Who are we?

We are a group of friends whose lives have been significantly affected by an affliction affecting one in five Australians - mental illness.

On New Year's Day, 2001, a wonderful, creative, hilarious, intelligent soul named Matt Wardlaw - Mouse to his friends - decided he could no longer bear the pain of mental illness. Tragically, he took the only road he knew to escape. Matt was our son, brother, mate, fiancé, cousin, colleague, and is missed by all that knew him.

Matt's story is not uncommon. Suicide is one of the greatest killers of our young men with rates for males aged 15 to 24 having more than tripled over the past 40 years. Up to 90% of young people who commit suicide have been experiencing depression or mental health problems.

Following Matt's death, One In Five was established. One in Five is a not-for-profit organisation that relies on financial sponsorship from organisations and individuals. It is staffed by volunteers dedicated to :

•  generating greater awareness of mental illness in our society, and
•  raising funds for research on the prevention and treatment of mental illness

Committee Members

Andy, Liz, Dave, Mick, Em, Tim & Cath Wardlaw, Lou & Al James, John Jorgensen, Bernard Curry, Liz & Suzy Harris, Kirrily Frigo, Nina Raymond, Lucy Cleeve, Marcus Ingleby, Ryan Wavish, Linda Karafili, Ross Johnstone

Our Mission

One In Five aims to create greater awareness of mental illness in our society and raise funds for the Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria's research project on causes and treatments.