Students at St Raphael’s Catholic Primary School in Hurstville received an inspiring lesson in resilience when Guy Sebastian, an ARIA award-winning artist, and clinical psychologist Dr. Hayley Watson visited the school to underscore its commitment to mental health. This high-profile event celebrated the Open Parachute program, a preventive wellbeing initiative funded by The Sebastian Foundation that has become integral to the school’s curriculum.
The visit comes at a crucial time, with data from 2025 revealing that nearly half, or 49 percent, of young Australians aged 12 to 25 are experiencing significant psychological distress. With clinical wait times for professional support averaging around 100 days, many teachers and parents find themselves managing the emotional wellbeing of students without sufficient resources. The Open Parachute initiative seeks to address this gap by shifting focus from reactive crisis management to proactive skill-building.
“Instead of depending solely on experts to ‘put out fires,’ we must equip students, teachers, and parents with practical, preventative mental health skills,” Dr. Watson, the founder of the program, stated. “This is not therapy. This is skill-building. This is prevention at scale.”
The program employs a peer-to-peer model, where students from kindergarten to Year 6 engage with documentary-style films featuring their peers navigating challenges like anxiety, bullying, and social media pressures. This approach fosters a sense of “mental armour,” which both Mr. Sebastian and his wife, author and content creator Jules, have been advocating through their foundation since 2013.
Mr. Sebastian expressed his enthusiasm during the visit, remarking, “It was such a great visit seeing the kids. It’s such a beautiful little school and such a nice group of teachers.” He emphasized that teachers and parents do not need to be trained psychologists to impart these crucial skills. “By having these tools in their chest, they have managed to create something that’s easy to integrate.”
As a father of two teenagers, Mr. Sebastian highlighted the importance of making mental health resources accessible to all schools, regardless of their backgrounds. “Mental health doesn’t discriminate,” he said. “With the suicide rate among young people, we always wait until it’s too late before we react. So it’s about getting ahead of the curve and addressing issues like social media from a young age.”
The impact of the three-year partnership at St Raphael’s is already evident. Dr. Watson recounted a parent’s experience with her daughter, who transformed from being withdrawn and anxious about school to becoming confident and socially engaged through the skills learned in the program. “The aim of the program is to teach as many kids across Australia a mental health skill set so that they can navigate the challenges they face every day,” Dr. Watson added.
The Sebastian Foundation continues to expand its reach, now partnering with over 340 schools nationwide, supported by community organizations such as the St George Leagues Club and Club Central Hurstville. This collaboration ensures that student wellbeing remains a priority well before crises occur.
In a commitment to further support the program, Mr. Sebastian announced that he would donate $1 from every ticket sold on his upcoming 100 Times Around the Sun national tour to The Sebastian Foundation, aiming to facilitate the rollout of the program in 2026. This initiative highlights the importance of early intervention in mental health, aiming to equip the next generation with the tools they need to thrive.
