Hosted by: Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, The University of Melbourne
Date: 10 April 2026
Chaired by: Jane Davidson with Creativity and Wellbeing Research Initiative Committee (Emma Redding, Sarah Woodland, Gillian Howell, Derrick Brown-Appenzeller, Trisnasari Fraser)
Conference presentation submissions now being accepted (follow the link for more details)
Submit proposals before 11:59pm AEDT Friday 6 February 2026 by following the link below:
https://forms.office.com/r/KHtRAJqz49
Australia’s youth mental health is in crisis. Almost two in five young people in Australia now live with a mental illness – a 50% increase over the last two decades. The effects of the mandatory minimum age requirements for social media usage, to be implemented by the federal government on December 10, 2025, remain to be seen. Youth mental health received ‘high level’ status at the recent UN General Assembly.
The UK’s National Centre for Creative Health and the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Arts, Health and Wellbeing conducted a roundtable on 3rd June 2025, bringing together experts from across research, policy, practice and lived experience to discuss the role arts, culture and creativity can play in supporting the mental health of children and young people. The roundtable informed a wider campaign to raise awareness of the benefits of arts, culture, and creativity for young people's mental health and well-being, calling for opportunities to access these activities throughout mental health care pathways and as preventative and early intervention approaches.
Our conference, Creating Wellbeing: Youth, Arts, and Mental Health, seeks to build upon this important campaign and the invaluable work by researchers and practitioners already underway here in Australia. By bringing together stakeholders from across sectors, we aim to explore innovative strategies to integrate creative practices into mental health support systems for young Australians.
Submissions for single paper, lecture demonstration, practical workshop and symposium/panel, are invited that address the following core questions:
1. How can we effectively measure the impact of creative programs on youth mental health and wellbeing across diverse contexts?
2. How can young people be meaningfully involved in co-creating mental health interventions through creative programs?
3. How can equitable access to creative spaces and resources be ensured for diverse youth, including those with disabilities, neurodivergence, or trauma exposure?
We look forward to pursuing the conversation.
Jane Davidson
Professor of Performing and Creative Arts, Coordinator of Opera Program, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music; Chair of Creativity and Wellbeing Hallmark Initiative, University of Melbourne
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Acknowledgement of Country: We acknowledge and pay respect to the Traditional Owners of the lands upon which our campuses are situated, the Boonwurrung and Wurundjeri peoples of the Kulin Nations.
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