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About Us

InsideOut is Australia’s national institute for research, translation and clinical excellence in eating disorders. With resources, rigour and perseverance we aim to transform the landscape for people with eating disorders in this country, and ultimately find a cure.

The Institute comprises a team of expert researchers, clinicians and public policy-makers committed to ensuring every person with an eating disorder has access to the best possible care.

Transformation

To transform the prevention, early intervention and treatment landscape for people with eating disorders in Australia and to find a cure through innovative research, collaboration and an enduring path of inquiry.

Respect & Integrity

Committed to the highest standards of professionalism, ethics and personal responsibility, worthy of the trust people with lived experience, their families and the community place in us.

Excellence

Scientific rigour informs all our endeavours.

Partnership

Co-production informs everything we do – embracing diverse voices for outcomes with impact.

Our Mission

To transform the prevention, early intervention and treatment landscape for people with eating disorders in Australia and to find a cure through innovative research, collaboration and an enduring path of inquiry.


We work within a co-production framework

InsideOut has a lived experience program, with many members of staff with a lived and living experience. All our professional staff work actively in our lived experience program. For project development and execution, we use a co-production framework. From the outset of development through to the planning stage and implementation, our projects involve lived experience and other users of our programs, researchers, clinicians and community members. We believe in the nothing about me without me philosophy as a way of working. At all times our learning and growth is informed by the experiences of others and our goal to improve our processes and frameworks alongside national and international developments in the co-production evolution.

Our Key Pillars

Research

To conduct, translate and disseminate innovative research evidence into the daily practice of front-line clinicians.

Clinical Innovation

To make available to every person with an eating disorder and their carers, early diagnosis, guidance through the health system, and equitable access to evidence-based treatment packages.

Education

To make the issue of eating disorders an everyday conversation, for everybody. Driven by the principles of knowledge translation, we will train the workforce in the most current evidence-based practice.

Public Policy

To provide coherent and integrated public policy to address the treatment of people with eating disorders in all relevant sectors.

On 30 April 2018, Australia's first national research centre for eating disorders, InsideOut Institute, was launched by Federal Minister for Health Greg Hunt and NSW Minister for Mental Health, Tanya Davies.

Previously the Centre for Eating and Dieting Disorders, the institute was established after steady growth and clinical innovation - including the first NSW Health funding for a single staff member and for a single project, training general practitioners to treat eating disorders, to Ms Peta Marks in 2000 - which saw the organisation become a national leader in the field.

A collaboration between the Sydney Local Health District and the University of Sydney, the InsideOut Institute aims to provide every Australian living with an eating disorder access to the best possible care by rethinking eating disorders from the 'inside out'. The name InsideOut reflects our determination to bring eating disorders out of hiding and into the light of public discourse. Our name also reflects our goal - to transform the treatment landscape and reduce the personal toll of eating disorders by ensuring the best possible care and support is available to all.

We are funded by both the federal and state governments, as well as numerous competitive and philanthropic grants.

You can read our strategic plan here.

Acknowledgement to Country

InsideOut acknowledges the tradition of custodianship and law of the Country on which the University of Sydney and Charles Perkins Centre campus stands. We pay our respects to those who have cared and continue to care for Country, and pay respects to elders past, present and emerging. We are committed to diversifying research and eliminating inequities and discrimination in healthcare. Our work culture is one of openness, inclusivity and respect for all people regardless of age, gender, race, size, sexuality, language, socioeconomic status, location or ability.

Our Commitment to Child Safety

InsideOut is committed to the health, mental health and safety of all children, in all settings, at all times.

Everyone is responsible for creating and maintaining safety for children and young people including the staff, contractors and volunteers who work with us at InsideOut. Our work culture is one of openness, inclusivity and respect for all. We are committed to the principles of child safety and recognise that this includes cultural safety and inclusion of all children and young people, from diverse backgrounds and abilities. We know that children and young people with mental health challenges may be particularly vulnerable to abuse and we aim to create safe environments - where children and young people are safe and feel safe - to reduce opportunity for harm.

We are committed to being people who protect children and young people from abuse, in all its forms. We are guided by and compliant with the child protection policies, procedures and guidelines of the University of Sydney, and of NSW Health, and all the relevant legal statutory bodies.