Case study - Generation Victoria (GenV)

One platform. Many data sources. Endless possibilities.

GenV (Generation Victoria) is transforming how we understand, prevent and respond to the biggest health and wellbeing challenges facing children, families and communities across Australia.

One of the largest and most diverse studies of its kind globally, GenV is following children living in Victoria, and their parents, to better understand how families grow, develop and stay healthy over time.  Almost 50,000 children and 75,000 parents are already involved. Together, they are creating a whole-population platform designed not just to observe health, but to improve it.

Built once and designed for many uses, GenV provides a shared research platform that helps researchers work together and reduces the need for multiple studies to recruit their own cohorts of families. This approach makes research more efficient, more inclusive and more useful for decision-makers.

GenV works alongside services families already use, like hospitals, GPs, schools and community programs. With families’ consent, GenV can connect information from these services. This helps build a fuller picture of families’ health, development and everyday lives.

GenV is open to all children born between October 2021 and October 2023, and their parents living in Victoria. Families from metropolitan, regional and rural communities are taking part, helping ensure the research represents real lives and experiences, in every community. Because GenV operates at this scale, it creates new opportunities to support prevention, reduce health inequities and inform fairer, more effective policy.

This work includes improving understanding of common conditions such as asthma, allergies, obesity and mental health challenges, and identifying the conditions that support healthy development over time.

Regional mum Tricia and both her daughters, Charli and Summer, are participating in GenV. “It made sense for our whole family to be involved,” she said. “It’s a minimal amount of effort, with a lot of potential to help other families over time.”

Professor Melissa Wake, GenV’s Scientific Director and paediatrician, said GenV was created to support better outcomes for children, families and communities. “By working alongside families across Victoria, GenV can help build the evidence needed to prevent problems earlier and support healthier futures,” she said.

GenV is a joint initiative between the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, the Royal Children’s Hospital and the University of Melbourne, and is proudly supported by the Victorian Government, the Paul Ramsay Foundation and the Royal Children’s Hospital Foundation.

For more information, visit the GenV website.