Hamilton Centre - v1.5

Hamilton Centre

Hamilton Centre
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From the Clinical Director – July 2025

Insights from Hamilton Centre Clinical Director A/Prof Shalini Arunogiri.

29 July 2025
Driving ChangeIntegrated CareMental HealthAlcohol and Other DrugsAddressing StigmaHelp and Support

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I’m excited to share some of the amazing things our teams and collaborators have been up to lately to open minds and doors for people with co-occurring needs.

  • So first, a pretty incredible milestone: our Hamilton Centre has now hit 3,000 referrals since inception. This includes requests for primary and secondary consultations, telephone-based support and mentoring, and information enquiries from clinicians and workers seeking integrated support for their clients. That’s thousands of people and their families who are getting the care they deserve – which is honestly what this is all about.
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    I would like to give a massive shout-out to our clinical network teams across Victoria who’ve been working tirelessly to make this happen. I recently had the chance to visit one of our clinical sites at Goulburn Valley Health and saw the incredible impact our teams are making, particularly in regional areas, supporting a small but mighty workforce to deliver high-quality care.

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  • Our Education and Training team, together with our clinical partners, have been getting out and about delivering training workshops for mental health and AOD workers across the state. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive. This month’s session in Mildura, for example, sparked some fantastic conversations and a rich discussion on pharmacotherapy in integrated care.

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  • In our research and workforce portfolios, we’re excited about a round of demonstration projects currently underway with Barwon Health, Whittlesea, and Greater Dandenong Mental Health and Wellbeing (MHWB) locals. These pilot projects aim to build the capability of Victoria’s mental health system by identifying service gaps and co-designing integrated care solutions. Our teams have explored specific barriers and enablers within a Prevention and Recovery Care (PARC) setting, as well as in MHWB locals. We’ve been working closely with each site to explore opportunities and implement practical changes to policies, procedures, and care delivery. It’s been great to see how engaged and proactive the local teams have been. If you’d like to learn more about how these types of projects can support your service, reach out to our team.

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  • On the research front, here’s something that service providers might have been looking for: a way to measure and track your progress in delivering integrated care in your service.

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    We’ve had the pleasure of working in partnership with our colleagues at VAADA on the Victorian Integrated Care Tool project. This work involved reviewing and adapting the COMPASS-EZ™ audit tool to better suit the Victorian context, with a focus on its future use in Adult Mental Health Services, Mental Health Locals, and AOD services. COMPASS-EZ™ is a self-assessment tool that helps behavioural health and integrated care programs evaluate how well they’re supporting people with co-occurring conditions. The adaptation process involved input and feedback from several service providers working with VAADA and our team, and we really appreciate everyone’s contributions to a resource that is now designed for Victoria’s needs.

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    The project is now close to completion, and we are working with VAADA and the Victorian Department of Health to launch the Victorian Integrated Care Compass tool. I’m looking forward to sharing more outcomes with you very soon.

As always, please feel free to reach out if you’d like to discuss how we can support your work.