We’re excited to announce that Paw Pals has been included in the 2025-2027 Victorian Department of Education’s Schools Mental Health Fund and Menu.
As a recognised provider, our program has undergone a rigorous selection process and is now among the 59 evidence-based initiatives endorsed for promoting positive mental health, providing early intervention, and offering targeted support to students.
This recognition highlights Paw Pals as an evidence-based program tailored to support students to build self-awareness, self-management, social-awareness, responsible decision making, relationship skills, and improve social and academic outcomes through animal-assisted education.
What is Paw Pals?
Paw Pals is a unique intervention program that combines the expertise of trained facilitators with the paw-some power of therapy dogs to create a positive learning experiences for students. The program is designed to:
- Build social confidence and emotional intelligence
- Enhance engagement with academic learning tasks
- Improve self-regulation and behaviour management skills.
Delivered within a trauma-informed framework, Paw Pals facilitators use evidence-based, multidisciplinary knowledge from education and allied health to provide tailored sessions for each student that are engaging, positive and personalised to meet students’ needs and goals.
Why Choose Paw Pals?
Paw Pals is designed to create a safe, supportive environment where students can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Delivered by trained facilitators and therapy dogs, Paw Pals provides individual mentoring and school-based group programs tailored to meet the needs of individual students or cohorts.
- Evidence-based and approved for the Victorian Schools Mental Health Menu
- Customisable programs to fit school timetables and individual student needs
- Proven to create safe, supportive spaces where students can thrive both emotionally and academically.
How Does Paw Pals Work?
The program is aligned with the Schools Mental Health Menu framework, offering:
- Tier 1: Positive mental health promotion, helping schools to create positive, inclusive and supportive learning environments by building the preconditions for optimal student learning, development and wellbeing
- Tier 2: Early intervention and cohort-specific support to address the unique needs of vulnerable students.
For Victorian Schools
Schools can utilise their allocated Mental Health Fund to bring Paw Pals into their community. Pooling resources with other schools is also an option, making the program accessible and scalable to broader student groups. Our school modules align with the general capabilities in the curriculum, including Personal and Social Capabilities.
Program Options
School-Based Programs
- Group sessions for students Aged 5-18, tailored to social-emotional learning and academic outcomes
- Flexible session lengths (50–60 minutes) and program durations (8–14 weeks) designed to meet school needs
- Small groups of up to eight students work alongside a therapy dog to develop core skills in a safe and nurturing environment.
Individual Mentoring
- Personalised one-on-one support for vulnerable young people in schools or community settings
- Sessions can focus on perseverance, adjusting to new environments, and building meaningful connections.
Program Costs
Ready to Bring Paw Pals to Your Victorian School?
Explore how Paw Pals can make a difference in your school. Make an enquiry below for a consultation or to request a quote. Together, we can support the mental health and wellbeing of every student.
Make an enquiry
Ready to Refer?
- To book individual sessions, complete the intake and consent forms. To book small group programs, complete the school booking form. Download links for the forms are below
- Send your completed forms to pawpals@mackillop.org.au. Our forms are interactive which means you won't have to print and scan them
- Once your forms have been sent, we will review you application and get in touch.
*Please note that students can be referred by their, school, family, case manager or Child Protection Worker.
