Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

The Melbourne School of Population and Global Health has a Centre for Global and Cultural Mental Health, headed by Associate Professor Harry Minas and Dr Ritzuko Kakuma. Global and Cultural Mental Health works to improve mental health and reduce mental illness in low-resource settings and among vulnerable populations in Australia and internationally. We strengthen leadership and build capacity in government and non-government sectors to develop mental health and social support services that are high quality, equitable and affordable, and that protect the human rights of people with mental illness.

The Centre is dedicated to research and systems development, learning and teaching, and engagement with key stakeholders in the field of mental health, both in Australia and the broader international community.

Our programs are in two broad areas of work:

• Global mental health program focuses on mental health system development in low and middle-income countries
• Mental health in multicultural societies program that focuses on mental health in immigrant and refugee communities in Australia

In our Australian programs we focus on the development of effective mental health systems for a culturally and linguistically diverse society and on the strengthening of leadership for mental health system reform. The Centre's transcultural mental health programs are run in close collaboration with the Victorian Transcultural Psychiatry Unit.  Global and Cultural Mental Health is a consortium partner in the National Mental Health in Multicultural Australia Program, which is funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health.

Internationally, the Centre's focus is on building capacity for mental health systems development in low- and middle-income countries and post-conflict societies. GCMH is a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Research and Training in Mental Health and Substance Abuse.

Our global mental health work has a global reach, with particularly active research, education and mental health system development projects in many countries in Southeast Asia and Africa.

Our International Mental Health Leadership Program was a pioneering initiative, now in its 12th year. Global and Cultural Mental Health is a World Health Organisation Collaborating Centre, is a technical advisor to the Association of the South East Asian Nations Mental Health Taskforce and the Mekong Mental Health Partnership.