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Student Wellbeing offers a range of confidential and free health, wellbeing and personal support.
If you are experiencing wellbeing concerns and would like to connect with somebody, the first step is to complete our registration form. Once we receive your submission, a clinician from Student Wellbeing will call you to discuss your support needs. We will respond to you within 24-48 business hours of your enquiry.
While our registration form is the quickest way to connect with a team member, if you need to speak with somebody, you can also give us a call.
You can access specialist input on a wide range of personal, academic, social and psychological issues that may impact your life through our Student Counselling Service.
Download the TalkCampus app to get free and instant support for your wellbeing. You can access the Clinical Helpline 24/7, in multiple languages and from anywhere in the world. You can also connect with other students from around the world, in a safe, supportive, multilingual environment.
All international students are eligible to access Sonder, a 24/7 on-demand safety and wellbeing app. Sonder offers:
The Head Set site on Canvas by the Student Counselling Service is an online resource that offers a variety of evidence-based information and practices. These are aimed at helping you manage psychological wellbeing to achieve your individual goals at university.
Mindfulness and relaxation don't come naturally to most of us, but can be achieved over time with patience and practice.
Spend as little as 10 minutes a day with our guided breathing and muscle relaxation exercises to help yourself get grounded and reduce feelings of anxiety or stress. You can also download the Smiling Mind app and practice daily meditation and mindfulness on any device.
How we breathe can have a direct effect on our stress or anxiety levels.
Our bodies naturally maintain a balance between carbon dioxide and oxygen but when we are stressed we often begin to breathe very quickly (hyperventilate) and take in more oxygen than we need. This triggers chemical changes that are harmless but can produce symptoms such as dizziness, light-headedness and confusion. These are then often misinterpreted as frightening or dangerous and so feed feelings of anxiety or even panic.
You can practise breathing exercises (mp3, 5.9MB) to help you slow down your breathing and so reduce feelings of stress and anxiety.
Stress can often lead to muscle tension. Progressive muscle relaxation teaches you how to recognise the difference between tension and relaxation in the body, helping you reduce the tension from your muscles. The general method is to tense and then relax all of the main muscle groups in your body.
The Centre for Clinical Interventions has a useful information sheet on progressive muscle relaxation (pdf, 68KB) which outlines the procedure for practising this exercise. A guided progressive muscle relaxation exercise (mp3, 17.4MB) is also available in MP3 format.
Other relaxation exercises available:
Maintaining our general health and wellbeing is important. Being healthy and keeping well is about making sure we eat well, move more, sleep better and be aware of our limits when it comes to alcohol.
A healthy diet is essential if you want to feel good and stay well. Eating well can have positive benefits on your energy levels, concentration, memory and mood.
Tips for eating well:
Regular activity and exercise are essential for good health. Anything counts as exercise, as long as it gets you moving and your heart racing!
One of the easiest ways to move more is by cycling or walking to campus – it’s good for your wallet and for the health of the planet.
You can also explore the sport and fitness facilities available on campus. Joining a University club or society can also be a great way to exercise your brain and body, learn new things, practise your leadership skills and make friends who share your interests.
Sleep can play an important role in our daily functioning and physical and mental health. Good sleep can improve mental performance, lead to less anxiety and improved mood and energy levels.
Read our sleep tips (pdf, 72KB) for strategies to help improve your sleep.
If you are feeling that your drinking or drug use is starting to affect your health, study, or relationships, or that you increasingly need a substance in order to function, cope, or have a good time, it might be time to act.
Some tips as follows.
If you need help, contact the following:
As humans we use our relationships with other people to create a life that is rich, meaningful and rewarding.
There is no such thing as a perfect relationship. We do much better when we can accept that there will be challenges in our relationships, handle the stress of these the best we can and take action to make our relationships healthier.
You can find out more about healthy relationships (pdf, 214KB) or how to deal with arguments and conflict in your relationships (pdf, 89KB).
Effective communication (pdf, 126KB) can also help us build positive relationships.
It is also important to understand consent, and how to be sexually healthy and safe in your relationships. Find out more about sexual health and consent.
For additional resources, refer to Relationships Australia, a community-based, not-for-profit Australian organisation providing support services to support all people in Australia to achieve positive and respectful relationships.
For many people, at some point in their lives, there will be times when they question their sexual orientation. Refer to Pride Network for support and resources available on campus as well as externally.
Download self-help resources you can access if you or someone you may know is currently experiencing difficulties.
With the assistance of Lifeline colleagues in Shanghai, China, we have verified the following services in-country.
Mandarin and Cantonese speaking
24-hour service
(020) 8189 9120, add +86 if calling from outside China
Mandarin speaking
24-hour service
(021) 6303 6588, add +86 if calling from outside China
Mandarin speaking
24-hour service
400 161 9995
Mandarin speaking
24-hour service
(010) 8295 1332 if calling from a mobile, or 800 810 1117 if calling from a landline
English speaking only
24-hour service
(021) 6279 8990, add +86 if calling from outside China
To notify the University about situations where a student may need support, complete the Student Wellbeing Care Report.
9am to 5pm, Monday to Friday
