24 June 2025: The University of Canberra has been awarded $1.87 million to develop a national training program for disability support workers in the use of psychotropic medications for people with intellectual and developmental disability in Australia.
The University will lead a consortium of six partner organisations in the development and delivery of the new program – including Flinders University, the National Centre of Excellence in Intellectual Disability Health at UNSW Sydney, Monash Health, Central and North West London National Health Services Trust (CNWL NHS UK) and major disability service providers Minda and Aruma.
The Consortium also includes a Community Researcher with intellectual disability as co-lead, Mr Tim Cahalan, ensuring inclusive research and co-design practice.
Psychotropic medicines (a class of medication that alters behaviour, mood, thoughts and perception) and their use in the treatment of people with intellectual and developmental disability has long been flagged as an area for improvement, with notable recommendations from the 2023 Disability Royal Commission calling for the development of a national training program addressing their use.
University of Canberra researcher and educator, Macey Barratt, will lead the development of the new training program. Ms Barratt said that while around one in three people with intellectual disability are prescribed psychotropic medication, many disability support workers feel inadequately prepared to administer them.
“Previous research highlighted a clear interest amongst frontline staff in improving their practise and understanding of the use of psychotropic medications, but existing education programs were inaccessible, or produced outside of Australia, in health systems where language, processes and resources can differ,” Ms Barratt said.
“This has led to a lack of informed understanding of the effects of psychotropic medications, awareness of alternative non-pharmacological behavioural and psychosocial interventions, and confidence in advocating for appropriate treatment for individuals with intellectual and developmental disability.”
Discipline Lead in Pharmacy at the University and co-lead on the new project, Dr Mary Bushell, highlighted the importance of health care professionals in the safe use of pharmacological interventions.
“It is important for all health professionals, including disability support workers, to understand how the medicines they administer work, to improve medicines safety," Dr Bushell said.
Ms Barratt highlighted the multidisciplinary approach of the Consortium, which will ensure that the new training program is specialised, robust and, importantly, places people with disability at the centre of decisions that impact them.
“We are really pleased to be undertaking this journey through a co-design process that brings together the disability community: people with lived experience of disability, industry partners, leaders in disability research, and a multidisciplinary team of health professionals spanning speech pathology, psychology, psychiatry, nursing, pharmacy, mental health research and educational design,” Ms Barratt says.
“Quality treatment transforms quality of life, the scale of support for this project represents a powerful shared priority on an important issue.”
Vice-Chancellor and President at the University, the Honourable Bill Shorten said that people with disability deserve to live fulfilling lives, supported by care that empowers them.
“The National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) represents a remarkable national investment, so it’s essential that decisions are guided by robust evidence and data," Mr Shorten said.
“The success of the University in this highly competitive grant process reflects the strength and potential of this training program and marks the beginning of a new chapter in disability research and education at the University of Caberra.”
The new program will be supported by funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care under the Quality Use of Diagnostics, Therapeutics and Pathology program. The program will be developed to align with the Psychotropic Medicines in Cognitive Disability or Impairment Clinical Care Standard and addresses major recommendations from the 2023 Disability Royal Commission.
