PANDA’s Northern Territory Intensive Care and Counselling (NT ICC) Program is a free service for expecting and new parents experiencing mental, emotional or social wellbeing challenges during the perinatal period.
We support families across the NT who face barriers to in‑person care. This includes parents dealing with distance, transport or health challenges, caregiving responsibilities, confidentiality concerns in small communities, or previous poor experiences with services.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families are an important part of the community we support. Our team takes a deep listening, respectful and partnership‑focused approach to supportive yarns with First Nations families. Centering parents as the experts in their own lives, and making space for Indigenous ways of knowing, doing and being helps build trust and safety, encouraging parents to talk openly about their social and emotional wellbeing.
The program provides specialist perinatal mental health and wellbeing support for parents experiencing cultural, environmental, financial or social pressures that affect their mental health and access to care. We work with parents who benefit from care delivered at home or in their community through assertive care coordination and supported self‑management rather than hospital‑based settings.
NT ICC operates within PANDA’s National Perinatal Mental Health Helpline. Our team has supported thousands of parents over more than 10 years, and with NT Health funding we have delivered dedicated NT services since 2025.
About the program
What the NT ICC Program provides
The Northern Territory ICC Program offers free, flexible telephone‑based support for expecting and new parents, their support people and healthcare providers living in the NT. Support is provided by clinical practitioners and trained peer practitioners with expertise in perinatal mental health and risk management.
Support includes
- Counselling
- Peer support
- Psychoeducation
Care coordination
- Risk assessment and safety planning
- Crisis management
- Navigation to local and online services
Flexible and ongoing engagement
- Unlimited follow‑up calls
- Parents can re‑engage at any time
- Support can pause (for example during hospital admission) and resume when needed
Accessibility
- Access to culturally relevant and appropriate self‑support resources
- Interpreter calls
- National Relay Service for deaf, Deaf and hard‑of‑hearing callers
Continuity of care and giving callers choice
- Parents can choose whether they speak with a clinical practitioner, a peer practitioner, or both (many parents find it helpful to have support from both types of practitioners).
- Parents can choose the gender of the practitioner they feel most comfortable with
Secondary Consultation for healthcare providers
- ICC practitioners offer free secondary consultation to all Northern Territory healthcare providers supporting families in the perinatal period.
Eligibility
Eligibility for the NT ICC Program
The NT ICC Program is designed to support people who are:
- Living in the Northern Territory
- Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
- Adolescent and young parents
- Living with disability and/or chronic mental health or health conditions
- Living in regional, rural and remote communities
- From multicultural, asylum seeker, migrant and/or refugee backgrounds
- Neurodivergent (including but not limited to Autism, ADHD, bipolar disorder, dyslexia, FASD, OCD, Tourette syndrome, traumatic brain injury)
- Sexuality and gender diverse
The program also supports parents experiencing:
- Significant mental health distress characterised by rapid decline: Complex or changeable mental health that has a significant impact on the person’s capacity to care for themselves and their infant/s.
- Presence of actual or emerging safety concerns involving self and/or others (acute mental health decline, alcohol/drug use, family violence, harm to infant, self-harm, suicide)
- Actual or emerging safety concerns involving self and/or others
- Complex mental health or trauma history
- Inpatient admissions for specialist care (such as high‑risk pregnancy, preterm or unwell infants, Acute Mental Health Unit admission)
Psychosocial complexities including:
- Parenting children with high care needs
- Relationship conflict
- Social disconnection or withdrawal
- Employment, financial or housing instability
- Involvement with Child Protection, justice or welfare systems
- Minimal or no linkage with generalist or specialist services and who would benefit from assertive referral and ongoing service coordination
If you are unsure whether a parent is eligible, call 1300 726 306 and select the Healthcare Provider option to speak with the ICC Secondary Consultation team.
Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families
PANDA’s NT ICC Program is a safe and supportive option for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander expecting and new parents who may prefer flexible, confidential and relationship‑based care.
Healthcare providers may choose to refer families to PANDA because we offer:
- A safe place to yarn with practitioners who listen without judgment and understand that every family’s story is unique.
- Flexible, phone‑based support, which can make it easier for parents who are mobile, caring for other children, worried about privacy, or living far from services.
- Consistent, steady support, with the ability to check in often, pause when needed and re‑engage at any time.
- Care that complements community supports, working alongside family, kinship networks and local services.
- A focus on social and emotional wellbeing, helping parents feel more confident, connected and supported during pregnancy and early parenthood.
- Referring families to PANDA can help parents access early support, reduce pressure on local services, and ensure they have someone walking alongside them as their family grows.
How NT ICC manages risk when supporting families
ICC supports families who face barriers to in‑person care and may be dealing with multiple, complex pressures.
PANDA’s person‑centred, trauma‑informed, culturally responsive and strengths‑based approach helps parents feel safe to share difficult thoughts, feelings and behaviours. This supports early identification of parent–infant wellbeing concerns and allows us to respond quickly and effectively.
We identify and manage risk and co‑create safety plans with parents, their support people, healthcare providers and crisis services where appropriate. We are transparent about duty of care and mandatory reporting obligations and seek consent for escalation wherever possible.
Safety concerns may include:
- Acute mental health deterioration
- Alcohol and/or other drug use
- Family violence
- Harm to infant or child
- Self‑harm
- Suicide
Personalised care and safety plans can support:
- Parent–infant mental health
- Social and emotional wellbeing
- Parenting confidence, skills and capacity
- Recovery from trauma
- Health and wellbeing literacy
- Self‑advocacy
- Self‑insight
- Self‑determination
- Mental health self‑management skills
Frequency and duration of contact
Weekly calls are standard. Support intensity varies and is responsive to each parent’s needs.
During a mental health crisis, support may increase. This may include providing support throughout the day, involving support people (with consent) and coordinating with multiple services to help enable access to specialist acute care.
When a parent is managing well and strongly linked with community‑based services, they may choose less frequent contact until they feel confident and ready to manage independently, knowing that PANDA is only a phone call away.
Clinical governance and case review
NT ICC practitioners are supported by Senior Clinical and Peer Practitioners who provide daily consultation and debriefing, and facilitate weekly case reviews. This collaborative approach ensures consistent, high‑quality support for all families engaged with the NT ICC Program.
How to refer to PANDA’s NT ICC program
Healthcare providers can refer to the NT ICC Program by completing PANDA’s online referral form and requesting consideration for NT ICC.
All referrals are assessed and triaged to determine which PANDA program can best support the parent’s needs. We aim to contact the parent within 5–7 working days. Parents are also welcome to call PANDA directly at any time.
Program hours
NT ICC Program availability:
Monday to Friday
6:30 am to 4:00 pm Australian Central Standard Time (during AEST)
7:30 am to 5:00 pm Australian Central Standard Time (during AEDT)
PANDA National Perinatal Mental Health Helpline:
Monday to Friday: 9:00 am to 7:30 pm
Saturday: 9:00 am to 4:30 pm (AEST/AEDT)