But then you wouldn't necessarily expect to see residents doing downward-facing-goat as animals climb all over them, either.

However, it's become a familiar scene at Smithton, where a unique animal enterprise is working to tackle the community's mental health challenges where existing supports fall short.

Alyssia Coates was a dairy farmer by trade when she suffered a traumatic event.

When she lost her job shortly after, her mental health took a turn for the worse - to the point where she attempted to take her own life.

"I didn't respond to typical treatment, so your four walls going and having a chat with a psychologist. I tended to regress rather than progress," she said.

It was the somewhat-on-a-whim purchase of some milking goats that started to turn things around.

"The goats gave me a purpose," she said.

"If all I did was get out of bed and milk those goats, that's all I did. And then slowly it started going from half an hour to an hour, to then, you know, doing more around the house and feeling more confident in myself.

"And look, by all means, I'm not fully recovered, and I may never be back to what I was. But most definitely my husband and these goats saved my life."

It's from there that the Grumpy Goat Co Care Farm was born.

Alyssia has plans to eventually turn the space into an official care farm, with goat yoga only one part of the equation.

She wants to employ a counsellor on site, and there are plans for people in need to be able to come through and spend afternoons working on the farm as they get mentally strong.

Already she's received funding from rural mental health organisation Boots on the Ground to have students identified as at risk and disengaged from the local schools come through.

Alyssia's also looking to expand into equine therapy, and petting zoo days have seen hundreds walk through the gates and begin to understand her family's animal therapy vision.

It can be tough going, and it's not something that can be achieved without other nearby mental health services also expanding, but Alyssia thinks, just maybe, it's starting to work.

"My husband works at Greenham's, the local abbattoirs," she said. "He's probably had, you know, anywhere from nine to 15 men actually come up to him and, one example was, (say) 'hey, I was watching TV last night. They were talking about depression and anxiety. It felt like they were telling my life (story). ...Where do I go?'

"It's starting that conversation."

Mental health isn't just a Tasmanian problem. In 2020-21 alone, three-and-a-half million people accessed mental health support, according to data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Lifeline also fielded record numbers of daily calls.

Accessing support in regional areas comes with additional challenges though.

There are fewer in-person services available and costs attached to getting help can make even those inaccessible.

It's something Smithton-born mental health advocate Laura Johnson has seen all too often.

It started when she tried to access support herself a few years ago.

Instead of getting treatment, she was turned away after being told that she was "faking" her symptoms.

Laura's been able to put her faith back in the system since then.

However, she's aware she's not alone in having had a difficult experience, with up to 15 people a week reaching out to her for help.

"I get people coming to me saying that they just don't know how to access services," she said.

"They don't know what the point of contact is, they can't bring themselves to make the phone call."

She said further obstacles came when those who reached out were met with waitlists.

"Last November, roughly around there, there was a nine month waitlist," she said.

Laura said that's now dropped down to about six weeks for a lot of services, which is a big improvement. However, it's still too long.

"If you were to go to a doctor's surgery, you shouldn't have to wait six weeks for help. ... And you wouldn't."

Laura believes change is coming, and she's been buoyed by funding increases seen in recent years.

In the most recent state budget that included $8.5 million for a Mental Health Hospital in the Home pilot over two years for the North-West, and significant funding towards the construction of a purpose-built mental health facility to replace the Spencer Clinic at the North West Regional Hospital.

Stage one is set for completion by 2025.

However, with the Circular Head community having been rocked by multiple suicides in recent times, gaps remain.

Laura said this was particularly evident in specialised services, with a shortage of staff meaning people have to look further afield to get the support they need, or find it too hard.

"Say, for instance, eating disorders. There is not anything that is specialised in Tasmania.

"So people who are seeking help for that are actually going through a system that is not going to actually benefit them very much."

"It's about dedicating what resources to what services."

For Robert Waterman, CEO of Rural Health Tasmania, the first area of focus is simple - getting more clinicians on the ground.

Rural Health offers a wide range of health services all across the North-West and West Coast.

Increasingly though, demand is on their mental health services - making up 46 per cent of their 30,000-odd annual client encounters.

Robert said as it stands, Rural Health's mental health services are at capacity. He said he knew of other services or private psychologists whose clients were facing waitlists ranging up to five months.

He estimated he could put on up to 10 people in the North-West alone and fill their books.

Statewide, he said at least 50 additional clinicians were needed to make a lasting difference.

"But also, I think the challenge is also recruiting people from that space as well. We're just not getting enough people enrolling in a Diploma of Mental Health or Bachelor of Psychology," Robert said.

"And if and even if they start enrolling now, we're going to have to wait a couple of years... before we see them entering the workspace. We really need to act now."

Mental health minister, and now Premier, Jeremy Rockliff said the issue of mental health staff recruitment and retention was one being felt nation-wide.

However, Mr Rockliff said it was an issue being actively addressed, including through assisting professionals from the UK to join the workforce.

He said he also had confidence that the government's commitment to reform of the sector would have roll on effects.

"We've got enormous investment that's coming online in terms of our child and adolescent mental health services," Mr Rockliff said.

At Smithton, that included the establishment of a youth-focused early intervention service which was launched last year.

There is also hope the ongoing southern trial of PACER (Police, Ambulance, and Clinician Early Response) may be extended to the North-West. That's a new service, focused on getting mental health workers alongside emergency responders to attend mental health-specific callouts.

"I'm very committed to reform and I'm very committed to innovation, and backing that up with investment," he said.

Everyone is in agreement of one thing - while the approaches are starting to improve, mental health challenges aren't going away.

It's going to take support from all levels before we see the changes rolling through, and there's no time to take the foot off the gas.

In the interim, there are worse ways to spend your Sunday than doing downward-facing-goat at a regional airport.

Listen to the full story on the podcast search Voice of Real Australia, on Apple Podcasts, Spotify or your preferred platform. You can also listen on the web player above.

If this article raised anything for you, please reach out to loved ones for support.

You can also reach out to Lifeline at any time at 13 11 14, or at www.lifeline.org.au.

Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 659 467 www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au

beyondblue: 1300 22 4636 www.beyondblue.org.au