In response to the Final Report of the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide, the Australian Government has committed $10 million through the NHMRC to support high‑quality research into the health and wellbeing of serving and ex‑serving Australian Defence Force (ADF) members.
The Targeted Call for Research (TCR): Serving and Ex-Serving ADF Members Mental health and Wellbeing grant opportunity aims to generate high-quality evidence and develop practical, implementable actions to improve mental and physical health and promote wellbeing among serving and ex-serving ADF members, with consideration given to the impact on their support networks, including family, dependants and carers.
The objectives of this TCR are to facilitate research that:
- Focuses on translation and implementation, with actions and methods that can be adopted by mainstream community health services.
- Targets prevention and early intervention strategies that improve long-term health outcomes and builds the evidence base for scalable and implementable programs and/or strategies that aim to improve holistic and functional outcomes throughout the patient journey.
- Promotes collaborative and multidisciplinary research approaches that recognise the complex and intersecting physical and mental health needs of serving and ex-serving ADF members, and ways to improve these through prevention and early intervention.
The expected outcomes of this TCR are to:
- Support the development and implementation of programs, policies and activities that prevent suicidality, suicidal distress and acute mental health crises among serving and ex-serving ADF members, while optimising treatment, and improving equitable access to care services.
- Address the intersection of complex mental and physical health conditions and the needs of serving and ex-serving ADF members through collaborative and multidisciplinary approaches to care.
Further information about the TCR, its objectives, outcomes, available funds and timeframes is available on GrantConnect.
Application process
For this grant opportunity, an application may be submitted to only one of the three Streams below. A total $10 million of funding will be allocated across the three streams:
- Stream 1
One flagship project up to $3 million (maximum of 5 years) that must demonstrate significant sector-building components such as multidisciplinary collaborations and development of sustainable systems that will likely attract further funding and support from other sectors/funding bodies over the longer term. The intention of this stream is also to build capacity by supporting EMCRs (early and mid-career researchers). EMCRs are defined as follows:- an early-career researcher is defined as an individual who is within five years of their PhD award date, excluding career disruptions.
- a mid-career researcher is defined as an individual who is between five and ten years of their PhD award date, excluding career disruptions.
- Stream 2 – available funding pool $4 million
While there is no minimum grant amount, the maximum grant amount for a single grant in this stream is capped at $1 million over a maximum of 3 years. This is designed to encourage expedited translation and implementation of innovative, emerging, evidence-based approaches. There is an expectation that these smaller projects will lead to further research funding and sector development. - Stream 3 – available funding pool $3 million
While there is no minimum grant amount, the maximum grant amount for a single grant in this stream is capped at $500,000 over a maximum of 3 years. This stream is aimed at supporting a larger number of smaller projects designed to deliver outcomes that does not require as large an investment. The overall aim is also aligned with Stream 2 above.
For further information on the Streams, please refer to Section 3 of the TCR: Serving and Ex-Serving Australian Defence Force Members Mental Health and Wellbeing 2026 Guidelines.
