About the McCaughey Centre

Welcome to the McCaughey Centre: VicHealth Centre for the Promotion of Mental Health and Community Wellbeing. The McCaughey Centre was established in the School of Population Health, University of Melbourne, in June 2006 with core funding provided by VicHealth and the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences.

The purpose of the McCaughey Centre is to create and share knowledge which strengthens the foundations of healthy, just and resilient communities leading to improved mental health and community wellbeing.

The McCaughey Centre is supported by and works closely with the Victorian Health Promotion Foundation (VicHealth) which defines mental health as ‘the embodiment of social, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. Mental health provides individuals with the vitality necessary for active living, to achieve goals and to interact with one another in ways that are respectful and just’.

The McCaughey Centre's policy research priorities, outlined below, are informed by and reflect the analysis and objectives of the VicHealth Strategic Plan for the promotion of Mental Health and Wellbeing.

• Freedom from violence
• Freedom from discrimination
• Social inclusion and connectedness
• Economic participation and security
• Healthy and sustainable environments

Alongside the overall issue of the nature and sources of community wellbeing, these five priority areas form the initial focus of the Centre’s work program. 

Over time the Centre will also focus on understanding and improving determinants of mental health and community wellbeing effecting key population groups including men and women; children and young people; older people; indigenous communities; and culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.

The Centre also hosts Community Indicators Victoria, which supports the development and use of community wellbeing indicators in Victoria, Australia and internationally.

Key activities to be undertaken by the McCaughey Centre include:

• Collecting and publishing evidence about community wellbeing trends
• Identifying and assessing new policy ideas and initiatives
• Designing and implementing policy impact research projects
• Building the knowledge, skills and capacity of community organisations and policy makers
• Building collaborative research and policy development partnerships

Contact us at info-mccaughey@unimelb.edu.au