Federal Member for Monash Mary Aldred has called for continued support of the Chaplaincy in Schools program.
Ms Aldred said there was never a more important time to support the Federal Government funded program.
Speaking at Warragul Regional College's school chaplains dinner recently at The Black Tie, Ms Aldred praised the work of Warragul Regional College chaplain Oscar Correa and the community support that was relied upon to sustain his role because of a current shortfall in federal funding.
"There's never been a tougher time to be a young person right now, with a range of issues from mental health, bullying and social media being just some of the challenges students face every day.
"The pastoral care support that local chaplains provide in our schools is a really important part of helping young people navigate the pressures of school, study and adolescence," Ms Aldred said.
WRC chaplaincy support group chair Andrew Wood was MC for the night. He said the support group raised funds to employ a chaplain at WRC and also advocated for and provided support to Oscar.
Mr Wood said the aim of a school chaplain was to support the overall wellbeing of students and the broader school community by providing pastoral care services.
While WRC covered the majority of costs involved with the program, he said remaining costs were met by individual and church donations as well as fundraising events.
"Previously we have attracted government support through the National Student Wellbeing Program, but unfortunately we missed out this year or last, and since the program runs from 2024 -27, we won't be able to apply again until 2027 for 2028," he said.
Mr Wood said Oscar was employed by Korus Connect, a Christian service that provides pastoral care in schools.
Oscar has been a chaplain at WRC for almost six years. his previous work has included prison-based roles for more than 12 years.
As a part of the college's wellbeing team, he said he was passionate about seeing students achieve their goals and receiving a good education.
Guest speaker for the night was the Reverend Nick Clark from Deep Creek Anglican Church.
A former Warragul Regional College student and graduate of the 2015 class, he has been working as a youth minister since 2020. He spoke about his time as a student at WRC, what adolescents were looking for and how to share life and hope with teenagers.