ANXIETY specialist Dr Jodi Richardson will deliver the keynote address at a free community forum on youth mental wellness at Peninsula Community Theatre on Thursday 21 May.
The forum, titled Moving Ahead: Youth Mental Wellness, is being run by Peninsula Voice Inc., a volunteer-led not-for-profit. Previous Peninsula Voice forums have covered homelessness, gambling, loneliness, drugs and alcohol, and climate change.
Other speakers include Mt Eliza Secondary College principal, Danni Vaughan, and Padua College director of wellbeing programs, Suzi Hyland. A lived experience speaker will also address the forum, followed by a Q&A panel.
Topics will include anxiety, school refusal, and recognising early signs that a young person may be struggling.
Local support services will have representatives at the event, who will be available to speak with attendees. They include headspace Rosebud and Frankston, Victoria Police, the Brotherhood of St Laurence, Mornington Peninsula Shire Council Youth Services, Family Life, Mental Health Safety Net, It’s Okay Not To Be Okay, Bayside Health Peninsula Care Group, Projex J, and Chasing Change.
The two-hour forum starts at 6:30pm and is aimed at parents, carers, teachers, mental health professionals and young people.
Registration is required through the Peninsula Voice website at: peninsulavoice.org.au
First published in the Mornington News – 12 May 2026
