Michael Power has been a social worker for over 25 years working in the areas of child protection, family law, mental health, and with victims of crime. He has worked in frontline leadership roles, as well as in Director roles in policy, legislation, evaluation and review.

Greg Pratt is a Quandamooka man of the Noonucal tribe of Stradbroke Island (Minjerribah), and Principal Research Fellow for the Jingay Research Cluster of Central Queensland University. He works part-time for Queensland Aboriginal and Islander Health Council (the peak body for Aboriginal and Community Controlled Health Organisations of Queensland) as their Principal Research Advisor.

Hello, my name is Tatiana. I was born and raised in Ukraine and hold a specialist degree in marketing. When the war began in Ukraine in 2022, I took my child and fled to Australia, where my sister, who was already living here, helped us. In Ukraine, I owned a business — a store selling jewelry made from natural stones. I also worked with Procter & Gamble, and my life in Ukraine was wonderful. I have a gifted child who plays the piano and was able to enroll in the High School Conservatory in Sydney. We loved participating in various competitions in Ukraine, and we were very active. I am a very active person who loves sports, enjoys being around people, and adores my work. It’s a great blessing for me to help people, especially Ukrainians, through my work. When we arrived in Australia, my level of English was almost non-existent, but I’ve been growing and learning ever since. I am immensely grateful to everyone and to God for all the blessings in our lives. I am very happy to be speaking at this conference. Thank you all.

Smrithi is a former co-chair and current member of the PREMISE and Matilda Centre Youth Advisory Board. Smrithi has recently completed a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) and a minor in Mathematics at the University of Sydney. She has also recently taken on a Research Officer Research Officer Position at the Black Dog Institute.

Verity is a PhD student at the University of South Australia investigating the integration of lived experience workforces into transdisciplinary mental health teams. Verity is passionate about creating safe working spaces and supporting organisations to improve culture and service quality. Verity has worked in a range of mental health service settings including psychosocial disability, Indigenous communities and higher education.

Imogen is a clinical psychologist and researcher with broad interests in the areas of psychosocial recovery, digital mental health interventions, anxiety, and obsessive-compulsive and related disorders.

Samantha leads development, implementation and evaluation of strategic policies, including the Resolve community mental health care Social Benefit Bond.

Steph Ritchie is the Senior Advisor, AOD Lived Experience (Family/Supporter) at the Victorian Department of Health. Steph's work is driven by a passion for supporting families across mental health and AOD sectors. Her role as an advocate, expert and ally is critical in embedding AOD lived and living experience in the public service, and ensuring this expertise informs, shapes and delivers mental health and AOD services and supports. Steph has lived experience of supporting loved ones experiencing psychological distress, including with co-occurring substance use and neurodiversity. As a leader in lived experience, Steph has supported the development of the Family AOD Lived Experience Workforce Discipline Framework, and Victoria’s first Lived and Living Experience Leadership Strategy. With lived experience of caring for others with substance use, psychological distress and neurodiversity and navigating the systems in place to deliver treatment care and support, Steph's vision is a health system that is accessible, where care is available in the right place at the right time. A system that offers holistic care, that puts families, relationships, connection, and communities first, to deliver better outcomes for all who are impacted by AOD use and related harms.

I began as counsellor and trainer specialising in Suicide Intervention and Domestic Violence. After COVID I had a shift in direction and began supporting mental health teams providing support to older persons living in Aged Care and community. C2bMe is a model that changes lives.

Danny has strategic input into WA Primary Health Alliance’s approach to mental health and research, ensuring the organisation focuses its efforts where it will have the most impact on people at risk of poor health outcomes. He is a clinical epidemiologist, an Adjunct Professor in the Discipline of Psychiatry, Medical School, University of Western Australia and at Faculty of Health, University of Canberra, and a Fellow of both the Royal Society for Public Health (FRSPH) and the Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (FRSA). Prior to his current appointment, he held several senior health service executive and clinical research positions, including as Deputy Executive Director, North Metropolitan Health Service Mental Health, and Clinical Professor in the School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences and the School of Population Health, University of Western Australia, and Co-director of the same university’s Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry, based at Graylands Hospital.

Sam lives and works on Gadigal Land. He is the Community Health Promotion Officer for ACON's suicide prevention programs. He has a Masters of Social Work (Qualifying) and over a decade of adult education experience and as a writer. He has a lived experience of suicide and is passionate about making life worth living for his community.

I am a Woppaburra woman from the Keppel Islands, Queensland. My commitment lies in enhancing the health and well-being of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through advocacy and educational initiatives. I am passionate about fostering cultural capability among individuals, organisations, and services that are accessed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

Lee-Anne Rogers has worked in the ACT Office for Mental Health and Wellbeing since its commencement in 2018. Ms Rogers has a long work history in government and non-government organisations working with people with mental illness, people with disability and older people.

I’m passionate about mental health recovery and supporting people to live a meaningful and fulfilling life and supporting people who identify as transgender & gender diverse. I have graduated with an Introduction to the NDIS, Certificate IV in Community Services, Certificate IV in Alcohol and Other Drugs, and a Diploma in Community Services at RMIT. I am enrolled in a Certificate IV in Mental Health Peer Work with RMIT in 2024. I am dedicated to working in the community services, mental health and gender identity sectors. I support people who experience complex mental health issues, people who are transgender and gender diverse and facilitate groups. I have extensive knowledge of NDIS, DSP, public mental health and the TAFE systems.

In the late 1990s Grenville completed a PhD in the development of food preferences and worked for 5 years in commercial market research before coming to his senses, kind of, and becoming a registered psychologist. Between 2004 and 2007 Grenville worked in community and hospital pharmacy research at the University of Sydney but in 2007 moved to research and evaluation positions in mental health NGOs. After working in that sector for 16 years Grenville has come to the dark side, academia, and is very happy to have joined the wonderful ACACIA group at the Australian National University.

Professorial Fellow, Australian Health Services Research Institute [AHSRI], University of Wollongong, NSW, Clinical Associate Professor, Brain & Mind Centre, University of Sydney, NSW, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist, Far West NSW LHD Mental Health Services, Board of Management, The Mental Health Services [Themhs] Conference /Themhs Learning Network of Australia & New Zealand, Chair, Transforming Australia’s Mental Health Service System [TAMHSS] Inc., Former Inaugural Deputy Commissioner, Mental Health Commission of New South Wales, 2013-15.

David has been involved in the Higher Education Sector for over 13 years, following a successful and extensive career in industry. In 2019 he was admitted as a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. In 2019 he was also awarded the Emerald Literati Award for Outstanding Paper for his article entitled “Planned organisational change management – forward to the past? An exploratory literature review” published in the Journal of Organizational Change Management. He holds a PhD from Macquarie University with his thesis entitled “The enduring challenge of change management – new perspectives from nonprofit healthcare and practice”