New research projects funded by the Albanese Labor Government will ensure better support for children with language difficulties, children with eating disorders, new fathers, and people at risk of suicide.
The Australian Government is providing $8 million for 10 projects under the fifth grant opportunity for the Medical Research Future Fund’s (MRFF) Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission.
The grants include $970,000 to develop a high-quality, easy-to-use screening tool for childhood eating disorders that will enable earlier diagnosis of children.
$894,000 will provide new evidence to better target mental health support for new fathers who struggle with mental ill-health.
Another $904,000 will help to broaden suicide prevention focus to include employment factors such as unemployment, underemployment, precarious employment, work-related stress and financial distress.
$973,000 will look at better ways to help children who struggle to speak, read or write before the development of ill-mental health.
And another $474,000 will adapt the existing, adult-based Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality protocol for use with young people. This will provide the first ever best-practice assessment protocol to identify young people at risk of suicide, as well as engage them in a safety and management plan.
The Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission provides $125 million for grants to support research into the causes of mental illness and psychological distress, and the best early intervention, prevention and treatment strategies.
Another Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission grant opportunity round is currently open for applications until 29 November 2023.
Quotes attributable to Assistant Minister McBride:
“With two in five adults experiencing a mental illness during their lifetime, we need high-quality research to help us better understand what causes or contributes to mental ill-health, psychological distress and suicide, and how we can better prevent, detect, diagnose and importantly care for Australians.
“The Albanese Labor Government is committed to finding new ways to support people with mental ill-health and to improve the mental health of all Australians.
“These research projects show great promise in unearthing a strong evidence base and trialling new approaches to give us the tools we need to achieve better mental health and suicide prevention.
“I look forward to seeing the results of these ground-breaking projects.”
Project title | Project summary | Recipient | Amount |
1 in 10 men: Informing prevention of and treatment for paternal mental health problems | One in 10 fathers struggles with mental health problems. The project aims to transform paternal mental health prevention and healthcare through new evidence to inform healthcare supports that will reduce rates of paternal mental illness. | Deakin University | $894,072.93 |
A data-driven assessment tool for mental health in young adults | Young people, clinicians and scientists will use data from Orygen youth mental health services to develop a youth-specific assessment to better detect problem areas, helping clinicians to identify interventions. The project will deliver a low-cost assessment tool to ensure young Australians can get better targeted treatment. | University of Melbourne | $394,318.64 |
Adaptation, feasibility and utility of Systematic Tailored Assessment for Responding to Suicidality protocol (STARS-p) for youth/parent populations | This project will adapt the existing, adult-based STARS-p for use with young people. This will provide the first ever best-practice assessment protocol to identify young people at risk of suicide, as well as engage them in a safety and management plan. | Griffith University | $474,051.59 |
Policy solutions to improve the mental health of Australians with disability | This co-designed project brings together researchers, people with disability, advocacy organisations and policy makers to examine factors leading to poor mental health among Australians with disability. The research will look at the influence of social determinants and policy on mental health outcomes, identifying policy solutions to address the disadvantage experienced by people with disability and ensure progress towards equitable mental health outcomes for all. | University of Melbourne | $706,390.81 |
Right here right now. What are the social determinants and protective factors for mental illness, suicidal ideation and self-harm in young Australians and what are the best bets for prevention? | This research will provide up-to-date information on the risk and protective factors impacting youth mental health and how these fluctuate over time, as well as likely policy and practice initiatives that would help young Australians achieve optimal mental health. | University of Melbourne | $920,755.74 |
ScreenED: Developing and validating a universal eating disorder screening tool for children 5 to 12 years | Despite eating disorders being on the rise in children, no appropriate screening tools exist. This project will develop ScreenED – a reliable, high-quality, freely-available screening tool for earlier diagnosis of eating disorders in children aged 5 to 12 years. | University of Melbourne | $969,965.55 |
Social determinants of mental health among children with language difficulties: Identifying intervention targets to prevent mental disorders | This research aims to find effective and affordable interventions – other than the standard talking therapies – for children with speaking, reading or writing difficulties, to provide early support to these children before mental health problems become serious. | Curtin University | $973,658.71 |
The effect of a gut-focused dietary smartphone app for pregnant women on infant mental health-related outcomes: Beyond Bugs and Bumps RCT | The free ‘Bugs & Bumps’ app aims to support the diet and gut health of pregnant women to help child mental health. This project extends the current trial that tests whether the app improves diet and changes the gut bugs in mums and babies. It will measure the impact on child emotional behaviour at 18 months to learn about the protective pathways supporting child mental health and quality of life. | Deakin University | $930,501.49 |
Understanding social determinants of mental health for young people from refugee backgrounds to improve mental health | This project investigates the social factors contributing to the poorer mental health of young refugees (aged 12 to 25 years). It will develop a tool to identify these social factors and recommend ways to improve mental health. | Flinders University | $831,680.41 |
Work and unemployment: vital to effective suicide prevention | This research aims to broaden the focus of suicide prevention to take account of employment and unemployment factors, including government policies, working conditions and local community strategies. A training package will be developed for GPs to strengthen knowledge and skills. | The University of Adelaide | $904,604.13 |
