Supplementary file 1_Mental health special consideration in Victorian tertiary education applications: geographical, demographic, and socioeconomic inequities in uptake.docx

Financial hardship was associated with higher SEAS uptake (RR = 1.52), yet area-level socioeconomic advantage was also positively associated with disclosure rates (RR = 1.08 per decile), revealing a paradoxical inverse equity pattern. Geographic analysis identified substantial discordance between SEAS application rates and population-level need indicators.</p>Discussion<p>SEAS provides a unique opportunity to support young people whose educational pathways have been disrupted or shaped by disadvantage, particularly, but not limited to mental ill-health.

At a population level, mental health-related SEAS uptake is not determined by underlying need alone. It is also shaped by wider social and structural factors that influence young people’s ability to recognise, document, and disclose mental health difficulties and their educational impacts. Cultural, geographic, and socioeconomic barriers can exclude many who would benefit, highlighting opportunities to strengthen equitable access to the scheme.

Proactive school-based navigation support, targeted outreach to culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and sustained institutional support beyond the point of admission are needed to ensure SEAS fulfils its potential as an equitable access mechanism for young people with mental ill-health.</p>