"A campaigner for better treatment for mentally ill young people is this year's Australian of the Year," writes the News. Patrick McGorry, a psychiatrist who directs Orygen Youth Health (OYH), received the nation's highest award from Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.

McGorry's focus on prevention and early intervention with teens, rather than waiting for symptoms to become embedded, earns him the admiration of his colleagues. The OYH website included the following praise:

Both thrilled and humbled by the recognition he has received after 27 years in public sector mental health, Pat, Executive Director of OYH, was especially pleased that someone from the mental health community would even be considered for such an award.

"Australia is known internationally as a progressive leader in mental health reform, a centre of innovation and a hopeful, positive place where stigma has been diluted to a significant extent. But the struggle for better mental health care for young people and indeed the whole of the community is far from over. Australia has the chance to show others how this final blind spot of civilised society is finally illuminated and eliminated," he said.

The Sydney Morning Herald called him a "visionary [who] changed the way we treat teens." It was also reported that McGorry will now address the Prime Minister aboutasylum seekers trapped in detention centers which called "factories for producing mental illness."