medical research future fund childhood mental health research plan

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Medical Research Future Fund

The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) is a $20B long-term investment supporting priority-driven Australian health and medical research. The MRFF aims to transform health and innovation to improve lives, build the economy and contribute to health system sustainability.

Proposed projects must closely align with the goals, objectives and intended outcomes of the Initiative and Grant Opportunity being applied to. Refer to section 1 of the guidelines for each Grant Opportunity for further information.

Please refer to the MRFF Grant Opportunities Calendar for information on forecast MRFF grant opportunities.

MRFF funding application templates and resources

Upcoming rounds

2023 childhood mental health research grant opportunity, 2023 multidisciplinary models of primary care grant opportunity streams 1, 2, 3 and stream 4, 2023 clinical trials activity, 2024 paediatric brain cancer research, 2023 innovative trials, 2024 indigenous health research, 2024 early to mid-career researchers, 2024 stem cell therapies, 2024 cardiovascular health, 2024 survivorship care and collaborative research prioritisation, 2024 international clinical trial collaborations grant opportunity, 2024 mental health research, 2024 dementia, ageing and aged care, 2024 maternal health and healthy lifestyles, 2024 enhancing medical device surveillance through registries, 2022 frontier health and medical research.

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Closed Grant Opportunity View - GO6518

MRFF EPCDRI - 2023 Childhood Mental Health Research Grant Opportunity

Contact Details

NHMRC Research Help Centre

Phone : 1800 500 983

Email Address : [email protected]

Web Address : https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/funding/medical-research-future-fund

This grant opportunity is the first under the $50.0 million Childhood Mental Health Research Plan, developed by an independent Expert Advisory Panel mid-2023.

The objective of this grant opportunity is to provide grants of financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that:

• Stream 1 ( Targeted Call for Research ): conduct large-scale multidisciplinary projects to build knowledge of the biological, environmental, social, cultural, structural, economic, and individual factors that contribute to mental illness in children, and keep children mentally healthy
• Topic A : for children aged 0-5 years
• Topic B : in settings where children are cared for and/or whom they are cared by (Eg. at home, in out-of-home care, in learning environments, in the community)
• Topic C : among First Nations children by accessing the unique knowledges, strengths, and endurance of First Nations communities
• Topic D : among children with a disability (including psychosocial disability or neurodisability) and/or long-term chronic disease
• Topic E : among children who have experienced trauma
• Topic F : among children experiencing emotionally based school avoidance/non-attendance
• Topic G : for eating disorders (and their prodromes)
• Topic H : for anxiety disorders (and their prodromes)
• Topic I : for depression and/or self-harm and/or suicidality (and their prodromes)
• Topic J : for disruptive behaviour disorders (eg. conduct disorder and oppositional defiant disorder)

This grant opportunity is being administered by NHMRC on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care.

Further information on the Medical Research Future Fund is available from the  Department of Health and Aged Care website .

Applications will only be accepted from NHMRC approved Eligible Organisations. A list of NHMRC approved MRFF Eligible Organisations is available from the GrantConnect GO Documents and from the MRFF Eligible Organisations Institutions list on the NHMRC website.

Applications must satisfy all the requirements set out in the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) 2023 Childhood Mental Health Research Grant Opportunity Guidelines.

The maximum grant period that can be applied for in each Stream is as follows:

• Stream 1 (TCR): 5 years
• Stream 2 (Incubator): 2 years

$30,000,000.00

From $0.00 to $5,000,000.00

Applicants are advised to read the Grant Guidelines thoroughly and liaise with the MRFF Eligible Organisation that will submit the application to identify any specific requirements that the organisation might have.

Applications must be submitted electronically using NHMRC’s online granting system ( Sapphire ).

Minimum Data closes at 5:00 pm (ACT Local Time) on 28 February 2024.

Questions should be submitted no later than 1:00 pm (ACT Local Time) on 20 March 2024.

Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission

The Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission is investing $125 million to support a million Australians with mental health issues. This funding will enable access to new approaches to prevention, diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

About the Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission

The Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission is investing $125 million in innovative mental health research.

Why it is important

This Mission supports research to improve mental health by translating research outcomes into practice.

More than 3.8 million Australians aged between 16 and 85 experience a mental illness each year. We need ongoing research into mental illness so we can reduce its impact on people’s lives.

The Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission will support research that addresses key national mental health priorities. It specifically encourages research to be translated into practice.

The objective of this Mission is to help an extra one million people be part of new approaches to mental health prevention, detection, diagnosis, treatment and recovery.

Meeting our objectives

The Mission’s second Expert Advisory Panel was appointed in April 2022 and has revised the Mission’s first Roadmap and developed an Implementation Plan to advise the Minister for Health and Aged Care on the strategic priorities for research investment through the Mission.

The draft Roadmap and Implementation Plan were reviewed by an international panel of experts on 17 November 2022 who provided expert feedback and advice in the context of relevant activities occurring internationally. See the Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission International Review of the Roadmap and Implementation Plan report .

The draft Roadmap and Implementation Plan also underwent a national consultation between 28 October 2022 and 1 December 2022 to seek community feedback on these documents. See the Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission Roadmap and Implementation Plan Consultation Report .

Based on the feedback from the international review panel and the national consultation, changes were made to the final Roadmap and Implementation Plan.

The Roadmap and Implementation Plan for this Mission were published in April 2023 and will be used to develop the Mission’s grant opportunities

MRFF Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission strategic documents

Who we work with.

The  Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission Expert Advisory Panel  advises the government about the Mission. 

The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF)  funds this initiative. 

Our Health and Medical Research Office oversees this and other MRFF Missions.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) administers this Mission.

Apply for funding

View the MRFF grants calendar  to see which grants are open, when applications close and when we expect to award funding.

Register with  GrantConnect  to receive notifications about future funding opportunities under this Mission.

Grants awarded

See  a list of all MRFF grant recipients .

Monitoring, evaluation and learning

In 2021-22 we commissioned the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS) to review this Mission. The review looked at:

• investments made through the Mission and other MRFF initiatives involving mental health
• how international research models and approaches could apply in Australia
• progress made towards the Mission’s goals
• any ways to improve the alignment of the Mission’s goals with its implementation.

The review was advised by an evaluation advisory panel. Members of the panel were:

• Dr Ruth Vine (Chair)
• Dr Alex Cockram
• Professor Ian Everall
• Ms Erica Kneipp
• Associate Professor Beth Kotzé
• Ms Janne McMahon.

Read the outcomes of the Million Minds Mental Health Research Mission Review .

Learn more about  MRFF monitoring, evaluation and learning .

For more information, contact us.

Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) contact

National health and medical research council (nhmrc).

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Medical Research Future Fund has $20 billion to spend. Here’s how we prioritise who gets what

Professor of Statistics, Queensland University of Technology

Professor of Health Economics, University of Oxford

Disclosure statement

Adrian Barnett receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund and the National Health and Medical Research Council. He is a member of the NHMRC Research Committee; this article represents his own views.

Philip Clarke receives funding from the Medical Research Future Fund via grants held at the University of Melbourne.

Queensland University of Technology provides funding as a member of The Conversation AU.

University of Oxford provides funding as a member of The Conversation UK.

View all partners

The Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) is a A$20 billion fund to support Australian health and medical research. It was set up in 2015 to deliver practical benefits from medical research and innovation to as many Australians as possible.

Unlike the other research funding agencies, such the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), most of the MRFF funding is priority-driven. It seeks to fund research in particular areas or topics rather than using open calls when researchers propose their own ideas for funding.

As the Nine newspapers outlined this week, researchers have criticised the previous Coalition government’s allocation of MRFF funds. There is widespread consensus the former health minister had too much influence in the allocation of funds, and there was limited and sometimes no competition when funding was directly allocated to one research group.

The current Health Minister, Mark Butler, has instituted a review . So how should the big decisions about how to spend the MRFF be made in the future to maximise its value and achieve its aims?

Read more: Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt's big ideas for how Australia funds and uses research

Assess gaps in evidence

Research priorities for the MRFF are set by the Australian Medical Research Advisory Board , which widely consults with the research sector.

However, most researchers and institutions will simply argue more funding is needed for their own research. If the board seeks to satisfy such lobbying, it will produce fragmented funding that aligns poorly with the health needs of Australians.

A better approach would be to systematically assemble evidence about what is known and the key evidence gaps. Here, the board would benefit from what is known as a “ value of information ” framework for decision-making.

This framework systematically attempts to quantify the most valuable information that will reduce the uncertainty for health and medical decision-making. In other words, it would pinpoint which information we need to allow us to better make health and medical decisions.

There have been attempts to use this method in Australia to help inform how we prioritise hospital-based research. However, we now need to apply such an approach more broadly.

Read more: COVID has left Australia's biomedical research sector gasping for air

Seek public input

A structured framework for engaging with the public is also missing in Australia. The public’s perspective on research prioritisation has often been overlooked, but as the ultimate consumers of research, they need to be heard.

Research is a highly complex and specialised endeavour, so we can’t expect the public to create sensible priorities alone.

One approach used overseas has been developed by the James Lind Alliance , a group in the United Kingdom that combines the public’s views with researchers to create agreed-on priorities for research.

This is done using an intensive process of question setting and discussion. Priorities are checked for feasibility and novelty, so there is no funding for research that’s impossible or already done.

The priorities from the James Lind Alliance process can be surprising. The top priority in the area of irritable bowel syndrome , for example, is to discover if it’s one condition or many, while the second priority is to work on bowel urgency (a sudden urgent need to go to the toilet).

While such everyday questions can struggle to get funding in traditional systems that often focus on novelty, funding research in these two priority areas could lead to the most benefits for people with irritable bowel syndrome.

Consider our comparative advantages

Australia is a relatively small player globally. To date, the MRFF has allocated around $2.6 billion , just over 5% of what the United States allocates through the National Institute of Health funding in a single year .

A single research grant, even if it involves a few million dollars of funding, is unlikely to lead to a medical breakthrough. Instead, the MRFF should prioritise areas where Australia has a comparative advantage.

This could involve building on past success (such as the research that led to the HPV, or human papillomavirus, vaccine to prevent cervical cancer), or where Australian researchers can play a critical role globally.

However, there is an area where Australian researchers have an absolute advantage: using research to improve our own health system.

A prime example would be finding ways to improve dental care access in Australia. For example, a randomised trial of different ways of providing insurance and dental services, similar to the RAND Health Insurance Experiment conducted in the United States in the 1970s.

This could provide the evidence needed to design a sustainable dental scheme to complement Medicare. Now that is something the MRFF should consider as a funding priority.

Read more: Expensive dental care worsens inequality. Is it time for a Medicare-style 'Denticare' scheme?

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• MRFF 2024 Mental Health Research Grant Opportunity
• Resources and support
• Research management
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• Current Funding Opportunities

Key dates for MRFF 2024 Mental Health Research

• Proposals open in Sapphire: 14 February 2024
• UQ R&I NOI Close: 10 July 2024
• Minimum data requirements in Sapphire: 5pm ACT time 10 July 2024
• Applications due to UQ R&I: 17 July 2024
• Applications close: 5pm ACT time 7 August 2024

Consistent with the MRFF Act, the objective of this grant opportunity is to provide grants of financial assistance to support medical research and medical innovation projects that:

- Stream 1 (Priority areas 1.1 and 1.2, Targeted Call for Research): establish a bold and innovative national consortium involving multi-institutional collaborations, and encompassing multiple geographies and demographics, consisting of multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary teams combining treatment and public health perspectives that will, through a coherent strategy:  o improve the understanding of the mechanisms underpinning effective mental health interventions and then develop new and improved early interventions, and  o improve the understanding of protective factors that reduce the negative impact on mental health from shifts in society and how best to strengthen these in the population. 

- Stream 2 (Priority areas 2.1 and 2.2, Targeted Call for Research): establish a national consortium that partners with service providers and people with lived experience, and encompasses multiple geographies and demographics, to develop preventions, interventions, treatments, and models of care, based on the findings from existing epidemiological research.

- Stream 3 (Priority areas 3.1 and 3.2, Incubator): conduct small-scale developmental projects to improve understanding of the key components of:  o Topic A: high-quality mental health care and how these components can be incorporated into optimal personalised care for individuals.  o Topic B: high-quality prevention strategies. 

The amounts available for a single grant in each Stream are as follows:  - Stream 1: The amount for a single grant is fixed at $10.0 million  - Stream 2: The amount for a single grant is fixed at $5.0 million - Stream 3: The minimum grant amount is $200,000 and the maximum grant amount is $1.0 million

How to Apply

Internal notice of intent process.

All researchers intending to submit an MRFF application are required to submit an internal Notice of Intent . NOIs will be collated centrally and distributed to Faculties and Institutes in order to provide maximum support to the UQ research community.

Step 1. Sapphire updates and scheme reading

• Register for Sapphire and update your full profile 'My Profile and CV'. The Grant Opportunity will be run through the new National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) grants management system, Sapphire, which replaces RGMS. If any team members are new to Sapphire and need a login/password, start early. The NHMRC require at least three working days to create new Sapphire accounts. 
• Familiarise yourself with the key MRFF, NHMRC and The University of Queensland (UQ) documentation.

Step 2. Completing the application

• Log into Sapphire and complete the application

Step 3. UQ R&I internal review and feedback

• Ahead of internal review, ensure all online components are complete and valid in Sapphire and CIA has initiated the Certification process. Application errors will be signalled and can be corrected during the Certification stage.
• To initiate internal review, email your completed Funding Application Coversheet to UQ R&I at [email protected] .
• Internal review by UQ R&I/feedback provided (compliance/eligibility/grantsmanship).

Step 4. Final submission

• Final submission by UQ R&I to NHMRC.

Letters of Support

Signing for all letters of support from UQ is co-ordinated through the Research Office. All Letters of support for MRFF applications, including those led by other institutions, must be accompanied by a completed Funding Application Coversheet (see below) and authorisations of any enumerated contributions or additional UQ staff beyond the lead CI listed in the letter.  We strongly recommend working with your local school/institute research professionals to complete this process.

To provide time for review and signature, we ask that UQ researchers submit draft letters to [email protected] no later than two weeks before the external closing date.

Partner Letters

We would encourage applicants to provide drafts of partner letters of support for review by the Research office before organising their final signature to ensure eligibility and compliance. A template Letter of Support is provided below.

Non-UQ Lead Applications

• The administering organisation should provide you with a draft letter of support. UQ information from the CEO letter below may assist you in completing the letter.
• Complete a generic Funding Application Coversheet , and get it countersigned by your Head of School/Institute.
• Submit both to [email protected] , along with evidence for any additional co-contributions.

Readership and researcher support

Before applying, we recommend you:

• Contact your  faculty or institute research manager for advice on peer readership programs.
• Join the UQ R&I Mailer to stay up to date with round developments.
• Access the UQ R&I Grants Library , a helpful resource of past successful proposals.
• If offered, attend UQ R&I information sessions  and access PowerPoint presentations from presentations and slides .

Key documents

Before applying, please review the full suite of documents available from GrantConnect, the Australian Government grants information system and:

• Grant Connect GO6779
• MRFF Webpage
• MRFF Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning Strategy 2020-21 to 2023-24
• NHMRC Research Classification Guides
• Sapphire Knowledge Base
• UQ MRFF Application Coversheet (DOCX, 70.2 KB)
• UQ MRFF Declaration of Interests template (DOCX, 21.9 KB)
• UQ MRFF Letter of Support template (DOCX, 31.8 KB)
• UQ How to Guide for MRFF Grants (PDF, 417 KB)
• MRFF 2023 Clinical Trials Activity Grant Opportunity
• MRFF 2023 Innovative Trials Grant Opportunity
• MRFF 2023 Paediatric Brain Cancer
• MRFF 2024 Cardiovascular Health
• MRFF 2024 Dementia, Ageing and Aged Care Grant Opportunity
• MRFF 2024 Early to Mid-Career Researchers Grant Opportunity
• MRFF 2024 Enhancing Medical Device Surveillance Through Registries Grant Opportunity
• MRFF 2024 Indigenous Health Research Grant Opportunity
• MRFF 2024 International Clinical Trial Collaborations Grant Opportunity
• MRFF 2024 Maternal Health and Healthy Lifestyles Grant Opportunity
• MRFF 2024 Stem Cell Therapies Grant Opportunity
• MRFF 2024 Survivorship Care and Collaborative Research Prioritisation Grant Opportunity
• MRFF Frontier Health and Medical Research Program

Contact UQ R&I Scheme queries [email protected]

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2023–24 Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Grant Opportunities

Expression of interest – mrff grant assessment committee.

The Department of Health and Aged Care is seeking interest from a range of stakeholders to assist in MRFF grant review and assessment processes as a member of a Grant Assessment Committee for a number of 2023–24 MRFF grant opportunities.

The MRFF helps shape the future of health and medical research, improve lives and contributes to an innovative and sustainable health system. It has a particular focus on collaborative and translational research and utilises grant assessment processes that embrace diverse perspectives, including alternative disciplines, industry, health care and consumer experience.

In line with the published MRFF Grant Opportunity Guidelines, MRFF grant assessments have a strong focus on impact and value and the Department of Health and Aged Care is interested in hearing from people with translation, implementation, and a health and medical consumer focus, who can demonstrate experience and/or expertise in the following areas:

• Translation of research into clinical practice
• Commercialisation of health research
• Transdisciplinary research; for example, collaboration and/or engagement between researchers, consumers, patient groups, those involved in health service delivery and industry
• International research projects, including clinical trials
• Health economics and biostatistics
• Representing consumer and/or community organisations.

It is not essential to have a research qualification to contribute to MRFF grant assessment.

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