Zoe Wallin says in small, close-knit communities there is often a lot of gossip and stigma regarding mental health conditions.
The Bunbury girl told the Mail a parent's fears of shame or judgement could often lead to them not seeking help for their children, compounded by how inaccessible a lot of the necessary support was.
Zoe is representing Bunbury in YMCA WA's 2022 Youth Parliament, which gives young people the opportunity to write and debate a bill in the Houses of Parliament.
Zoe joined other participants aged 15-24 for a camp last week, with the program culminating in a parliamentary debate held in the Parliament House and overseen by influential Western Australian political figures.
Zoe and her committee chose to write a bill about improving the availability of and accessibility to a quality art therapy program.
"Art therapy has been proven to aid mental health, child development and increase communication skills," Zoe said.
"We decided to prioritise senior citizens and the youths of Western Australia in our bill, introducing art therapy programs into primary schools and creating a youth and aged care facility program.
"I made sure we accounted for the struggles that regional areas may face in implications of the bill. The bill was written to increase job opportunities for therapists, artists and people with experience in the arts, improving accessibility in regional areas to therapy and to encourage people to pursue careers in the arts."
Zoe said in more rural areas such as Bunbury, it was much harder for people to access the kind of support they needed.
"There are very limited counselling services available in the local area, and most people seeking specialised help or diagnosis have to travel to Perth for appointments, which not everyone is able to do."
Zoe said she was passionate about finding solutions to encourage more mental health practitioners to have offices in Bunbury, potentially by making it a requirement for psychologists, psychiatrists and the like to work in rural areas after qualifying, similar to the system in place for education and medical workers.
"Alternatively, campaigns to increase awareness of remote support services could be useful as well in case in-person support continues to be so limited, so that young people in rural or remote areas know that they can still get help through means like online counselling as well as supportive chat and phone lines," she said.
Growing up just south of Bunbury, Zoe said she had enjoyed being part of a close and friendly community, brought together through local events and shared interests.
Her other passion in life is roller skating and she said she was excited to start training at the new community centre just finished in Bunbury. She also loves to play the alto saxophone in her community band.
"My two main passions, music and roller-skating have allowed me to feel a part of my community, create long-term friendships and improve my skills," she said.