Human Development and Community Wellbeing

The Human Development and Community Wellbeing team, led by Associate Professor Francis Mitrou, has wide-ranging experience in population child development, economics, psychology, health promotion, education, implementation science, public health, policy development, digital health, neurodiversity, developmental psychopathology, communications science, and mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) research. 

The team has an extensive network of partners and collaborators across public, non-government and philanthropic agencies and broad collective experience in the research and tertiary education sectors.

Team and Funding Highlights 

• Team Leader A/Prof Francis Mitrou was awarded a five-year Stan Perron Foundation People Fellowship 2024-2028 titled: Preventing deep and persistent disadvantage, reducing mental health problems in young people, and improving the health, education, community and justice outcomes for Aboriginal children and families in Western Australia. This is based around his work across the NHMRC Synergy and ARC Life Course Centre projects, plus other work with WA Mental Health Commission. This prestigious fellowship provides vital salary support for A/Prof Mitrou allowing for his continued leadership of the valuable work of the Human Development and Community Wellbeing Team.
• An innovative and impactful three-year research partnership between Pilbara Minerals and Senior Research Fellow Dr Vincent Mancini has been established to support the mental health and wellbeing of fly-in fly-out (FIFO) workers and their families. The research will aim to understand the impact of FIFO work arrangements on the mental health and wellbeing of the whole FIFO family – the employees, their partners, and children. This will inform the development, implementation, and evaluation of a program to support the mental health and wellbeing of FIFO families.
• In a collaboration between Cancer Council WA, and The Kids Research Institute Australia, Senior Research Officer Dr Robyn Johnston’s SunSmart messaging research aims to identify relevant and effective strategies to promote sun-protective behaviours in young West Australians aged 14-24 years. Input and guidance from young people will be prioritised in the development of messaging and delivery strategies. 
• Team Leader A/Prof Francis Mitrou holds a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Synergy Grant as Lead Investigator, with a 5-year, $5m project titled: “Improving Aboriginal health by understanding the influence of early life environments and contacts with health and social service systems over time and across generations.” (NHMRC Synergy Grant 2023-28. GNT2018970). The Synergy scheme represents the pinnacle of the NHMRC’s grants roster. The project involves a team of 20 Chief and Associate Investigators including six First Nations Investigators, with governance provided by an Aboriginal Steering Committee. The project is based around the Western Australian Aboriginal Child Health Survey linked to multiple WA Government administrative datasets, is the culmination of many years of planning and effort. 
• The award-winning Beacon App, funded by Dolly’s Dream, supports parents to mediate their children’s digital technology use. Funding from Dolly’s Dream supports several Human Development and Community Wellbeing staff to assist with development and maintenance of the Beacon App.
• In 2023 the Department of Home Affairs launched the results of an evaluation of the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP), completed over 4 years in partnership with the ARC Life Course Centre and The Kids Research Institute Australia. This was primarily the work of Dr Ha Nguyen and A/Prof Mitrou, with input from Home Affairs and the Life Course Centre. 
• Over the last three years, Leanne Fried and the SEW – Arts research team have received approximately $500,000 in funding from Healthway to develop a resource to build the capacity of arts organisations to promote young people’s social and emotional wellbeing. The resource has been embraced by arts organisations who not only have co-developed and advised on its development but have also been involved in piloting and adapting it for use with a variety of populations.

ARC Life Course Centre projects

The ARC Centre of Excellence for Children and Families over the Life Course (Life Course Centre or LCC) is investigating the critical factors underlying disadvantage to provide life-changing solutions for policy and service delivery. We aim to identify the drivers of disadvantage, characterised by the spread of social and economic poverty within families and across generations, and to develop innovative solutions to reduce disadvantage

The Life Course Centre is a national centre funded by the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence Scheme. Hosted through the University of Queensland, the University of Western Australia is one of the collaborating Universities that comprise the centre. Staff at the The Kids Research Institute Australia and UWA participate in a range of funded projects with the Life Course Centre.