Turnbull government’s $33m grant went to company part-owned by mental health commissioner after lobbying
Exclusive: Funding to Innowell in 2017 without competitive tender was for mental health app and followed months of lobbying by Prof Ian Hickie. There is no suggestion of wrongdoing by Hickie
The former government led by Malcolm Turnbull awarded a $33m grant to a company that was developing a mental health app after months of lobbying from one of its own mental health commissioners who was also a shareholder in the months-old startup.
The one-off grant was awarded in 2017 without a competitive tender to Innowell for a series of collaborative research trials into a digital mental health platform. Its shareholders include PwC, the University of Sydney and former mental health commissioner Prof Ian Hickie.
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