ALIVE NATIONAL CENTRE FOR MENTAL HEALTH RESEARCH TRANSLATION

The ALIVE National Centre for Mental Health Research Translation marks a new era in mental health research across Australia. Funded by an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Special Initiative in Mental Health (SIMH GNT2002047) (2021-2026) ($10M), the National Centre’s mission is to transform mental health and wellbeing through primary care and community action with a vision of vibrant communities that support mental health and wellbeing enabling people to thrive. The Centre values are lived-expertise, wisdom in practice, authenticity, outcomes driven from evidence, inclusivity, and bravery. These values are reflected in the codirectorship model that brings together expertise in lived-experience, experience co-design and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander research for mental health research translation.

More than 40± Centre investigators, 17 universities, partner organisations work across research programs in prevention across the life course, longer healthier lives in priority populations where unmet physical health needs are contributing to up to 30 years of missed life years, lived-experience models, and mental health care at-scale. The 200+ Next Generation Researcher Network (NGRN) members encompass advanced degree students in mental health research, and early and mid-career researchers across Australia. The Lived-Experience Research

Collective, a central tailored arm for capacity building of lived-experience researchers, has members across universities (77%) and service sectors, government consumer and carer consultant roles and nongovernment/community-based members (24%).

Where the Next Generation Research Network and collective engage and develop future mental health research leaders, the 1900+ member-based CoDesign Living Labs Network operates a communityled model where people with lived-experience (encompassing personal experience and carer, family and kinship group members) drive end-toend research design to translation activities. Such activities include co-designing models of care, new technologies or innovations and participating in priority setting for research grants, and setting research questions. Co-design network members were a part of 500 Australians who identified as having livedexperience of mental ill-health, or as being a carer, family and kinship group member (or experiencing both) who contributed to our Pocket Map for Mental Health Research Translation. The genesis priority areas in the Pocket Map have been expanded in the recently released Phase 1 Consensus Statement Short Horizons 2023 Implementation Actions priorities. Co-design continues for an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s well-being pathway in the roadmap for mental health research translation and for pathways for children and families to ensure the priorities of families where a parent experiences mental ill-health are centred.