Transforming Trauma Victoria (TTV) was established in 2022 in response to the Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System.
TTV is a world first service of its kind created to address the impact of trauma across an entire community.
Currently in the design and development phase, TTV expects to offer innovative therapeutic services, workforce training, and research to transform how trauma is recognised and treated within Victoria's mental health system.
Our mission is to ensure that trauma is identified early, and individuals across all ages receive the support they need to heal.
Led by Phoenix Australia, TTV consists of 13 organisations, including experts in trauma care, research, and service delivery. The consortium brings together lived experience, service providers, and researchers, creating a diverse leadership team to deliver the best possible outcome for Victorians.
Please note that in our design phase we are unable to accept referrals.
Our consortium members
TTV is a collaborative effort between organisations that bring together world-class expertise in trauma care, research, training, and mental health service delivery. Led by Phoenix Australia and supported by our consortium members, we are working to make trauma-informed care a consistent practice across Victoria's mental health and wellbeing system.
Our consortium includes:
- Phoenix Australia (Lead Agency)
- Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA)
- Australian Psychological Society (APS)
- Austin Health
- Berry Street
- The Bouverie Centre
- Foundation House
- Mindful
- The Royal Women's Hospital - Centre Against Sexual Assault (CASA House)
- The Royal Melbourne Hospital
- Orygen
- SANE Australia
- Thorne Harbour Health
Clinical, lived experience and research leaders from each organisation meet regularly to oversee the design and development of TTV. Each consortium member brings specific knowledge and expertise, so TTV can build on, and surpass, current best practice in trauma-informed care.
A new approach to trauma care
The Royal Commission recommended the Victorian Government establish a mental health statewide trauma service to deliver the best possible mental health and wellbeing outcomes for people with lived experience of trauma.
In October 2022, a group of organisations led by Phoenix Australia was appointed to design and deliver the mental health statewide trauma service, now known as Transforming Trauma Victoria.
Supported by the Victorian Department of Health, TTV has co-designed a new approach to trauma care that involves research, service delivery, and workforce development. Learn more about our work.
Timeline
February 2019
Royal Commission into Victoria's Mental Health System established
March 2021
Royal Commission's final report published
October 2022
Consortium led by Phoenix Australia appointed to design and deliver the Mental Health Statewide Trauma Service (contract finalised January 2023)
April 2023
Collaborative agreement signed between partners, established dedicated co-design teams and formal TTV advisory group
May 2023
First open EOI for co-design participants and establishment of working groups
June 2023
Co-designed service name (Transforming Trauma Victoria)
July 2023
Appointment of Lived Experience co-director
February 2024
Launch of pilot programs at Mental Health and Wellbeing Locals (Brimbank and Greater Geelong and Queenscliffe)
May 2024
Launch of TTV pilot at Women's Recovery Network with Shepparton site visit
August 2024
Completion of Aboriginal Self-Determination Project
September 2024 - now
Continued design work and refinement of TTV operating model
March 2025
Completion of TTV operating model
Addressing the impact of trauma
Recommendation 23 of the Royal Commission into Victoria's mental health system asked the Victorian Government to fund a statewide trauma service to bring together mental health practitioners, trauma experts, peer workers and consumers with lived experience of trauma. It said the service should deliver a workforce with a high level of expertise and knowledge, a dedicated research focus and provide treatment.
There is a need to address the growing impact of trauma:
- Trauma has a significant impact on individuals, families and communities
Up to 75% of Australians will experience a potentially traumatic event in their life (Milles et al, 2011). It can severely affect the mental health of individuals, families, and communities, with children often falling through service gaps. These gaps lead to lasting consequences for mental wellbeing, life outcomes, and social and economic participation. Trauma can cause a threefold increase in mental illness, suicide rates, and service use. It can also cause lower educational outcomes, increase in domestic violence rates and involvement with the justice system. - Gaps in the current systems
The Royal Commission found consumers who have experienced trauma 'cycle in and out of', 'move between' and get 'bounced between' services, without receiving coordinated, therapeutic care for their trauma. TTV is vital for addressing these gaps, particularly for those with complex needs. - Growing cost of trauma
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a classic outcome of trauma, is our second most common mental illness and costs approximately $17 billion in annual value loss (CPI adjusted) (McCallum et al, 2019). Despite this prevalence and cost, the diagnosis is one of the most frequently missed. One study in an Australian hospital found that while 46% had PTSD, only 5.4% had been identified (McFarlane, 2006). A 2022 Lancet review estimates that half of those accessing mental health services have complex PTSD (Maercker et al, 2022).
The good news is that there are a growing range of effective treatments. They have large effect sizes and help not just symptoms but also in getting people back to everyday life. TTV is committed to ensuring that trauma-informed care becomes a consistent practice across Victoria's mental health system.
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