Professor Pat Dudgeon AM, Australia’s first Aboriginal psychologist, has been awarded a prestigious national mental health prize in recognition of her outstanding leadership and lifelong contribution to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health at both national and community levels.

Professor Dudgeon said she was honoured to win the 2025 Australian Mental Health Prize.

“It is wonderful recognition of the work that my colleagues and I have developed over two decades, to shape the understanding of Indigenous mental health and wellbeing,” she said.

As Director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention at The University of Western Australia, Professor Dudgeon has been instrumental in embedding cultural, strengths-based and lived experience perspectives into policy and services.

Data released last week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that Indigenous suicides continue to rise and are now at nearly three times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians.

Evidence demonstrates that suicide prevention programs designed and delivered within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are most effective in promoting social and emotional wellbeing and are essential to reducing suicide rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Professor Dudgeon said while much remained to be done, she was committed to leading this work, supported by Department of Health, Disability and Ageing funding for the Centre, through to 2028.

“We will be expanding our research and collaborations and bringing some important new programs into the Centre, overseen by UWA’s Professor Helen Milroy and me,” Professor Dudgeon said.

“We will soon be renaming the Centre to reflect its Aboriginal identity and growing remit.”

This year marks the 10th anniversary of the Australian Mental Health Prize, an annual award honouring Australians who have made exceptional contributions to either the promotion of mental health, or the prevention and treatment of mental illness.

Established in 2016 by the University of New South Wales, the prize has recognised researchers, advocates, clinicians, peer workers and community leaders, across four categories; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Lived Experience, Professional and Community Hero.

It celebrates the ground-breaking work being carried out across the country, raises public awareness for mental health, and encourages ongoing improvement to services and outcomes for people living with mental illness.