Dr Keith Miller

College of Education, Psychology and Social Work, Flinders University Keith's adult life has been involved in the human services' field in varying capacities. Prior to commencing at Flinders University, he was employed in a range of roles as a social worker. These included child protection and project officer involved in the planning and provision of mental health services in rural areas. Keith commenced as an academic at Flinders University in 2006. His areas of interest included mental health and suicide, Indigenous issues, rural men, and working with practitioners in agencies to develop their capacity for research. Keith is married and has three adult children and three grandchildren. He enjoys riding his motorbike.

Dr Clifford Lewis

Senior Lecturer in Marketing, School of Business Clifford Lewis, PhD (he/him/his) is a Marketing academic at Charles Sturt University. His research focuses on Place Marketing; exploring LGBTQIA+ inclusion both within one’s community or a recreational context. Within this field, he has drawn on socio-psychological theories to explore how places and experiences can be made more inclusive for LGBTQIA+ people. Through his work he has called for a more nuanced and sensitive approach to research which considers the diversity encapsulated under the LGBTQIA+ acronym. He is passionate about using research to make the world more inclusive. Prior to his academic career, he was the Head of State (NSW) for a global market research company.

Heather Nowak

Support Worker, Peer Specialist, Trainer and Assessor

Heather holds a passion for using her lived experience to inform future planning, design and delivery of services, to ensure that the journey for current and future consumers and their carers is made as smooth as possible, to enable optimal recovery outcomes and ultimately reduce suicide. Having been a consumer of mental health services during the past 35 years, Heather has experienced many of the difficulties faced by consumers residing in both metropolitan and particularly regional areas, having lived in the Southeast of SA for 17 years.

Working as a Peer Worker in the Personal Helpers and Mentors (PHaMs) program, both in metropolitan Adelaide and regionally in the Southeast, Heather has gained extensive experience in the peer role and valuable knowledge around many of the issues and challenges faced by Peer Workers. Heather participated in the development of the National Qualification for Peer Workers and assisted in co-designing the resources for Certificate IV Mental Health Peer Work. As one of the National Peer Champions, Heather was fortunate to gain the qualification and work with the SA Mental Health Coalition to bring the qualification to SA. Heather has trained the certificate in NSW with the Mental Health Coordinating Council and established/delivered the qualification through TAFE SA from 2016 to 2021. Heather is Co-founder of ‘Mental Health Peer Work Solutions’ who provide a range of services and training opportunities to support the peer work sector throughout Australia.

Heather is a member of the National Consumer and Carer Forum and was an inaugural member of the National Consumer and Carer Register. Heather was the senior Peer Consultant for the Community of Peers Project and also provides consumer representation on the Australian Commission on National Safety and Quality in Health Care Mental Health Reference Group, the General Practice Mental Health Standards Collaboration and the National Mental Health Commission Peer Workforce Development Guidelines Steering Committee, National Initial Assessment and Referral (IAR) for Mental Health Care Project Expert Advisory Group and the Review of Better Access Stakeholder Engagement Group

Heather is also a member of the Beyond Blue Speakers Bureau and Blue Voices. In 2011, Heather’s dedication and relentless hard work was recognised when she was awarded the Dr Margaret Tobin Award, for outstanding contribution to improvements for people with, or at risk of developing, a mental illness.

Professor Russell Roberts

Professor, Charles Sturt University

Dr Russell Roberts is professor of mental health, and leadership at Charles Sturt University, and Clinical Associate Professor at University of Sydney. He is national director of Equally Well Australia,  tasked to oversee the national implementation of actions to improve the physical health of people living with mental illness. He is also Chief Investigator on the Rural Universities Network (RUN) mental health research collaborative.

He is a board member of ANZ Mental Health Association, and has previously served on the NSW Mental Health Commission Advisory Council, as Director of Clinical Training at Griffith University, Queensland, as Editor in Chief of the Australian Journal of Rural Health and as Chair if the Workplace Mental Health Symposium. He is referenced as one of the 50 most influential rural Australians.  

Russell has extensive experience as a clinician, rural mental health service director and academic. He has worked as Clinical Psychologist in rural SA, Qld and NSW. As the director of a mental health service in western NSW, leading an organisation of over 1,000 staff, and $110m pa budget delivering comprehensive services across the spectrum of care. Facilities in his organisation ranged from Australia’s largest integrated mental health hospital, to teams in Australia’s most remote locations such as Bourke, Lightning Ridge and Wilcannia.  

With state, national and international awards in E-mental health and Aboriginal workforce development, Russell has over two decades of experience in developing, implementing, and consolidating new and innovative health services across a range of complex service environments. He has led the development of several of innovative, programs such as the Mental Health Emergency Care Rural Access Program, the Mental Health Rural Outreach Service, and the Aboriginal Workforce Development Program. He has published over 90 refereed journal articles, books and book chapters, over 60 conference presentations, 15 keynote speeches, with $9.725 Mill in research grant funding and over 4,600 citations of his research work. 

Jo Rasmussen

Consultant

Jo Rasmussen is a national award-winning mental health advocate. Jo’s most recent role was the Mental Health Data Analysis and Engagement Lead at Murray PHN.

In this role Jo lead engagement with mental health consumers and carers, which also had a strong focus on addressing the stigma of mental illness, which includes designing and leading the Stop Stigma project.

Jo also has strong background in data analysis, with many years spent in the geospatial data field, combined with her recent role in primary mental health data. 

Rochelle Hine

Lecturer, School of Rural Health, Monash University

Dr Rochelle Hine is a social worker and academic with over 25 years of practice experience in a range of sectors including foster care, women’s health promotion, community and clinical mental health, education and research.

Rochelle's research is grounded in social justice and identifying and addressing inequality. Her research focuses predominantly on critical qualitative approaches to exploring the circumstances of people’s lives, collaborating with lived experience experts and other stakeholders. 

Specific areas of research interest and expertise include social and emotional wellbeing and healing, rural communities, women's health, parenting, gender, promoting antiracist policy and practice in healthcare and family violence prevention. 

Sandra Batistich

CEO, Moving A Head

Sandra founded mental health charity organisation Moving a Head in South Australia.

Having worked in the mental health field for over 14 years she realised that early intervention was a key aspect of combating mental health issues. Sandra has designed and implemented early intervention courses for people experiencing depression.

She has a BA and Grad Dip in Counselling and has worked previously in private practice. She has also worked in individual psychosocial rehabilitation support services, as well as in the Headspace program.

Lyn English AM

Originally from Sydney, residing in South Australia for 23 years, 9 years living and working in regional and remote SA. Lived experience role for 6 years with Country Health SALHN Mental Health Services.
Chair, SA OCP Lived Experience Advisory Group; MH Coalition SA Board Member:
Co-Chair Governance Committee, Urgent Mental Health Care Centre: National Consumer & Carer Forum consumer representative: Equally Well Australia lived experience member.
People with lived experience (including carers/family members) are central to driving mental health reform through leadership, growth of the peer workforce, codesign and inclusion at all levels. A human rights based approach to care is needed to improve experiences and outcomes for consumers and addressing equity and access remains a priority.
My 2020 Australia Day Honour as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia. “For significant service to mental health and consumer support organisations.” is a huge sense of pride.

Barb Walters

Chief Executive Officer, Rural Alive & Well Inc

Barb is the current CEO of Rural Alive & Well, a Tasmanian not for profit which builds healthy and resilient rural communities to reduce the prevalence of suicide in ages 14yrs and above.

Barb is steadfast in not taking mental health and wellbeing for granted and uses her lived experience in mental health and wellbeing which has seen RAW become the leading organisation in Tasmania for rural mental health and wellbeing support.

Having lived in a remote Tasmanian towns all her life, Barb understands first-hand the complexities and joys experienced from remote and rural areas, and is excited to be able to bring her knowledge and passion to this year’s Program Advisory Committee.

Associate Professor Martin Jones

Research, UniSA Allied Health & Human Performance, University of South Australia

Martin Jones is a Registered Nurse in Australia and the United Kingdom. He holds a Doctorate Degree in Nursing. He currently works as the Director and Associate Professor with the University of South Australia Department of Rural Health. He is interested in rural health workforce development, which includes supporting health care workers to extend their roles in the absence of other health care professionals and rural health workforce recruitment and retention. He has led on the development and implementation of an online professional certificate program to support non specialist mental health workers to treat depression. He is an Associate for the Australian Journal of Rural Health.

Cecelia Gore

Executive Director, Mental Health, Alcohol and Other Drugs BranchNT Health

Cecelia Gore is the Executive Director Mental Health and AOD for NT Health. She has more than 25 years’ experience developing, commissioning and evaluating service systems and projects, and crafting policy solutions in complex environments.  This has included roles in both government and non-government sectors, and in QLD, NSW and the NT.

Nathan Lee

Mental Health and Wellbeing Manager, Centacare FNQ

Dr Keith Sutton

Department of Rural & Indigenous Health, Monash University

Keith is Lecturer in Rural Mental Health, Monash Rural Health (Warragul). He has extensive experience as a clinician, manager, bureaucrat and researcher in the rural behavioural health sector.

Keith’s research work spans rural nursing and allied health workforce issues, the confluence of mental health issues and methamphetamine use, rural behavioural health workforce issues, suicide prevention in the rural context, and improving access to behavioural health services in rural and remote communities. 

Professor David Perkins

Conjoint Professor, University of Newcastle and Adjunct Professor at University of Canberra, Centre for Mental Health Research

David Perkins is a Conjoint Professor at the University of Newcastle and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Canberra, Centre for Mental Health Research.  He was previously Director of the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health. 

David's career spans academic research and health services management in Australia and the UK.  He is the coordinator of the Orange Declaration on rural mental health services and a member of the International Institute of Mental Health Leadership.  His interests focus on mental health systems and integration in rural contexts. 

David is widely published and sits on a range of national and international advisory committees.  He is a past editor-in chief of the Australian Journal of Rural Health. 

Dr Daniel Rock

Principal Advisor and Research Director, WA Primary Health Alliance

Dr Daniel Rock is the Principal Adviser and Research Director at the WA Primary Health Alliance who have the contract to operate the three WA Primary Health Networks.  He is an epidemiologist and an Adjunct Professor in the Disciple of Psychiatry, the University of Western Australia and at the Faculty of Health, University of Canberra. 

Prior to joining WAPHA Daniel was Deputy Executive Director at North Metropolitan Health Service Mental Health and Director of Clinical Research in Perth. During his time at North Metro he was also a co-joint Clinical Professor in the School of Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences and the School of Population Health, the University of Western Australia and Co-Director of the UWA Centre for Clinical Research in Neuropsychiatry.