Comorbidity Professional Development Scholarships
The Alcohol and Other Drugs and Mental Health Comorbidity Professional Development Scholarships Program is being coordinated by NCETA on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing. Eligible applicants can apply for scholarships to increase their capacity in the detection and treatment of co-occurring mental health and drug and alcohol-related problems.
For further information, please click on the links below.
- Background information
- Who can apply?
- Indigenous workers and organisations
- Important dates
- Application information and guidelines document
- Online application process
- Education and training report and database
- FAQs
- Further information
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Background information |
The Australian Government has allocated approximately $3.6 million per annum to 2011-12 for the National Comorbidity Initiative (NCI). The Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) and Mental Health (MH) Comorbidity Professional Development Scholarships Program has been developed as part of this initiative. The program has been allocated $1.9 million and is coordinated by NCETA on behalf of the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing.
There is a pressing need for specialist training and resources to assist workers in non-government agencies that provide AOD and MH services to identify, manage and/or refer people with co-occurring mental health problems and drug and alcohol-related issues. The Comorbidity Professional Development Scholarships Program aims to help meet this need through its three objectives:
- To build expertise in the detection and treatment of mental health problems for workers who currently provide AOD-related client services;
- To build expertise in the detection and treatment of AOD-related issues for workers who currently provide MH-related client services; and
- To facilitate the capacity of non-government organisations who provide AOD and/or MH-related client services to release staff for professional development.
Who can apply? |
Scholarships are available for existing, not-for-profit, incorporated, non-government owned organisations and/or their staff whose role substantially involves providing services to clients with AOD, MH and/or AOD/MH comorbidity related issues. The professional development activity for which funding is sought must be directly relevant to:
- alcohol and other drugs (where the applicant provides mainly MH-related services); or
- mental health (where the applicant provides mainly AOD-related services); or
- AOD / MH comorbidities.
Indigenous workers and organisations |
Eligible Indigenous workers and organisations are encouraged to apply. Advice and assistance with the preparation of scholarship applications can be sought from the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health (OATSIH) in the relevant state/territory.
Contact details for OATSIH State and Territory offices can be found on the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing website via:
http://www.health.gov.au/internet/main/publishing.nsf/content/health-oatsih-about
Important dates |
The third scholarship round is scheduled for 2008 as follows:
|
Round Opens |
Application Closing Date |
Announcement of Awards |
Round 3 (Closed) |
28 July 2008 |
25 August 2008 |
27 October 2008 |
Two previous scholarship rounds have been held:
|
Round Opens |
Application Closing Date |
Announcement of Awards |
Round 1 |
15 October 2007 |
12 November 2007 |
14 January 2008 |
| (Closed) | |||
Round 2 |
4 February 2008 |
3 March 2008 |
5 May 2008 |
| (Closed) | |||
Application information and guidelines document |
The Application Information and Guidelines document contains important information regarding the scholarships application, assessment and award processes including instructions on how to make an application, eligibility and selection criteria, and conditions of award. This document must be read prior to submitting an online application.
Please click here to view the Application Information and Guidelines document (PDF 151KB) .
Since the last round, general changes to the Application Information and Guidelines document have been made.
The overall nature of the guidelines has not changed, however please ensure that you read the updated version prior to making an application.
Online application process |
The application should be completed and submitted directly online here.
For Round Three, the online application system will open and be available from Monday 28 July 2008.
An example of the online application system screens can be viewed below. There are three variations to the screens dependent on the Professional Development Activity and Application Category:
- Accredited Course Activity + Individual Application Category here (595 KB)
- Other Professional Development Activity + Organisation Application Category here (482 KB)
- Other Professional Development Activity + Individual Application Category here (564KB)
Please note that hard copy applications will not be accepted without prior approval from NCETA.
Education and training report & database |
The National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA) was commissioned by the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing to undertake a review of training courses designed to enhance workers’ comorbidity (CM) skills in relation to alcohol and other drugs (AOD) and mental health (MH). Data were collected for the period July 2007 to 30 June 2008.
The Alcohol & Other Drugs, Mental Health & Comorbidity: Australian Training Courses Database 2008 CD contains the interactive Microsoft Office Access Database containing details of 1192 courses available in Australia in 2008, including:
- Accredited courses in AOD, MH and CM
- Non-accredited courses in AOD, MH and CM
- Psychology courses.
A range of pdf reports have been included for people who do not have the Access computer program.
- Accredited Courses by State
- Non-Accredited Courses by State
- Psychology Courses by State
- Indigenous Courses by State
Electronic copies of NCETA’s related comorbidity documents are included for your convenience, including:
Roche, A. M., Duraisingam V., Wang P., & Tovell A. (2008). Alcohol & Other Drugs, Mental Health & Comorbidity: A Training Review. National Centre for Education and Training on Addiction (NCETA), Flinders University, Adelaide.
FAQs |
A document containing Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) (PDF 36 KB) can be found here.
Further information |
For further information, including advice on submitting your application, please contact (08) 8201 7535 or ncetascholarships@flinders.edu.au.
If you would like to be included in the Comorbidity Professional Development Scholarships email updates, please email ncetascholarships@flinders.edu.au with the subject heading "Email List". Please include your name, organisation and email address.
