Deadline: 30-Aug-2020
Nominations are now open for the Australian Mental Health Prize 2020 to recognize Australians who have made outstanding contributions to either the promotion of mental health, or the prevention and treatment of mental illness.
The importance of mental health in Australia
Mental illnesses are common and highly disabling. In any one year, one in five adult Australians and one in seven children aged 4 to 17 will experience some form of mental illness. One in three will have a mental illness in their lifetime.
Mental illness impacts severely on our capacity to work, to earn a living, and maintain close relationships.
The average lifespan of people with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder is shortened by 10-15 years.
Suicide rates are still unacceptably high, with over 2,000 Australians taking their own life each year.
Suicide is the most common cause of death in males under 45.
Why establish the Australian Mental Health Prize?
Australia has led the way internationally in many aspects of mental health, such as community awareness, public advocacy and innovative services. This includes innovative programs such as Beyond Blue, the Black Dog Institute, and headspace, the national network of youth mental health services. Our open public discourse involving politicians and high-profile individuals occurs in few other countries.
Aims
The Australian Mental Health Prize’s aims
- Acknowledge and recognise the important and ground-breaking work that many Australians are doing for mental health
- Raise public awareness on the importance of mental health
- Provide an incentive to improve services and outcomes for people with mental illness
Prize Purpose
- The purpose of the Prize is to recognise outstanding contributions to mental health in Australia by an individual.
- The Prize will raise awareness of the importance of mental health and highlight the outstanding work of Australians and Australian residents in this field.
Prize Information
- The winner of the Prize shall be awarded a medal.
- The prize is not redeemable for cash or an alternative prize.
- The prize is not transferrable.
Prize Criteria
- The Prize is awarded annually to an Australian who has made outstanding contributions to either the promotion of mental health, or the prevention/treatment of mental illness – in areas such as advocacy, research or service provision. The prize will recognise contributions undertaken in Australia which are of national significance.
Eligibility Criteria
- Any member of the public or a third party organisation (public, non-government or private) may nominate an entry for the Prize.
- Self-nominations will not be accepted.
- Employees of UNSW Sydney may nominate a person for entry.
- If a nominee is not over the age of eighteen (18), a parent/guardian must accept the nominee’s entry on the nominee’s behalf.
- A nominee must be an Australian citizen or Australian permanent resident.
For more information, visit https://www.australianmentalhealthprize.org.au/