE TEAM
Orygen Recovery actively celebrates and encourages cultural diversity. Staff are trained in this and passionate about supporting young people’s cultural considerations safely. There are also translators and many diverse resources available. We want to support everyone to learn, grow and recover, no matter who they are. We consider the young person to be the most important member of their treating team, and our staff their partners who empower them.
Orygen Recovery staff are all experts in their field of practice and many who will be on the floor supporting young people have lived experience of either their own mental health challenges, personally supporting loved ones with mental health challenges or working in community mental health.
Orygen Recovery staff include a coordinator; team leader; youth wellbeing discipline lead; lead consultant, consultant and registrar; nurses; allied health practitioners; peer workers – youth and family; family clinician; youth wellbeing workers; administrative officer; and health information manager.
What some of our Orygen Recovery staff say:
“I am passionate about collaborating with a fantastic multi-disciplinary team, creating a safe space that allows young people to work towards their social and emotional wellbeing and recovery goals.”
“It’s amazing having such a diversity of roles with many strengths but everyone committed to the same thing: providing a quality service to young people and their families.”
EVIDENCE-BASED APPROACH
A study by the University of Melbourne of Youth Prevention and Recovery Care services such as Orygen Recovery found the service model shows promise with young people experiencing mental health challenges, particularly in improving the range and availability of options across a spectrum of need. High levels of satisfaction were reported, and key features emphasised were:
a safe and welcoming environment for residents and families;
provision of person-centred care;
promotion of autonomy and self-help;
informal interactions with staff allowing for formation of naturalistic relationships;
time spent with other young people with similar experiences; and
assurance upon exit that the ‘door is always open.’
The outcomes described included:
improved resilience;
better understanding of mental health;
the importance of seeking help; and
stronger connections to therapeutic services.
Longer and multiple stays were associated with progressive and sustained change. Family members and stakeholders widely reported that the service fills a gap between community services and acute inpatient mental health hospital wards.
REFERENCE
Green R, Mitchell P, Lee, K, Svensson E, Toh J, Barentsen C, Copeland M, Newton JR, Hawke K, Brophy L. Key features of an innovative sub-acute residential service for young people experiencing mental ill health. BMC Psychiatry 19, 311 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-019-2303-4
CONTACT US
If you want more information about Orygen Recovery (YPARC) please complete the contact form.
Orygen acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the lands we are on and pays respect to their Elders past and present. Orygen recognises and respects their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationships to Country, which continue to be important to the First Nations people living today.
Orygen is committed to the health, safety and wellbeing of all children.
Orygen Ltd is a charity that has been endorsed as a deductible gift recipient. ABN 85 098 918 686
© ORYGEN LTD 2023