Researcher profile

Ian B Hickie

Professor Hickie has been appointed as a Leadership 3 Investigator Grant Fellow (2023-2028) and was previously an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellow (2017-2022). He is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia and Co-Director, Health and Policy, of the Brain & Mind Centre (BMC), University of Sydney. From 2012 to 2018, he was a Commissioner of the Australian National Mental Health Commission (NMHC), with a major focus on improving outcome measurement and improved accountability for Australia’s investments in mental health services. In partnership with the Mental Health Council of Australia, the Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission, Orygen Youth Health, the Young & Well CRC and the National Mental Health Commission, he has authored major national reports on community experiences of mental health services. Prof Hickie was a key participant in the most recent 2014 NMHC review of Mental Health Programmes and Services, which served as the template for the 2015 Turnbull Government initiatives in Mental Health Reform (total value $190M), including specifically the $30M Project Synergy investment in new technologies and the new $90M investment in 12 large regional trials of suicide prevention. His long-standing commitment to the impact of mental health research on mental health service improvement, through active engagement with those with lived experiences (patients, families and communities) in Australia is evident in his: i) capacity to facilitate public engagement with mental health issues, notably through his initial CEO role with beyondblue (2000-03); ii) engagement with major national mental health service reports over two decades (notably 2006, Not For Service Report with Human Rights and Equal Opportunities Commission); iii) continuous public commentary on contemporary mental health and suicide prevention issues; and iv) role in implementation of substantive health services reform in Australia (e.g. headspace and Young & Well CRC and now Project Synergy). He has been a critical voice in the advocacy for enhanced social and health services for those with persistent mental illness and increased accountability for delivery of those services. This work has been strongly supported by industry and philanthropic partnerships, recently being awarded $12.8M by the BHP Foundation in health service research trials and $8M in digital technology applications in child health research funded by the Minderoo Foundation.