The Hon Greg Hunt MP
Minister for Health and Aged Care
The Australian Government is calling on the nation’s best and brightest mental health researchers, clinicians, implementation experts, and consumer and carer representatives to help inform the future of research in this vital area.
Expressions of interest are invited for the next Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) for the Medical Research Future Fund’s Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission.
The Government is seeking a diverse panel with a range of skills and backgrounds to meet the objectives of the Million Minds Mission.
The Mission’s aim is to identify – through research – new approaches to prevent, detect, diagnose, treat, and recover from mental ill health.
Mental health issues take a huge toll, individually and collectively, across the country. Almost half of all Australian adults will face mental ill health at some point, and the estimated cost to Australia’s economy is up to $220 billion each year.
The Million Minds Mission is a $125 million 10-year initiative which has already provided almost $65 million for a diverse range of mental health research projects, including eating disorders, suicide prevention and the impact of COVID-19.
The EAP will advise how the remaining $60 million will be focused on research that can address gaps in knowledge to support mental health care to provide better outcomes for individuals and communities, taking into account the outcomes already delivered.
The panel will refresh the Mission’s existing Roadmap and develop an Implementation Plan to clearly identify priorities for research investment.
The Government is seeking Australian applicants from a variety of backgrounds including mental health researchers, mental health clinicians, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with mental health expertise, rural and remote mental health researchers and clinicians, consumer representatives with lived experience of mental ill-health and those involved in translating mental health research into practice or policy.
Expressions of interest open on 22 October and close on 26 November. The EAP will be appointed from 2022. Instructions on how to apply are available at https://health.gov.au/resources/publications/expression-of-interest-mrff-million-minds-mental-health-research-mission-expert-advisory-panel
