New Clinical Academic Group Begins Work to Improve Mental Health Outcomes
Sydney Health Partners’ newly established Mental Health Clinical Academic Group (CAG) is inviting clinicians, researchers, health consumers and service providers to help strengthen collaboration in research to improve mental health outcomes
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The Mental Health CAG is one of three news CAGs recently established and aims to address the gap between the burden of mental ill-health and investment in research and care.
Co-Chairs Professor Anthony Harris and Associate Professor Alyssa Milton said the group aims to help close this gap by strengthening collaboration across the network and accelerating the translation of evidence into co-produced, equitable and effective mental health care.
A key challenge will be connecting often fragmented research and service systems across primary care, community services, specialist mental health services and addiction services to support meaningful and sustainable improvements in care.
Central to the work of our CAG is a commitment to lived experience leadership. We want to ensure that health consumer voices are embedded in decision-making and help shape research priorities, translation and implementation.
Associate Professor Milton
The Mental Health CAG is already progressing two projects:
- Establishing an advisory structure led by members from the Leadership Team with lived experience, and
- Undertaking a co-produced, system-wide priority-setting process to develop a shared Translational Roadmap for future mental health research, collaboration and investment across Sydney Health Partners.
The group is beginning to strengthen connections between research, practice and lived experience across the mental health sector with Professor Harris and Associate Professor Milton presenting at the Sydney Health Partners Geriatric Medicine Clinical Academic Group Ageing Research Forum on the 15th of October and the Sydney Local Health District Mental Health Research Symposium 2026 on the 21st of October.
The Co-Chairs encourage anyone with an interest in mental health to join the group, emphasising that the Mental Health CAG is focused on bringing people together to improve mental health care through research and translation.
“You do not need to be deeply involved in research already. Our role is to create opportunities for collaboration, learning and meaningful impact across the network,” said Associate Professor Milton.