Most adults with acquired and developmental neuropsychiatric disorders in Australia are treated by their General Practitioners with limited access to specialist care as there are limited health care facilities for adults with disabilities and developmental disorders in Australia. In the USA and UK, Neuropsychiatry, Behavioural Neurology and Disability Medicine are well established specialities offering specific expertise for this rapidly growing population. The limited care that does exist in Australia is located almost exclusively in Sydney and Melbourne. There is thus a clear need for a service for this population in Australia that offers specialty consultations alongside multidisciplinary care, focusing on the behavioural and psychosocial needs of people with acquired and developmental disorders and disabilities.

The mission of the Institute for Clinical and Academic Neuropsychiatry (ICAN) is to provide a state of the art academic clinical service for people with neuropsychiatric disorders including acquired developmental disorders and disabilities focusing on the behavioural and psychosocial components related to their condition. It provides the highest quality services in Psychiatry and Behavioural Neurology, using a multidisciplinary approach in a clinical and academic milieu. The clinical service addresses the neurological, psychiatric, social, family, community, and vocational needs of individuals with developmental disorders, disabilities associated with concomitant behavioural disturbances, emphasising both the process and outcome of the treatment itself. ICAN further provides education to the patients' families and to other health and educational professionals in the community at large on developmental disorders, disability and psychiatric co‑morbidity and conducts research aimed at optimising the treatment of this population. The programme maximises the use of eHealth technologies in recognition of the cultural and geographical diversity of the Australian population as well as the specific needs of this population for expertise that may not be readily available in the State or indeed in the country. Many people with developmental disorders and disabilities require expertise that is not available locally and can thus only be made possible with eHealth technologies. Telemedicine and TeleHealth will also be used throughout as a tool for people with disabilities to interact within the health and education sectors in society and as a means of empowerment of the individual. The focus of this programme is to integrate the clinical management plan into the overall management plan of an individual with a disability, working within the community wherever possible, in an effort to optimise their mental health and overall functioning in society in order to maximise their quality of life.