In 2025, the Hamilton Centre and Monash University Art, Design and Architecture (MADA) formed a partnership with Spectrum (Victoria’s Specialist Centre for Personality Disorder and Complex Trauma) and Phoenix Australia (Australia’s National Centre of Excellence in Posttraumatic Mental Health) to identify the workforce capabilities and service supports needed to improve care for people with co-occurring trauma or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorder (SUD).

We worked with 28 participants across different sectors, including people with lived experience of trauma/PTSD and substance use to develop this work.

This was aimed at developing practical, evidence-informed guidance to strengthen integrated and trauma-informed care delivery across tertiary, community health, and emergency care settings for people with co-occurring trauma/PTSD and SUD.