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About Black Dog Institute

Science. Compassion. Action

1 in 5 Australians will experience a mental health condition within the year. And 65% of people don't seek help for mental health conditions.

Black Dog Institute is celebrating 20 years of impact in mental health research. Over that time, we’ve expanded from treating and researching mood disorders to becoming leaders in suicide prevention, digital mental health, workplace mental health, new treatments, and early intervention to help young people.

Black Dog Institute is the only medical research institute in Australia to investigate mental health across the lifespan. Black Dog Institute is driven to support that 65% of the community who would not ordinarily seek help and we do that through Science, Compassion and Action.

Our evolution

Since our foundation in 1985 as the ‘Mood Disorders Unit’ at Prince Henry Hospital, Sydney, we have been at the forefront of mental health research. Rapidly evolving to drive the creation of new knowledge and ensure that clinical best practice continues to be improved and refined in line with the latest evidence.

Today, our focus has expanded to address new challenges and opportunities in mental health – suicide prevention, digital innovation, lived experience, youth and workplace mental health. Our work in mood disorders continues through our investigation of new and better ways to treat and prevent conditions like anxiety and depression through digital tools and novel treatments.

Already, we are seeing impact nationally and internationally with major initiatives such as LifeSpan, CRESP, myCompass and Bite Back.