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The Cairnmillar Institute is a not-for-profit organisation and a registered health promotion charity. Your support enables us to play a pivotal role in the emotional health and wellbeing of the individual, the community and the therapeutic profession. Your generosity makes it possible for us to seek new opportunities, expand our partnerships and deliver high-quality and accessible psychological services.  

Small actions, big impact: support the journey towards #BetterMentalHealth.

Support our services and programs 

  • Access to low-cost and free counselling sessions.
  • Free support services in family and child domestic violence. 
  • Low-cost gambling intervention program. 
  • Student scholarships. 
  • Training and support for childcare educators.

Donate now or find out more by exploring our appeals below.

Our Appeals

Help the Children

Our Big Tent Project plays a major role in the mental health and wellbeing of children experiencing trauma, abuse or neglect. It does this by providing professional training and case supervision for early childhood professionals involved in their recovery and emotional care.   

The generosity of donors has made it possible to roll out the program across Australia. Our clinicians are about to run the program for health workers in Papua New Guinea who require training in specialist therapeutic and clinical skills.  

With your support, we can continue to provide prevention and intervention services for children, their parents and caregivers.

Big tent appeal
Click Here to Find out More
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Better Mental Health

People find it difficult to reach out for help when they become anxious, depressed or simply overwhelmed.  

A gift of therapy can assist vulnerable people open doors, see situations differently, create new goals, and find inner resources. A therapy voucher can lead to more satisfying relationships, better coping skills or develop a different lifestyle. 

  • 1 session for $100 
  • 2 sessions for $200 
  • 3 sessions for $300 
  • 4 sessions for $400 
  • 5 sessions for $500 
  • 6 sessions for $600 

Helping Students to Thrive

Your support will make it possible for students in emotional or financial difficulty to reach their potential. With your help, students receive the education and professional training they need to reach their potential and gain employment in psychotherapy and psychology. This will help them to thrive, not just survive.

You can purchase textbooks, pay unit fees, or endow a scholarship in your name or one of your loved ones.  

Select to donate: 

  • Textbooks for $300  
  • Unit of Study for $3,500 
  • Partial Scholarship $15,000 
  • Full Scholarship $30,000 
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Endow an Indigenous Scholarship

The high rates of mental health issues and suicide rates among indigenous people highlights the need to train Aboriginal psychologists to work in rural and remote communities. A scholarship for an indigenous student to study psychology at Cairnmillar could help change that.   

The recipient of the scholarship will receive the professional training and skills to work in their community, promote mental health and wellbeing, break intergenerational cycles, assist people to reach their full potential and live more fulfilling lives. You gift will enable an Aboriginal student to undertake one of the following study programs. 

Translating research into real world applications

Our research makes an important contribution to scientific inquiry and provides a forum for ideas and in the field. Our findings are being translated into clinical practice, evidence-based prevention strategies, an increased understanding of the lived experience of individuals and the community. 

Your support can make a difference to the community in which we live and work. It will mean staff have access to current literature and digital resources, while ensuring psychology and counselling students have the resources and materials required for mental health placements. You can name the focus or provide support to our Research Centres

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The Unrestricted Gift

An unrestricted gift is designed to benefit the Cairnmillar Institute with the opportunity to allocate such funds to urgent or high priority areas. 

Appeals include those listed above, as well as: 

  • Leadership, education and training – invest in the best people 
  • Building Fund 
  • Capital Campaign - view the flyer here. 

A Gift That Changes Lives

Many people, volunteers, friends and benefactors have believed in the potential of the organisation from its very beginning. The generosity of others has been the key to its success.  

A gift in your name will have a significant impact on the experience of children, individuals, families and communities. It is an inspiring way to strengthen your belief in the importance of human resilience and emotional wellbeing.  

If you would like to discuss making a bequest, please contact our Chief Executive Officer Professor Kathryn von Treuer. 

Contact us now
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Acknowledgement of Country

We acknowledge the Wurundjeri and Bunurong Peoples of the Kulin Nation as the Traditional Owners of the lands on which The Cairnmillar Institute is located, and we pay our respect to their Elders, past, present and emerging. We also extend these respects to any First Nations peoples engaging with these materials, and our services

Sometimes in life there’s lots of things goin’ on that can be hard and trying, or easy and happy, but my artwork gives me strength to see out the bad times. This is my Country before colonisation. The lines are like a map representing how our people shaped the Country with their spiritual connections told in songs and stories. The blue water and the red oxide land show my journey line with places I’ve stopped along the way. The small linear patches of dots are all the different mobs and families around Country. The brown patterns and shapes are mountain ridges and waterholes representing time past. The diamond patterns are from patterns on our old shields. Their colours represent connection to culture and the red dirt and many coloured sands that make up our beautiful Country. The group of Elders sitting with their spears are telling stories of Bunjil the eagle, our Creator, and passing down their knowledge of tracking and hunting. The goannas are my Ancestors watching, mesmerised, over their Country and culture.

Ash Thomas Yorta Yorta/Wiradjuri people There's a Lot Goin' On, 2025

Sometimes in life there’s lots of things goin’ on that can be hard and trying, or easy and happy, but my artwork gives me strength to see out the bad times. This is my Country before colonisation. The lines are like a map representing how our people shaped the Country with their spiritual connections told in songs and stories. The blue water and the red oxide land show my journey line with places I’ve stopped along the way. The small linear patches of dots are all the different mobs and families around Country. The brown patterns and shapes are mountain ridges and waterholes representing time past. The diamond patterns are from patterns on our old shields. Their colours represent connection to culture and the red dirt and many coloured sands that make up our beautiful Country. The group of Elders sitting with their spears are telling stories of Bunjil the eagle, our Creator, and passing down their knowledge of tracking and hunting. The goannas are my Ancestors watching, mesmerised, over their Country and culture.

Torch logo 1 CMYK

This artwork was created through The Torch, a not-for-profit organisation that provides art, cultural and arts industry support to First Nations people currently in, or recently released, from Victorian prisons.