Young Minds: Our Future

The third Australian child and adolescent survey of mental health and wellbeing
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What families need to know about the Young Minds: Our Future program.

Have you been invited to participate in the YMOF study?

Parents and carers

Are you a parent or carer who has been approached about participating in the YMOF survey?

Find out more about participating in the survey as a parent or carer!

Young people

Are you a young person who has heard of YMOF?

Find out more about participating in the survey as a young person!

Study Aims

Young Minds: Our Future hopes to achieve five aims. These aims are focused on prevalence, impairment, service use, education and risk and protective factors.

Identify how many children and adolescents have a mental health disorder.

Understand how mental health problems affect everyday life

— including school, friendships, family, and activities

Learn how often young people get help

for their mental health, what types of services they use (like counsellors, doctors or headspace), if they use government-subsidised medicines, and what gets in the way of getting help.

Look at how mental health affects learning and school results

Determine educational outcomes of children and young people with mental health problems

Identify risk & protective factors

Identify factors that can strongly influence poor as well as positive mental health in children and young people
How are the results used?

How are the results used?

The findings of the previous study supported Australian Government investment in mental health including: increased investment and expansion of headspace services and investment in Kids Hubs, a national network of mental health and wellbeing centres for children aged 0-12 years and their families.

They also supported the Australian Government’s investment in the Be You program in schools, run by Beyond Blue. Now, students in more than 11,000 schools and early education services benefit from Be You.

Roy Morgan

In 2013, Roy Morgan were part of the Young Minds Matter team, investigating youth mental health.

In 2025, Roy Morgan are part of the Young Minds: Our Future team helping to ensure meaningful, contemporary data is collected for Australian families.

Roy Morgan interviewers will approach 6500 randomly selected households across Australia.

Funding 2024 – 2027

Young Minds: Our Future is funded by the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

$8.1 million have been invested in the completion of the project.

Stakeholder Information

Learn more about the methodology of the survey

Click here to learn more about the projects stakeholders and methodology

Governance Structure

Young Minds: Our Future is working alongside a number of advisory groups who are experts in their fields, have lived experiences and a genuine passion for child and adolescent mental health.

Learn more about the study’s governance structure.

Project Leads

Professor David Lawrence
Lead Chief Investigator

Professor David Lawrence

Curtin University
Associate Professor Divna Haslam
Co-Lead/Chief Investigator

Associate Professor Divna Haslam

University of Queensland & Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR)
Associate Professor Holly Erskine
Co-Lead/Chief Investigator

Associate Professor Holly Erskine

University of Queensland & Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research (QCMHR)
Meet the YMOF team

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

 Still have more questions, visit our FAQs page!

Partner Institutions

The Young Minds: Our Future study is proud to partner with the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, Curtin University, The University of Queensland, Queensland Centre for Mental Health Research and Roy Morgan Research on this important project.

Young Minds: Our Future is funded by the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.

Survey Leadership Group

This group comprises senior members of the research team (across Curtin and UQ) and members of the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. The core leadership group is responsible for all strategic and major decisions for the project after appropriate consultation with other groups within the broader governance framework.

The group will use a collaborative approach to decision making noting that the Department has the final approval of all major content and implementation decisions The core leadership group comprises Helen Bennasi, Cate Chesney, Jess Runko as Department representatives and David Lawrence, Holly Erskine and Divna Haslam as research team representatives.

Scientific Reference Group

The Scientific Reference Group (SRG) is comprised of technical and research experts with detailed subject matter knowledge. The SRG additionally contribute their expertise and provide guidance and recommendations to ensure the successful design and implementation of this important national survey.  Specifically, the SRG will provides advice on:

Specification of content and assistance with the development of new or revised survey modules will additionally be advised by the Scientific Reference Group members.

There will be a review of the results of the pilot test and dress rehearsal resultant advice on changes to the survey methodology, review of the preliminary findings prior to publication and advice on analysis and reporting and a review of strategies for enhancing the dissemination, impact and reach of the findings and translation into policy and practice.

National Stakeholder Advisory Group

The National Stakeholder Advisory Group (NSAG) is comprised of key stakeholders who can provide policy and practice insights to strengthen the study and for whom the data will be highly relevant for policy and planning purposes.

The National Stakeholder Advisory Group has been established to provide ongoing guidance and advice to enhance survey impact and relevance to future policy and program design and service delivery.

To maximise the policy, practice and service impact of the study and the relevance of the findings to the mental health sector and related sectors we will establish a National Stakeholder Advisory Group (NSAG).

This group comprises key stakeholders across government and relevant commissions (e.g., mental health commissions, child and family commissions etc) and other sector organisations such as key service providers.

Youth Advisory Group

The Youth Advisory Group (YAG) is comprised of young people 16-24 years of age with a variety of lived experiences including those with and without experience of mental ill health. Where possible diverse, lived experience and geographical locations will be represented through the YAG.

The group is comprised of 8-10 young people with diversity of gender, age and geographical location represented. Members of the YAG are reimbursed for their participation in the advisory group.

Parent and Carer Advisory Group

The Parent and Carer Advisory Group (PAG) is comprised of a group of parents and caregivers of children and young people. The PAG aims to ensure the lived experience and opinions of parents and carers are appropriately considered in study design and implementation.

A Parent and Carer Advisory Group includes parents and carers with lived experience of caring for a child with mental illness, and parent and carer perspectives in general.

It is essential this group represents the diversity of parenting and caring experience including representing those and is not limited. This group is also expected to represent by proxy the voices of young children 4-15 who are not covered by the Youth Advisory Group.

Members of the PAG are reimbursed for their participation in the advisory group.

Participant Information

Young Minds: Our Future is interested in the prevalence rates of mental disorders for Australian children and adolescents. It provides the opportunity to investigate changes in child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing over the past decade and address critical questions arising from the previous survey (known as Young Minds Matter).

The study Research Team is interested to hear the perspective of all Australian children and adolescents, not just individuals with mental health difficulties.

Participation involves face-to-face interviewing that will take approximately 60 minutes (range from 15 minutes to 90 minutes).

Only families living in certain areas will be able to participate. This is designed to ensure the data is representative of all Australians. If you are eligible to participate a Roy Morgan representative will provide a personal invitation to you via your home address.

Children and Adolescents

This study will ask about your mental health and wellbeing.

You will receive a $50 gift card for your participation.

Parents and Carers

This study will ask about your perceptions on your child and/or adolescents mental health and wellbeing.

You will receive a $100 gift card for your participation.

Information for Researchers

Methodology: 

Young Minds: Our Future the Third Australian Study of Child and Adolescent Mental Health and Wellbeing uses a cross-sectional household survey methodology. Families of children aged 4-17 will be recruited from pre-determined statistical areas across all States and Territories across Australia.

We will interview 6500 parents from across Australia in their homes, which will take an average of 1 hour. We will also invite around 3000 adolescents to complete a survey online which will take 45 minutes on average.

Data will be gathered on a range of topics including diagnostic data on the prevalence of common mental disorders including child and adolescent mental health disorders, mental wellbeing, self-harm, suicidal behaviours, bullying, problem eating behaviours, substance abuse, online addictive behaviours, health service use and economic analysis.

Data collection will begin in mid 2025 with results expected to be released in early 2027. Data will be available for use by other researchers after the conclusion of the project.

Collaboration:

Researchers wishing to collaborate prior to this may contact Young Minds Project Team at youngminds@curtin.edu.au or Lead/Co-Lead Investigators:

Governance Structure

Young Minds: Our Future will identify data on child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing. The third national survey will not only update Australian prevalence and service use data, but to take the opportunity to expand understandings of the factors underpinning the wellbeing of young Australians. This data will help inform the next generation of service delivery, health promotion and prevention activities.

The primary aim for this survey is to update national prevalence rates of mental disorders for Australian children and adolescents, including examining changes since Young Minds Matter, the previous national survey on child and adolescent mental health and wellbeing. A range of secondary aims will provide additional information about subsyndromal symptoms, impairment, suicide and self-harm, experiences of maltreatment, help seeking and educational outcomes.

To provide guidance and advice to enhance survey implementation and impact, the study is governed by the following groups:

Funding 2024 - 2027

The project is funded by the Australian Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, $8.1 million have been invested in the completion of the project.