At the Australian & New Zealand Mental Health Association, we aspire to create a community of advocates passionate about spreading the word on mental health awareness.
Check out our current ambassadors and find out what they’re doing to support starting the discussion on mental health and advocate for advancements our mental health industry.
Mitch Wallis, Entrepreneur and Founder – Heart On My Sleeve
Mitch has struggled with some of the most severe & debilitating mental illness symptoms for most of this life. This has largely been in silence and isolation, until recently.
Founding an international not-for-profit mental health campaign to eradicate stigma called the ‘Heart On My Sleeve Movement’, Mitch’s ultimate dream is to change the face of mental health by empowering his fellow millennials to overcome suffering and help them re-imagine the healing power of the mind.
He is uniquely positioned to bring a firsthand experience of suffering from several chronic mental health conditions, with an educated academic understanding of the science behind problem and treatment, mixed with a comprehensive business, storytelling and tech background that allows him to build a platform to connect with people in an authentic and powerful way.
Mitch’s ultimate dream is to change the face of mental health by empowering his fellow millennials to overcome suffering and help them re-imagine the healing power of the mind.
Connect with Mitch on his website here.
Craig Hamilton, Broadcaster, Commentator and Author
Craig is probably best known as a member of the Grandstand Rugby League commentary and has worked Grand Finals, State of Origin series and several Test Matches.
Craig was born and raised in the Hunter Valley town of Singleton and spent 16 years working as an underground coalminer in the Newcastle area before embarking on a radio career fulltime in 1999.
In the year 2000, on the eve of the Sydney Olympic Games where Craig had been assigned to work as a broadcaster, he experienced a psychotic episode and was diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. He spent 12 days in hospital and, since his recovery, has become one of Australia’s most high-profile speakers on mental health and lifestyle.
In 2004 Random House released his highly acclaimed memoir “Broken Open” which gives a very personal account of living with Bipolar Disorder. In July 2012, Allen and Unwin released his second book “A Better Life”.
Craig is now an internationally motivational speaker who tells what it’s like to battle serious mental illness.
Connect with Craig on his website here.
Camille Wilson, Director of Grow Together Now
Camille is no stranger to the world of mental health. From a young age, Camille has been exposed to the severity of what mental health can impose onto an individual’s life after working through her own lived experience of severe mental illness.
Camille has studied a Bachelor in Psychology and is studying postgraduate Brain and Mind Science, learning to understand how our brains translate into behaviour and thinking. Alongside this, Camille has also worked within human resources for several years, where she has gained insight into how we currently handle mental health in the workplace. Bringing these together, with her own lived experience of mental illness as a patient and as an employee, Camille provides a unique triage of experience that offers a perspective unlike many others.
In 2017, Camille founded Grow Together Now, a social enterprise that is driven by the mission to change the way we see mental health in Australian workplaces and schools. Camille runs perspective-changing workshops aimed at educating and training individuals on three core skills: being aware, being courageous and being real, that work to shift a workplace culture to a mentally safe place to work.
In addition to this work, Camille uses her love of writing and her unique perspective to connect others with something that everyone can relate to. The Hard Truth series are popular pieces of writing that bring out the core human values and reconnect what mental health means outside of the narrow clinical view. Camille is also soon to launch her next series, The Unspoken Stories, that showcase different stories of individuals and provides an unspoken insight into what it is like to manage mental health in a workplace as an employee.
Connect with Camille on her website here.
Missy Robinson, Owner of Rebel Collective
Missy Robinson is an Australian publicist, creative, speaker, author and mental health advocate whose mission is to reduce the stigma around mental health and how even living with a complex mental illness, you can still set out and achieve all your dreams and goals. Having since fostered a successful career in both the fashion industry as a blogger and fashion stylist, and in the world of PR working with both small local businesses and national brands, Missy’s life changed forever when she was first diagnosed with a Complex Mental Illness in 2008.
To assist with overcoming her adversity and decades-long battle with Bipolar Affective Disorder and Psychosis, Missy penned her experiences in The Book of Amazing People, published by Kizzi Nkwocha in the UK and available internationally. She also shared her lived experiences in a raw and open blog.Missy’s mental health battle and her ensuing weight loss of over 50kg sparked a passion for raising awareness of mental health and she is currently working with various mental health charities and organisations as well as delivering inspiring keynote talks at schools and corporate events around the country covering topics such as living with a CMI, spirituality, healthy living and the joys and complexities managing your mental health as a business owner.
With a unique insight into the human condition and having lived an incredibly interesting life , Missy makes for an engaging and somewhat savage speaker. Missy has been featured in many national media outlets including Cosmopolitan Health, Elle Magazine, Body & Soul plus various online blogs.
In addition to her mental health advocacy work, Missy is also a business owner of a thriving Public Relations agency called The Rebel Collective, that focuses on building community, connecting people and creating out of the box campaigns for clients. She is also currently an ambassador for SANE Australia as well as the Australian & New Zealand Mental Health , and hopes to educate Australians on how you can live with a complex mental illness and have a happy, successful and fulfilling life. Missy continues to foster a love for fashion and entertainment, a career which has seen her as a Contributor and Editor for a number of both print and online magazines interviewing talent, both here and overseas and is still involved with many fashion festivals and events.