Research

Robust evidence is essential for driving effective policy and practice changes across the health and education sectors. Ongoing research into the MHiPS initiative is therefore critical to supporting the existing evaluation work and promoting sustainability and success for schools. 

The MHiPS team have developed a National Research Strategy outlining research priorities for the next 3-4 years. These priorities are:

  • Implementation process for MHiPS (schools system change) E.g. How does MHiPS work? What are the non-negotiables in implementation?
  • Impact of MHiPS on students E.g. What is the impact of changes to teacher practice on student mental health and wellbeing?
  • Investigating how schools adapt and sustain MHiPS to improve student mental health and wellbeing. E.g. How does MHiPS translate in small schools, remote/rural schools, schools with integrated hubs, schools with high cultural diversity, schools with high proportions of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students.

Articles

From pilot to policy: the Mental Health in Primary Schools (MHiPS) Initiative. 2025  https://doi.org/10.5481/SVTO5850

Barriers to Supporting Children’s Mental Health in Australian Primary Schools: Perspectives of School Staff. 2024 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2024.200323

Measures of mental health literacy for supporting children and their psychometric properties: A systematic review. 2024 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mhp.2024.200357

How are we measuring domains that influence teacher readiness for change? A scoping review of existing instruments in non-tertiary settings. 2024 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10833-024-09521-0

Supporting children’s mental health in primary schools: a qualitative exploration of educator perspectives. 2022 https://doi.org/10.1007/s13384-022-00558-9

Mental health and wellbeing coordinators in primary schools to support student mental health: protocol for a quasi-experimental cluster study. 2021 https://bmcpublichealth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12889-021-11467-4

Barriers and enablers faced by regional and rural schools in supporting student mental health: A mixed‐methods systematic review. 2021 https://doi.org/10.1111/ajr.12794

Proudly in partnership with

MHiPS would like to acknowledge the Ian Potter Foundation, the Victorian Department of Education and Training, the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust, SALT Catalyst, Bupa, the RE Ross Trust and the R.M. Ansett Trust for their support in establishing the initiative.