Youth mental health expert awarded Australian of the Year

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Source: ABC


'Worthy recipient': Professor Patrick McGorry
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Leading youth mental health expert Professor Patrick McGorry has been named Australian of the Year for 2010. Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made the announcement this evening at a celebration in front of Parliament House in Canberra.

Professor McGorry, from Victoria, has been working to help mentally ill young people for nearly 30 years. He is executive director of Orygen Youth Health (OYH) and a director of the National Youth Mental Health Foundation, which is also known as Headspace.

Mr Rudd paid tribute to Professor McGorry's work and thanked him for raising awareness of youth mental illness in Australia. "The incredible influence of his work, the number of young Australians and their families whose lives have been improved, and the value of his contribution to the nation cannot ever fully be measured," he said. "With this award, we recognise that we have in Professor McGorry a leader whose drive, compassion, and commitment to understanding and treating youth mental illness has helped shaped not only lives, but our national approach to mental health intervention, prevention and treatment. "He is truly a worthy recipient and I congratulate him on being named Australian of the Year 2010 this evening."

"For the past 50 years, the Australian of the Year Awards program has honoured those among us who inspire us and do us proud as a nation," Mr Rudd said. "This year I am again awed by the achievements and contributions of the award recipients, who demonstrate that greatness comes in many forms and all Australians have the potential for greatness within us."

Read more: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/25/2800963.htm

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Orygen Youth Health, is Australia’s largest youth-focused mental health organization. Its innovative, integrative approach has helped a lot of Australian young people achieve nothing short of remarkable results.

http://rc.oyh.org.au/ResearchAreas/functionalrecovery