Mental Health First Aid (MHFA), an grassroots Australian initiative that has grown into a global movement, is celebrating 25 years with a pledge to train another 1.5 million Australians by 2030.
Founded in 2000 by Australians Betty Kitchener AM and Emeritus Professor Tony Jorm, MHFA pioneered a community-based approach to mental health early intervention.
Just as physical first aid equips people to help in a medical emergency, MHFA empowers individuals to recognise the signs of mental health problems and respond appropriately, reducing stigma and encouraging people to seek professional help.
“What began as a local initiative 25 years ago has evolved into a global gold standard for mental health education,” says MHFA CEO Angus Clelland.
“We are now moving to our next phase of development, which includes new approaches to our training, to make it available to more people across the community, business sector and beyond.”
From an initial class of 9 students in 2000, MHFA now trains 140,000 Australians a year, with 1.5 million trained nationwide and over 8 million people across 30 countries.
It has been adopted in workplaces, schools, universities, veterans’ groups, community organisations and sporting clubs.
Backed by 25 years of high-quality research and evaluation, MHFA is also one of the world’s most extensively evaluated public mental health interventions, supported by more than 200 peer-reviewed independent publications.
Research confirms that MHFA training significantly improves participants’ confidence in discussing mental health, decreases stigma, and enhances community capacity to provide support.
“As MHFA enters its next 25 years, the need for accessible mental health first aid has never been greater,” says Mr Clelland.
For more information, visit: mhfa.com.au.
