BRAIN CAPITAL AUSTRALIA

Brain Capital Australia

Directing philanthropic investment toward the brain-health prevention programs that work.

The capacity of Australians to think clearly, regulate their emotions, adapt to change, and sustain a working life is the primary driver of this country’s productivity and prosperity. We have almost no coordinated strategy for protecting or growing it — and no independent body helping philanthropic capital find the interventions that do.

The capacity of Australians to think clearly, regulate their emotions, adapt to change, and sustain a working life is the primary driver of this country’s productivity and prosperity. We have almost no coordinated strategy for protecting or growing it — and no independent body helping philanthropic capital find the interventions that do.

Brain Capital Australia is that body.

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WHAT WE DO

Research, evaluate, coordinate.

Research, evaluate, coordinate.

We research, evaluate and coordinate philanthropic investment toward the most effective brain-health prevention programs in Australia — across three connected life stages.

We research, evaluate and coordinate philanthropic investment toward the most effective brain-health prevention programs in Australia — across three connected life stages.

01

Early Childhood

Prevention of mental health conditions and cognitive/emotional development support prior to age 18.

02

Workplace Wellbeing

Cognitive performance and the metabolic-brain health links shaping Australia’s working-age population.

03 / Starting point

Healthy Ageing & Dementia

Dementia prevention and the economics of cognitive decline in later life.

Learn about our approach →

WHY THIS MATTERS, IN NUMBERS

The cost is already visible.

The cost is already visible.

$220B

Mental ill-health and suicide cost Australia up to $220 billion a year — and the Productivity Commission modelled that a $4.2 billion reform investment would return roughly $21 billion.

425,000

Australians were living with dementia in 2024, projected to more than double to over 970,000 by 2058.

1 in 4

Nearly a quarter of Australian children start school developmentally vulnerable in at least one domain.

Figures drawn from AIHW, the Productivity Commission, and NATSEM modelling. Sources cited in full in our Approach.

See the full evidence base →

A GLOBAL FIELD, AN AUSTRALIAN GAP

A global framework. A local missing piece.

A global framework. A local missing piece.

Brain Capital is not a new idea. It’s a framework developed through the OECD’s Neuroscience-Inspired Policy Initiative, advanced by the Brain Capital Alliance, and — in January 2026 — backed by a World Economic Forum and McKinsey Health Institute estimate of $6.2 trillion in potential global GDP gains by 2050.

Brain Capital is not a new idea. It’s a framework developed through the OECD’s Neuroscience-Inspired Policy Initiative, advanced by the Brain Capital Alliance, and — in January 2026 — backed by a World Economic Forum and McKinsey Health Institute estimate of $6.2 trillion in potential global GDP gains by 2050.

What hasn’t existed until now is an independent Australian body translating that global evidence into coordinated local action.

Read the founding thesis →

Let’s build something that matters.

Let’s build something that matters.

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Emily Chapple · Melbourne

Emily Chapple · Melbourne

Brain Capital · Human Capital · Economic Resilience

Brain Capital · Human Capital · Economic Resilience