Best Practice Partnership Update
Did you know that the UoM and Royal Melbourne Hospital are the lead partners in Victoria’s Best Practice Partnership Consortium, supported by the Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing?
The second half of 2025 has seen a big ramp-up in supported research activity across Consortium including funding successes for early and mid-career researchers. A quick look at the numbers reveals that 18 projects involving 31 organisations are currently being supported encompassing a diverse range of initiatives - and even more are on the cards. Importantly, all projects include partnerships and collaboration between consortium members at their core. Broad research themes include:
- Consumer Experience and Outcomes Enhancement
- Workforce Support and Development
- Lived Experience Integration
- Equity and Access
- Mental Health System Design and Sustainability
Systems research in the spotlight
In an innovative effort to enhance care quality and system efficacy in mental health and AOD presentations, Dr Belinda Davey from the UoM’s Centre for Digital Transformation of Health has successfully applied for an accelerator grant aimed at modeling improved triage practices within emergency departments. Research partners in this initiative include the Department of Psychiatry’s Professor Jason Thompson and Branislava Godic, RMH’s Director of Access and Patient-Flow and Manager of Ambulatory Mental Health Services, along with crucial insights from consumers and clinicians. This collaborative research framework incorporating a diverse set of perspectives and methods within a single project reflects many aspects of the Victorian Best Practice Consortium’s efforts to reduce silos and shorten the distance between research and practice. Congratulations, Belinda – we look forward to hearing about the results.
2026 Best Practice Consortium Research Seminar Series – Will you be there?
As the lead academic partner for the Best Practice Consortium, the UoM is constantly exposed to great ideas and initiatives from consortium members that align with goals of mental health system reform. It’s time to show some of them off!
In 2026, UoM will be hosting a series of in-person (with remote access) research and practice seminars to spread the word about the great work going on across the sector. We’ll be covering health system themes across experience, outcomes, access & equity, sustainability and workforce health in a series of events that we hope will also enable you to get to know other members better and spark off ideas for the future. Stay tuned!