Innovation grants awarded in WA to improve children’s mental health

Three organisations have been successful in winning innovation grants from the Western Australian Government to improve child and youth mental health.

Nearly $4.5 million in total was allocated in the grant round, which had a focus on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and youth mental health, with the successful applicants announced by Medical Research Minister Stephen Dawson. 

The funding has come from the Future Health and Innovation Fund (FHRI), with the Innovation Challenge launched to stimulate innovation in WA and the development and delivery of a solution to make significant improvements in child and youth mental health.

Stage one of the Innovation Challenge, announced in 2021, awarded 11 applicants up to $50,000 each to undertake feasibility studies or build prototypes to progress their ideas.

These teams were then given the opportunity to apply for stage two, competing for up to $1.5 million to build on their outcomes of stage one and to fully develop and roll out their concepts.

The Innovation Challenge originally intended to award only one winner, however due to the outstanding quality of applications, the expert panel recommended three recipients to undertake their programs.

The three programs include:

• a simple genetic test to personalise medication management for children and youth living with mental health conditions;
• a child and youth mental health project to improve treatment access in rural and regional WA, in collaboration with health service providers; and,
• an innovative digital and culturally appropriate tablet-based app to help improve the hearing and mental health outcomes of Aboriginal children.

Further information about the grant recipients can be found on the FHRI Fund – funding outcomes website.