Upcoming Events

CAWRI Conference 2026
Creating Wellbeing: Youth, Arts, and Mental Health

Hosted by: Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, The University of Melbourne
Date: 10 April 2026
In-person only: The Ian Potter Southbank Centre, 43 Sturt St, Southbank VIC 3006
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

Michael Anderson is Professor of Creativity and Arts Education at the University of Sydney and Co-Director of the CREATE Centre at the University of Sydney. An internationally recognised leader in school transformation, his work focuses on how creativity can drive educational change. His most recent book is How Schools Transform.

Senior Research Fellow at Orygen, Centre for Youth Mental Health, Louise La Sala investigates the complex relationship between social media and youth mental health. She brings specialised expertise in strategies to promote online safety and prevent self-harm and suicide among young people.

Craig Rogers is an experienced cultural leader with more than 20 years across Australia’s arts sector, spanning festivals, public art, music, youth arts, venue management, and cultural policy. His work also intersects with community health, gender violence prevention, community development, and emergency recovery. He is currently Head of Programs at The Push.

‍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 3^rd 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                                                                
Deputy Director Victorian College of the Arts, Chair of Creativity and Wellbeing Research Initiative, and Head of Opera, Faculty of Fine Arts and Music, University of Melbourne

‍

Previous Events