About Us

Orygen Youth Health is now operating under the name Orygen Specialist Program.

We provide specialist mental health services for young people aged 15 to 25 who reside in the western and north-western regions of metropolitan Melbourne. Approximately 200,000 young people aged 15-25 years live in this catchment area.

Our focus is on providing early intervention to young people with severe and/or complex mental illness. We provide care to approximately 1000 new young people each year (from the more than 4,000 young people who are referred).

Multidisciplinary teams deliver individually tailored services that comprise assessment and crisis intervention, case management, medication, psychological interventions, peer support, family support, inpatient care, group work, vocational interventions, educational assistance, and intensive outreach. Orygen also operates the Forensic Youth Mental Health Service for the custodial sites at Parkville and Malmsbury and community Forensic Youth Mental Health for all of western metropolitan Melbourne and Western Victoria.

Orygen’s clinical care program is comprised of three parts:

  • Acute services (including an inpatient unit, and a Hospital-in-the-Home program).
  • Continuing care - specialised care for young people experiencing severe and/or complex mental illness, including psychotic (including young people at ‘ultra-high risk’ of psychosis), mood, personality, substance use, eating, and neurodevelopmental disorders.
  • Training and consultation - support for health professionals and teams to improve their understanding of youth mental health, and to promote the capacity of services to support young people in the community.