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The ALIVE National Centre Profile 2025
2Welcome from The ALIVE National Centre Team
3The ALIVE National Centre is in its fifth year of operation and was established in 2021 as part of a Special Initiative in Mental Health. An initial investment of AUD$10M was provided by the National Health and Medical Research Council over five years.This Centre Profile introduces you to:• how we partner,• our purpose, vision and values,• the ALIVE National Centre’s model of ecosystem change,• our adaptive governance framework,• the embedded lived-experience research model,• our co-designed national roadmap,• the co-leadership approaches and capacity building initiatives.The first four years have seen the Centre establish three national Networks. These Networks are essential infrastructure to drive community-centric mental health research and translation into the future. Six national flagship research projects are also underway, these are described in more detail in the Centre’s Research Profile.Research, capacity building and translational activities are operationalised through the Networks which are: an Implementation and Translation Network, a Co-Design Living Labs Network (representing people in communities with lived-experience of mental ill-health and ongoing distress including carer, family and kinship groups) and a Next Generation Researcher Network. The tailored capacity building arm also exists called the Lived-Experience Research Collective.Lived-Experience is embedded in the fabric of the Centre’s governance and all its operations. We hope you find connection in the work we do. Please reach out to our team members with any questions you may have.From the ALIVE National Centre Co-DirectorsProfessor Victoria J Palmer, Co-Design LeadProfessor Michelle Banfield, Lived-Experience Research Lead Professor Sandra Eades (Noongar), Priority Populations Lead
TABLE OF CONTENTS4
5Our Purpose, Vision, and ValuesHow We PartnerModel for Mental Health Ecosystem ChangeFive Foundations and Nine Actions to Implement the Model for Mental Health Ecosystem Change An Adaptive Governance FrameworkThe ALIVE National Centre Embedded Lived-Experience Research ModelFour Research Programs and ObjectivesThe ALIVE National Centre Pocket Map for Mental Health Research Translation 2022-2024The ALIVE National Centre Flagships to meet priorities of people most impactedOur Partners and University Connections681012161820222426
OUR PURPOSETransforming mental health and well-being through primary care and community action.OUR VISIONVibrant communities that support mental health and promote well-being to enable people to thrive.6Healing from the Ground graphic created by Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist, Dennis Golding
We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, and pay our respects to the Elders, past and present. The ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation is funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Special Initiative in Mental Health GNT2002047. Lived ExpertiseWe value lived-experience as a unique expertise that is central to transformationPractice WisdomWe value practice experience as a form of wisdom that can inform changeOutcomes DrivenWe value making a difference by being data-driven and using evidence for sustained change and impactInclusiveWe value co-created spaces that are inclusive, equitable and respectful of differenceAuthenticWe value collaborations where trust, respect and connection support honouring all expertiseBrave We value curiosity to grow together, and to be courageous in what we do collectivelyOUR VALUES7Healing from the Ground graphic created by Kamilaroi/Gamilaraay artist, Dennis Golding
8How We Partner8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning (Yunkaporta, 2009)Image source and read more here: https://www.8ways.online/
9The ALIVE National Centre follows the 8 ways Aboriginal pedagogy (ways of learning) as its overarching community engagement framework for partnerships (with permission). This helps us to form the right relations with communities and partnerships for change through research. 8 ways recognises that there are established protocols within communities that drive the processes, values and systems of knowledge and ways of working together. We follow 8 ways to guide starting and enacting partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Our goal is to implement community-led and lived-experience driven research.The ALIVE National Centre also implements and acts for change by ensuring that Nothing About Us Without Us means that Nothing in research is undertaken about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities without community-led approaches in place. Our research is developed by shared goals, or by request and invitation. Research is shaped by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities leading. This means working together at the start to understand what matters, for whom and why it needs to be led by, for and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It means if it is a topic about communities, then, we work to ensure that it is led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Prevention across the life courseLonger,HealthierLivesPriorityPopulationsLived-ExperienceCapacityBuildingMental HealthCare At ScaleIf we: This will result in:Our Focus:Implement preventive interventions in community settings to address structural, contextual and individual risk factors.Develop tailored models of care that address unmet physical health needs with people living with severe mental ill-health for implementationImplement Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-led innovations that change service cultures, improve access, and reduce stigma and discriminationEmbed lived-experience in the fabric of research and systems transformationGrow national Networks for capacity building, data sharing, and support implementation and translationCo-design a roadmap for national mental health research translationIncreased emotional, social, community capacity for better mental health and well-beingHolistic care that brings physical and mental health togetherImproved quality in the workforce to respond to the impacts of social determinants of healthLived-experience informed translational researchTailored training, mentor-ship, career pathways increased capabilitiesImplementation of evidence-based models of care and community-led innovationsCentre influence on policy, research implementation with service sectors, fundingModel for Mental Health Ecosystem Change10
And lead to: And contribute to:Our VisionVibrant communities that support mental health and promote well-being and enable people to thriveOur PurposeTransforming mental health and well-being through primary care and community actionReduction in the risks of mental ill-health across all agesIncreased service identification, access to services and economic benefitsIntegrated lived-experience knowledge and expertise in research translation and systems changeA regenerated mental health ecosystem using co-designImproved experiences of care, better outlooks and health outcomesLived-experience led research and leadership in the mental healthresearch and workforce sectorsFuture mental health research leaders across disciplinesReduced duplication in research, data, services and fundingService integration and cost effectivenessStrengthened environments that protect and promote mental healthEmbedded cultural security, delivery of appropriate care and system responsiveness11
12Accountability needs to be beyond government, everyone can participate and drive policy, practice and social change by:(1) addressing the priorities of people most impacted in research, policy and practice;And(2) unlearning research methods and practices that are no longer fit for purpose to respond to needs.Foundation 1Everyone can be an agent of changeSustained resourcing for deep listening is needed to support change. Government, care providers and researchers can:(1) embed processes for deep listening in all care, policy and research development;And(2) fund, support and resource appropriate First Nations groups to lead change.Foundation 2Deep listening for change is essentialService designers, system planners, researchers and policy developers can be leaders of change by ensuring that:(1) lived-experience is central to design, planning, implementation and translation; And(2) services adapt to peoples’ needs, not people adapting to the service.Foundation 3Maintain “the whole” in all thingsFive Foundations to Implement the Model for Mental Health Ecosystem Change
13Service designers, system planners, researchers and policy developers can be leaders of change by ensuring that:(1) lived-experience is central to design, planning, implementation and translation; And(2) services adapt to peoples’ needs, not people adapting to the service.Foundation 3Maintain “the whole” in all thingsTo implement change in our mental health and wellbeing ecosystem everyone needs to:(1) implement experiential knowledge processes, practices, systems and values; And(2) foster everyday possibilities for connection and hand power over to communities to lead.Foundation 4Connectedness and hope are critical ingredientsEveryone needs to expand how holistic wellbeing is understood, practised and implemented:(1) encompassing physical, social, cultural, economic, spiritual, mental and environmental aspects of life;And(2) recognising that new ways of doing are needed to embed holistic approaches for everyone.Foundation 5Holistic wellbeing is the main outcomeFive Foundations to Implement the Model for Mental Health Ecosystem Change
14Action 1 Review Primary Health Networks needs assessment and activity planning approaches. Make explicit commitments to relational models in commissioning and demonstrate progress in meeting the priorities of people most impacted.Action 2Sustained action and continued funds for healing-oriented frameworks. Address the ongoing impacts of racism, stigma, trauma, violence, and colonisation.Action 3Expand “measuring what matters” to include experiential knowledge. Identify appropriate research and evaluation methods.Action 1Renewed transparent, living and dynamic policy development underpinned by human rights. Develop safe policy tests to assess for future consequences before implementation.Action 2Fund longitudinal programs, research and evaluation instead of short-term pilot work. Invest in existing successes.Action 3Holistic outcomes to be included in policy and service planning and evaluation strategies. Show demonstrable inclusion of diversity of perspectives and lived-experience.Areas for Change Relational SystemsAreas for Change Safe Policy Three Change Areas and Nine Actions to Implement the Model for Mental Health Ecosystem Change
15Action 1Renewed transparent, living and dynamic policy development underpinned by human rights. Develop safe policy tests to assess for future consequences before implementation.Action 2Fund longitudinal programs, research and evaluation instead of short-term pilot work. Invest in existing successes.Action 3Holistic outcomes to be included in policy and service planning and evaluation strategies. Show demonstrable inclusion of diversity of perspectives and lived-experience.Action 1Change deficit language of intergenerational trauma in policy and in practice. Implement PRIDE - People, Ritual, Identity, Deep, Empathy as indicators of well-being in addition to economic outcomes.Action 2Expand the understanding of translation from the ideas of scaling-out to at-scale delivery. At-scale means “the right amount of people for the problem at hand”.Action 3Implement tailored, holistic wellbeing models of care instead of compartmentalised behavioural, psychological, and social interventions.Areas for Change Safe PolicyAreas for Change Holistic Wellbeing Three Change Areas and Nine Actions to Implement the Model for Mental Health Ecosystem Change
Executive Research Leadership Committee Responsibility: Set strategic directions, develop research agenda of the national Centre, oversight of programs, Networks, workplan development, milestones, resource allocation, reporting and progress, research leadership across all parts of Centre, view to strategic research translation opportunities and sustainability.Intersectoral Policy and Practice CommitteeResponsibility: Advise on directions in national policy and mental health practice. Connect research of the Centre with intersectoral organisations to strengthen the Centre’s orientation to social determinants of health. Contribute to a scan of national mental health policies for the co-design of the roadmap.Co-Lead Groups for Networks and Collective Responsibility: Co-lead groups are formed from people with practice based wisdom and lived-expertise who engage in research meetings and activities to ensure that these perspectives are centred in research planning, delivery and evaluation. The co-lead groups set Network and collective objectives and grow the membership activities and projects.The groups represented above meet quarterly (four times a year) with exception of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research reference group and community reference group where members hold advisory and/or committee dual membership to ensure overlap.An Adaptive Governance FrameworkAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Reference GroupResponsibility: Oversight of cultural protocols, community engagement strategies and processes, appropriate protection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander data sovereignty, guidance for research ethics, design and method reviews. Foster and grow Indigenous Knowledge Systems.An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Reference Group exists and supports the above responsibilities with specific guidance.16
Executive Research Leadership Committee Responsibility: Set strategic directions, develop research agenda of the national Centre, oversight of programs, Networks, workplan development, milestones, resource allocation, reporting and progress, research leadership across all parts of Centre, view to strategic research translation opportunities and sustainability.International Scientific Advisory CommitteeResponsibility: Connect Centre research, training and translational activities with international Networks and efforts. Support setting of research directions, strategic initiatives and provide capacity building opportunities for next generation researchers to grow international Networks for exchange.Co-Lead Groups for Networks and Collective Responsibility: Co-lead groups are formed from people with practice based wisdom and lived-expertise who engage in research meetings and activities to ensure that these perspectives are centred in research planning, delivery and evaluation. The co-lead groups set Network and collective objectives and grow the membership activities and projects.The groups represented above meet quarterly (four times a year) with exception of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research reference group and community reference group where members hold advisory and/or committee dual membership to ensure overlap.17Independent Advisory BoardResponsibility: Strategic advice on Centre funded programs of research and Network activities, reviewing Centre activities for meeting goals and targets, ensure Centre is informed by lived-experience that strengthens the research activities, strategic implementation and translation advice, support to develop future plans for sustainability.Y-LEAGYouth Lived-Experience Advisory Group to guide youth and young adult focused projects of the Centre.
The ALIVE National Centre Embedded Lived-Experience Research ModelImplementation and Translation NetworkCo-Design Living Labs NetworkPrevention across thelife courseImplement preventive interventions in community settings to address structural, contextual and individual risk factors.Priority populationsImplement Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-led innovations that change service cultures, improve access, and reduce stigma and discrimination.Next Generation Researcher NetworkLived-Experience Research Collective The ‘collective’: a bridge across lived-experience18
The ALIVE National Centre Embedded Lived-Experience Research ModelImplementation and Translation NetworkCo-Design Living Labs NetworkLonger, healthier livesDevelop tailored models of care that address unmet physical health needs.Mental healthcareat scaleCo-designed roadmap for national mental health research translation.Next Generation Researcher NetworkLived-Experience Research Collective The ‘collective’: a bridge across lived-experience19
Four Research Programs and Objectives20Prevention Across the Life CourseThis research program will:• Implement resources and tools to respond to the impacts of mental ill-health and ongoing trauma across the life course. • Improve access to preventive interventions across community and primary care settings.• Implement capacity-building initiatives to support the embedding of preventive interventions in community and primary care settings.Longer, Healthier Lives in Priority PopulationsThis research program will:• Support community-led holistic models of care such as social and emotional well-being innovations to address unmet physical health needs and unacceptable gaps in equity and outcomes.• Redesign mental health care systems for increased service identification, access to appointments and reduced costs.• Change service cultures to reduce stigma and discrimination and increase access to tailored personal care.
21The Lived-Experience Research CollectiveThis research program will:• Integrate lived-experience knowledge and expertise within mental health research and translation activities.• Support research career development pathways through tailored training, events and mentorship programs.• Strengthen lived-experience led research and leadership in the mental health research and workforce sectors.Mental Health Care at ScaleThis research program will:• Co-design a national roadmap for mental health research translation to identify implementation actions, strategies for knowledge transfer and integration, and translation goals and targets.• Identify the implementation strategies, technological and economic resources that are required to scale and embed innovative models of care and whole of community approaches to prevention.• Document how innovative models and approaches may or may not change the individual, social, community and economic impacts of mental ill-health.
Prevention Across the Life CoursePriority Populations2023: 78 survey contributions from parents living with mental ill-health, and their partners, family members and adult children. 33 co-designers of Phase 2 Implementation Actions.2022: 365 survey contributions from people with lived experience of mental ill-health and carer, family and kinship groups. 88 emotion maps for prioritisation. 27 co-designers of Phase 1 Implementation Actions.Rural,Regionaland RemoteEquitySuicidePreventionNon-PharmacologicalOptionsHolisticOutcomesRelationalSystemsSafe PolicyConnectednessEducation ofProfessionalsand CommunityLegal RightsHumanRightsWays to ManageSigns and TriggersGroup-CentredRelationalModels for Whole FamilyHolistic &LongitudinalCareCo-DesignWays toUnderstand What Matters MENTAL HEALTHCARE IMPROVEMENT PRIORITY TOPICSPRIORITIES PEOPLE WITH LIVED-EXPERIENCE, CARERS, FAMILIES AND KINSHIP GROUPS AGREE MATTER 2022-24PRIORITIES THAT MATTER FOR FAMILIES WHERE PARENTSARE LIVING WITH MENTAL ILL-HEALTH 2023-24PRIORITIES THAT MATTER FOR YOUNG PEOPLE 16-25 Y/O WITHLIVED-EXPERIENCE, CARERS, FAMILIES AND KINSHIP GROUPS 2024ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITIES EMERGING PRIORITIES FROM SYMPOSIA 2023-24MENTAL HEALTHRESEARCH TRANSLATIONPRIORITY TOPICSThe ALIVE National Centre Pocket Map of Priority Topics for Mental Health Research TranslationPATHWAYS OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITIES START WITH RESPONDING TO COMPOUND TRAUMATherapeuticPathsNeurodivergenceLived-Experience in all Aspects of ResearchPrevention for Holistic Health in Schools and CommunityPeer Workforceand Peer to PeerSupport Models
2024: 52 contributions of people aged 16 to 25 years to surveys, interviews and emotion maps. Currently co-designing Phase 3 & 4 Implementation Actions.Priority PopulationsLonger, Healthier LivesLived-Experience Research2023: 78 survey contributions from parents living with mental ill-health, and their partners, family members and adult children. 33 co-designers of Phase 2 Implementation Actions.OptimisedMedicationsTreatmentswith LessSide EffectsImproved Modelsof Care forAlcohol andOther Drug UseNon-PharmacologicalOptionsDeepListeningSafe PolicyCare andRecovery$HousingCompoundTraumaLoss ofCommunityPhysicalHealthImpacts ofStigmaAt ScaleEveryone CanBe An Agentof ChangeConnectednessMaintainthe WholeFamilyViolence SOCIAL ANDCULTURAL DETERMINANTS PRIORITY TOPICSThe ALIVE National Centre Pocket Map of Priority Topics for Mental Health Research TranslationPATHWAYS OF ABORIGINAL AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER COMMUNITIES START WITH RESPONDING TO COMPOUND TRAUMAAccessibleandAffordable ServicesSocietalImpactsReducingMedicalTraumaCultural &CommunityResponsivenessMore ThanTrauma-InformedCare - No Tick Boxes SocialMedia
24The ALIVE National Centre’s Flagship Projects: https://alivenetwork.com.au/our-research/our-projects/Internally funded by the NHMRC Special Intiative to co-design a national roadmap for mental health research translationInternally funded by the NHMRC Special Initiative to co-evaluate a whole of community approach through high schools to suicide preventionExternally funded by Medibank Better Health Foundation to co-create supports for people 18-25 years old experiencing loneliness during life changesExternally funded by a MRFF Mental Health Grant to develop collective strategies to respond to structural inequalities (Whose Care? Our Care!)
25The ALIVE National Centre’s Flagship Projects: https://alivenetwork.com.au/our-research/our-projects/Internally funded by the NHMRC Special Initiative to co-evaluate a whole of community approach through high schools to suicide preventionInternally funded by the NHMRC Special Initiative to explore the who, what, where and how of lived-experience research nationallyExternally funded by a MRFF Mental Health Grant to develop collective strategies to respond to structural inequalities (Whose Care? Our Care!)Externally funded by a MRFF Consumer Led Grant for Preventive Experiential Arts and Cultural Evidence Models (PEACE Program)
26Our Partners and University Connections
27Administering HUBalive-hub@unimelb.edu.au