beyondblue was established in October 2000 as a national five-year initiative to create a community response to depression, moving the focus of depression away from a mental health service issue to one which is acknowledged and addressed by the wider community.

"Inquiries overseas and in Australia led me to believe that there was not a unified national approach to tackling depressive disorders. That is not to say that good work was not being done but, rather, too few knew it was being undertaken...There was no national recognition of that work, and it was not as co-ordinated as it could be." The Hon. Jeff Kennett, Chairman, beyondblue (The Australian newspaper: 27 March, 2000)

"beyondblue: the national depression initiative has been established initially by the Commonwealth Government of Australia and the State of Victoria to make a contribution that has national and international significance in the field of depression. We hope that the remaining states and territory governments will move shortly to join the initiative.

There are many good things already being done in Australia for the prevention, treatment and care of those with depression. This effort will continue. Our responsibilities are to create a national focus for such work and, by doing so, add considerable value to that work. We will do this by promoting what others currently cannot do due to barriers such as lack of knowledge development, lack of resources, lack of evaluation or lack of linkages with the right support." Professor Ian Hickie, Clinical Advisor and former CEO beyondblue (beyondblue website, March 2001)

beyondblue was established in the Australian context of the World Health Organisation's projections of an increasing global burden caused by depression. Depression is currently the highest medical cause of disability worldwide and predicted to be the second highest medical cause of death and disability worldwide by 2020. Few countries have attempted a national response and other national programs that have attempted to engage the wider community to change attitudes on mental health have had limited success.

"At the end of its third year of operation there can be no doubt that beyondblue has had a dramatic impact on the Australian community. The breadth of our programs, our innovative community and professional partnerships and the reform of key social processes (such as access to insurance products) have attracted both national and international attention." Professor Ian Hickie, Clinical Advisor and former CEO beyondblue (beyondblue Annual Report 2002-2003)

"In 2000, when beyondblue started out, few people were willing to speak in public about depression and their experiences, media coverage was often negative, barriers in insurance and employment were considerable and there was no national voice or advocacy service for those whose lives were affected. Australian general practitioners were not rewarded directly for providing better services and no systems for improving access to non-drug treatments were available. While we still have many challenges in front of us, in 2003 we can report that major advances in all these areas have now been achieved." The Hon. Jeff Kennett, Chairman beyondblue (beyondblue Annual Report 2002-2003)

beyondblue was set up as a bold and innovative initiative to facilitate attitudinal change on depression, anxiety and related disorders. Changed attitudes about depression and anxiety are expected to have beneficial flow-on effects across a range of mental disorders.

"beyondblue has strong and valuable partnerships with mental health and other health-related organisations as well as a wide range of companies and community organisations. We are developing new partnerships to expand the focus of depression in the areas of co-morbidity, aged care, health policy reform, Indigenous social and emotional well-being and in the veteran and multi-cultural sectors. We are building on our early success to create a dynamic organisation, raising awareness of depression throughout Australia." Ms Leonie Young, CEO beyondblue, January 2004

Read about beyondblue's funding structure, our team and Annual Report.