My name is Selina Walker I am a Ngunnawal from Canberra ACT. I am the proud granddaughter of Senior Ngunnawal Elder Aunty Agnes Shea OAM, who sadly passed in March 2023. I have been working in the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and surrounding regions for over fifteen years in various roles. I have kincare of my three Godsons and 5 little cousins, totally 8 teenagers all together. I support my two other godsons in Foster Care and provide respite for other children in out of home care in the community. I also help my other godchildren I’ve helped raise. In 2017 I was recognised for my efforts as a carer and was named the ACT Barnardos Mother of the Year and was awarded the 2024 ACT Australian of the Year Local Hero for the work I do towards Reconciliation and as one of the founding members of Yerrabi Yurwang Child and Family Aboriginal Corporation. I have a strong commitment to family and community work within the region. I am a community representative on many different boards and committees for example: •Ministers Reconciliation Council •Chair – Council of Catholic School Parents Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee •Chair – Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn •Ngunnawal Bush Healing Farm •Chair - Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn (CSPACG) •Member - Victims of Crime Justice Committee But more recently taken over my grandmother’s cultural obligations and continuing her work here in the ACT and surrounding regions striving for equity and better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. I am a strong activist for young people, preparing our future leaders and a proud Aboriginal artist. I have a passion and drive for mental health, suicide prevention and awareness following the deaths of six family members and have started studying Psychology at University of Canberra. I love my Rugby League, Manly Seas Eagles all the way and QLD Maroons, and enjoy being involved in my god children’s sports and watching them thrive.

Stuart Wall is a Mental Health Nurse working as the Education Stream Lead (Mental Health) at Peninsula Health. Stuart currently leads a team of learning and practice development professionals to ensure that the Mental Health and Well-being Workforce have the skill and knowledge they need to support our consumers on their recovery journey.

Sara Walsh is the Principal Project Manager, Lived Experience (peer) Workforces and Stakeholder Engagement team. She is a dedicated ally in this space and has led the recommendations actions in the WA Lived Experience (Peer) Workforces Framework. Sara has driven the progress of Lived Experience workforces by implementing initiatives that aim to embed the Lived Experiences workforces across the sector.

Toby Walsh is an ARC Laureate Fellow and Scientia Professor of AI at UNSW and CSIRO Data61, and adjunct professor at QUT. He is a strong advocate for limits to ensure AI is used to improve our lives, having spoken at the UN, and to heads of state, parliamentary bodies, company boards and many other bodies on this topic. He is a Fellow of the Australia Academy of Science and the winner of the prestigious Celestino Eureka Prize for Promoting Understanding of Science. He was named on the international "Who's Who in AI" list of influencers. He appears regularly on TV and radio, has been profiled by the New York Times and has authored four books on AI for a general audience, the most recent ones entitled "Faking It: Artificial Intelligence in a Human World" and "Machines Behaving Badly”.

Caroline is a PhD candidate and Associate Lecturer at Monash University. She worked alongside Associate Professor Melissa Petrakis and the National Mental Health Consumer and Carer Forum to explore the experiences of family, carers and supporters during COVID-19. Caroline has particularly enjoyed the collaboration across disciplines, within this project.

Clare Walton is a Lived Experience Researcher in the Department of Psychiatry, University of Melbourne and a member of the Mental Health Australia General Clinical Trials Network (MAGNET) Lived Experience Research Partners Platform Committee. Clare has expertise as a lived experience consultant on numerous mental health research projects and clinical activities. She is a member of the Royal Melbourne Hospital Advanced Interventions in Mood Disorders (AIM) Clinic Committee and the Neuromedicines Innovation Australia Executive. Clare is a registered speech pathologist of 17 years also still currently works in this area. Clare is passionate about enabling people to embed lived-experience of mental health challenges in research; to develop and maintain positive mental health, and firmly believes in advocacy and capacity building in the lived experience space.

Leah commenced working at Monash Health in 2012 having made the trip across the Tasman from New Zealand. Leah is a social worker who has worked in community mental health across both countries and has held positions covering the life span from children to adults. Leah brings a systems perspective and strengths focus to her work. Leah is a passionate advocate for mental health consumers and carers voice being an integral part of person’s health journey. Leah has utilized her time as an Act Implementation Lead to advocate for mental health reform and for all providers to be better today than they were yesterday

Sonam Wangmo is a dedicated Mental Health Literacy Project Officer and Group Worker at STARTTS. She has been supporting Tibetan refugees in NSW for the past 8 years, helping them navigate resettlement challenges and fostering their healing journey. Sonam designs and implements tailored projects, promoting mental, physical, and emotional well-being. Collaborating with local schools, businesses, housing providers, and employment agencies, she ensures comprehensive support for her clients. Her programs include suicide prevention, accidental counsellor training, self-care workshops, youth cultural dance, soccer teams, women’s social groups, and settlement services, all focused on preserving cultural identity and empowering the community to thrive.

Amy has been a consumer in the ACT Mental Health system for nearly 14 years and has lived with mental illness for almost 20 years. After engaging the services of Canberra Medicare Mental Health Centre (formerly Head to Health), Think Mental Health, Stride Step-Up Step-Down residence and Woden Community Services Peer Outreach support, Amy received life-saving mental illness intervention. Amy now works in the mental health sector as a Peer Mental Health Outreach Worker in the private sector after completing her Certificate IV in Mental Health in 2024. She also volunteers with MIEACT as a volunteer educator, sharing her personal experiences living with mental illness in the Canberra community.

Deborah Warner is currently the Family Peer Worker with the Headspace Youth Early Psychosis Program, Alfred Mental Health Services, Frankston Victoria. She is the co-founder of APOD (Alcohol Prescription & Other Drugs) Family Support where she is a Family Worker. Both teams have adopted the Open Dialogue approach.

Terri works from a consumer lived experience perspective as a mental health advocate, educator, and researcher. She is a PhD candidate at the ANU, exploring lived experience perspectives on psychosocial disability. Her own experiences of trauma, distress, neurodivergence, chronic health conditions and mental health and social care service use inform all of her work, which focuses on expanding the role of consumers in health and social care education, policy and research.

Rob started working in the mental health sector in 1993, following 10 years as a dairy farmer, north of Auckland. His first role was a part time job, 20 hours per week, to establish an employment service for people who experience poor mental health. This relied upon successfully engaging and partnering with the labour market and employers; a period that offered a very rich stream of learning. In 2003 Rob was offered the role of Chief Executive of WALSH Trust. In the ensuing 20 plus years WALSH Trust evolved into a mutil-award winning provider of community-based mental health and wellbeing services. This was achieved through recruitment of a highly skilled, dedicated and creative management team that successfully disrupted WALSH Trust’s developmental pathway, purpose and vision through: • Shifting the organisational culture from “not for profit” charity, to a vibrant, charitable business • Introducing a professional, intentional, future focused approach to management and leadership – that utilised stakeholder engagement, consensus building and teaming • Introducing a strategic agenda to guide planning, development, and accountability – led by a clear vision • Establishing and growing an equity base to ensure a solid financial foundation and sustainability In 2024 Rob retired from WALSH Trust. He is presently engaged in change advocacy, arguing two key points: “New Zealand’s mental health and addiction problems cannot be fixed by government alone, nor by the health system.” (Conclusion from He Ara Oranga, 2018) We need to stop chasing demand and start tackling causes.

Sarah is the Team Leader, Wellbeing Coaches at Momentum Mental Health. She holds a Bachelor of Human Services (Health and Social Wellbeing) with Distinction and has a passion for supporting people with mental health challenges.

Karen Wells has worked in the Community Sector for decades including as the Consumer Coordinator at Partners in Recovery. It was in this capacity that she developed the “ECT-Let’s talk about it!!” project. Karen brings her personal experience of ECT to inform her work and research at Sydney University.

I am the Participation and Co-design Manager at Mind Australia. This is a designated lived experience role where I draw on my lived expertise as a family member and carer to ensure that the people who use Mind's services have a say in decision making across the organisation.

Gen Whitlam (She/Her) is the Director of Lived Experience in the Mental Health, Justice Health, Alcohol and Drug Services (MHJHADS) Division in Canberra Health Services. Her professional experience spans working in Government and community-managed organisations in the mental health, drug and alcohol, HIV and sexual health, and domestic and family violence sectors. Prior to MHJHADS, she was the Associate Director of Client Services at ACON where she led the development, growth, governance and funding of a statewide team of allied health and peer work professionals. Gen has her own lived experience of post-natal psychosis and is passionate about the development of the Lived Experience (Peer) workforce and contributing to sector and organisational changes to enable the successful embedding of peer work into services.

Hannah Whittaker-Komatsu celebrates life outside the box. She could not have imagined the incredible journey that would unfold when she stepped into her role as a Peer Support worker at age 22. Her thirst for understanding the human experience led her to train as a social worker, however, she believes the most useful knowledge she has gained is that which is societally undervalued and most often completely unacknowledged; that of Lived Experience. A pivotal step in her healing journey has been identifying what was called ‘disorder’ and ‘disease’ were in reality beautiful survival strategies. As the Programme Director Lived Experience, within Manatū Hauora (Ministry of Health), Hannah supports the Mental Health and Addiction Group to connect to Lived Experience perspectives and movements. In her spare time, Hannah developed Thriving Madly, a creative mutual support community that creates spaces for connection and opportunities to craft wisdom that supports people to collectively weather the storms of life.

Shauna is a PhD candidate at the Australian National University and a lived-experience researcher having had three psychotic episodes in her twenties. Prior to her PhD, she completed a Master of Analytical Psychology, a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), and a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree. Shauna has a history in the arts and has produced a play titled “Van Gogh’s Boots: A guided tour through psychosis” and a film titled “doG: The first female genius – A telepathic love tale.” These works portray her first and third psychotic episodes and are available on her website: www.shaunawinram.com

Michael Wren is an Expert by Experience. He is a significant Lived Experience Systemic Advocate at Flourish Australia, and across the mental health sector. Michael is currently a member of the Flourish Australia Research Advisory Committee, advising on research and evaluation activities at Flourish, including future directions for research at the organisation. He is also an Emeritus member of the Flourish Australia Community Advisory Council and member of the Social Citizenship Think Tank. He holds certificates in IT and is a valuable member of the Flourish Australia community.

Dr Marianne Wyder is a social worker with a background in sociology. Over the past 20 years she has worked in various research and clinical positions in the Government, Non-Government and University sector. She is currently employed as a Senior Research Fellow in Metro South Addiction and Mental Health services.