Mental Ill-Health Stigma Researchers Australia
We would like to warmly welcome you to Mental Ill-Health Stigma Researchers Australia (MISRA). MISRA is a network that aims to bring together colleagues from across Australia who are involved in research into stigma and discrimination about mental ill-health.
The idea for MISRA grew out of our participation in working groups supporting the development of the National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy. We noticed that many researchers from across the country share a deep commitment to understanding and reducing stigma about mental ill-health. Yet, no academic society existed to bring such like-minded scholars together in Australia. To this end, MISRA was born. We hope to create a vibrant community for colleagues to meet and share their ideas and research, to promote opportunities for collaboration, and to enhance our collective impact in addressing stigma and discrimination about mental ill-health in Australia.
We are inviting all researchers who are working in Australia on the topic of stigma and discrimination about mental ill-health to join MISRA. Those who identify both as researchers and as persons with a lived or living experience of mental ill-health should feel particularly welcomed. Our hope is that MISRA will provide a safe community where all members are equally valued and researchers with or without lived or living experience of mental ill-health can feel comfortable to bring their whole selves.
We are particularly aware of the diverse range of perspectives on language describing what we have called mental ill-health. We have used the term mental ill-health to align with the language used in the National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy. However, we acknowledge that some MISRA members may have different preferences. We therefore invite members to feel welcome to speak in terms that feel most appropriate to them when participating in MISRA.
We thank you all for your interest in the concept of an Australian researcher network and for your support in forming the inaugural MISRA membership. We hope MISRA will make our efforts towards better understanding and responding mental ill-health stigma in Australia feel shared and supported.
Sincerely,
Dr Chris Groot and A/Prof Amy Morgan.
MISRA Co-Founders.
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MISRA NEWS
Are you up to date with the latest MISRA happenings? Be sure to visit our news page to read about all the latest developments, like a recap on our October 10 World Mental Health Day Language and Stigma #PsychTalks Event, just broadcast on ABC Radio Big Ideas.
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MISRA Symposiums
Have you watched the presentations from our annual MISRA Symposiums? Click the links below to peruse the meetings.
MISRA Symposium 2023
MISRA Symposium 2024
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Connect with MISRA!
You can keep up to date with all of the latest on MISRA or contact us through the following channels.
Join the MISRA network and subscribe to email updates here.
Get in touch with us by email: misra-network@unimelb.edu.au
Join and participate in the LinkedIn MISRA Group
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Meet the MISRA Convening Team
The MISRA team work in the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health and the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at The University of Melbourne, and at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use at the University of Sydney.
Dr Anna Ross 
Anna is a Research Fellow in the Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, the University of Melbourne. Her research aims to reduce stigma towards people with complex mental illness through improved media reporting. For her PhD, Anna led a collaboration with Mindframe and other key stakeholders to develop guidelines for reporting on mental illness in the context of violence and crime . She is currently leading an evaluation of SANE’s programs to reduce stigma in the media, including the StigmaWatch program. Anna is also coordinating a trial of Mental Health First Aid’s Conversations about Suicide course in Men’s Sheds across Australia.
A/Prof Amy Morgan 
Amy is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre for Mental Health, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, the University of Melbourne. She leads a program of work in population mental health, focusing on developing and evaluating interventions to improve mental health literacy, reduce stigma, and prevent anxiety, depression and suicide. She has undertaken consultancy work for the Commonwealth Department of Health and National Mental Health Commission to inform Australian policy on stigma reduction. She is also a member of the National Mental Health Commission’s Public Stigma Technical Advisory Group for the National Stigma and Discrimination Reduction Strategy.
Ms Beth Hobern 
Beth Hobern is a PhD Candidate in the Mental Ill-Health Stigma and Telehealth Lab in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Her PhD is supported by SANE Australia's Anne Deveson Research Centre and the Paul Ramsay Foundation as part of the National Stigma Report Card. Beth's research focusses on stigma about schizophrenia spectrum and alcohol and other drug disorders, which she is investigating both from the perspective of general public and those with lived experiences. Beth was previously the lead research assistant on the National Stigma Report Card, which was a collaboration between SANE Australia and the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences. She also completed her Honours degree in psychology with a thesis examining the public’s stigmatised personal responses to positive symptoms of psychosis.
Dr Chris Groot 
Dr Chris Groot leads the Mental Illness Stigma Lab in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne, which drives research, teaching, and public engagement programs that focus on stigma about severe and complex experiences of mental illness. He was the academic lead on the first National Stigma Report Card and has supported the expansion of this work internationally. Dr Groot has supported several Australian and international governments and the World Bank Group in strategic efforts to address mental illness stigma. He is a co-chair of the Global Anti-Stigma Alliance (GASA) and the co-founder of the Mental Ill-Health Stigma Researchers Australia network (MISRA).
Steph Kershaw 
Steph is a Research Fellow at The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use. Steph leads an innovative program of research and translation to reduce the impact of substance use, improve health outcomes and address the stigma and discrimination associated with substance use.