Invited Speakers
Details of the invited speakers will be posted as planning proceeds.
Gregor Henderson
Gregor Henderson is the National Programme Leader for the National Mental Health Development Unit’s (NMHDU) Well-being and Population Mental Health Programme. NMHDU is the agency charged with supporting the implementation and delivery of mental health policy in England.
Previously, the first Director of Scotland’s innovative and now internationally renowned National Programme for Improving Mental Health and Wellbeing from April 2003 to March 2008. Gregor has also been the Director of the Scottish Development Centre for Mental Health and a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Psychiatry, King’s College London.
Gregor also works as an adviser and consultant to a number of overseas Governments, voluntary, public and private sector agencies on mental health and wellbeing. Gregor writes on mental health and well-being issues and lectures across the UK, Europe and internationally.
Pre-Conference Workshop: Developing Modern and Comprehensive Policies and Programmes for Mental Health
Keynote Presentation: Hope, Recovery and a Mentally Healthy Future: How can we transform the mental health of our communities?
Dual Keynote with Patrick McGorry: Mental Health, Mental Ill Health and Reform
Patrick D. McGorry, MD, PhD, FRCP, FRANZCP
Australian of the Year 2010
Professor of Youth Mental Health. University of Melbourne
Executive Director, Orygen Youth Health Research Centre
Director of Clinical Services, Orygen Youth Health, Victoria, Australia
Patrick D. McGorry, MD, PhD, FRCP, FRANZCP, is Professor of Youth Mental Health at the University of Melbourne and Director of Orygen Youth Health and Orygen Youth Health Research Centre in Victoria, Australia. Prof McGorry received his medical degree from the University of Sydney and his doctorate from Monash University in Victoria, Australia. He is a world-leading researcher in the area of early psychosis and youth mental health. Prof McGorry’s work has played an integral role in the development of safe, effective treatments and innovative research involving the needs of young people with emerging mental disorders, notably psychotic and severe mood disorders. His work has influenced health policy in Australia and many other countries and he has advised governments and health departments in many jurisdictions.
Prof. McGorry has published over 300 papers and many book chapters, and has edited 6 books. He is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia and has been the recipient of numerous awards, including the Australian Government Centenary Medal in 2003 and the Founders’ Medal of the Australian Society for Psychiatric Research in 2001. Prof McGorry serves as Editor-in-Chief of Early Intervention in Psychiatry and is Chair of the Clinical Committee for the National Youth Mental Health Foundation: headspace, and Treasurer of the International Early Psychosis Association.
As well as his contributions to the field of early psychosis and youth mental health, Professor McGorry has interests in refugee mental health, youth suicide, youth substance use and the treatment of emerging personality disorder.
Presentation title: Early Intervention and Youth Mental Health
Dual Keynote with Gregor Henderson:Mental Health, Mental Ill Health and Reform
Helen Glover
Director of Enlightened Consultants
Helen Glover uses her professional background in social work and education as well as her lived experience of her own recovery from mental illness to expand and challenge the concepts of recovery-oriented practice within mental sector. She lectures and provides training nationally and internationally on the opportunities, challenges and tensions of creating recovery-oriented practice and support environments .
Helen has been a co researcher in the qualitative Australian study: Recovery from Schizophrenia from a consumer perspective.
She is a Visiting Fellow to the University of Hertfordshire, UK. supporting the development of the Centre for Recovery Education.
She currently works as an independent consultant and her company, Enlightened Consultants, provides a range of training solutions and consultancy to government, non-government service providers, people with a lived experience and their families.Helen is passionate about the reality of recovery from mental illness/distress and works with organisations in assisting them to further create environments where the focus is on supporting people in their personal efforts of recovery. In combining her lived experience with her professional background, and drawing on her interest in education and learning she has developed a number of large action learning projects around recovery-oriented leadership and systemic change.She continues to learn from such opportunities as to how to support organisations, workers and people with a lived experience, whereby the concept of recovery is more clearly understood, embraced and utilised as a central focus within service environments.
Helen in her spare times paddles Dragon Boats and Outriggers for pain and pleasure.
Presentation title: Honouring the X Factor of Personnal Recovery - both in our lives and our work
John McGrath AM
Deputy Chairman
beyondblue: the national depression initiative
John McGrath served as the National Party Member for Warrnambool inthe State Parliament of Victoria from 1985 until his voluntary retirement at the time of the September 1999 State Election. He held the position of Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees in the Victorian Legislative Assembly from 1992-1999. He also held an executive position on the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association Executive of the Parliament, and in 1993 was selected to represent Australia at the World Conference held in Cyprus. John’s decision to retire from politics was prompted by his desire to direct all of his energies towards promoting better outcomes for consumers of mental health services and their families. He now derives great personal satisfaction from his many activities in the field of mental health.
John brings a strong family carer focus to his involvement in mental health, instigated by the personal experience of having had two sons who suffered from mental illness. His second son, Shane, lost his life to suicide in 1993. John is Deputy Chairman of beyondblue: the National Depression Initiative, and has served as a Board Member since its inception in 2000.
John believes that much can be done to alleviate the stigma experienced by people with mental illnesses. He believes the key to increased understanding is continual striving toward national awareness. As communities become better informed, those facing problems will be more likely to seek early intervention and crises will be less likely to occur. As a consequence of increased understanding, people with mental illnesses will be reassured and supported by compassionate behaviour from family, their peers, work mates and the general community.
Presentation title: Linking the personal to the political
Brian Graetz
Program Director
beyondblue: the national depression initiative
Dr Brian Graetz is a Program Director at beyondblue: the national depression initiative. He oversees a range of national programs in education (primary, secondary & tertiary) and early childhood settings focused on mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention. He began working life as a school teacher in regional South Australia before moving into clinical psychology and research. For the past 15 years he has managed large national projects including Australia’s first national survey of child and adolescent mental health and well-being.
Presentation title: KidsMatter: A Student Mental Health and Wellbeing Framework for Primary Schools
Therese Fitzpatrick
National Workplace Program Manager
beyondblue: the national depression initiative
Therese Fitzpatrick is the Program Manager for beyondblue’s National Workplace Program. Therese is an Occupational Therapist, with extensive experience working with people with mental health issues in workplace settings.
In her current role, Therese develops and implements programs aimed at increasing awareness and reducing the stigma associated with, depression, anxiety, and related disorders with the aim of creating sustainable changes in attitudes within workplaces.
Presentation title: Addressing mental health problems at an industry and organisational level
Pre-Conference Workshop Speakers:
Kanthi Perera, M.S.W.
Kanthi Perera is a senior social worker working for the mental health service in Western Australia. Her interests in losses and grief associated with mental illness dates back to the early 1990s having read consumers’ and carers’ contributions to the Report of the National Inquiry into the Human Rights of People with Mental Illness and also her clinical practice over the years. She undertook a research project on this topic for her Maser of Social Work degree in 2001. Having exhausted all learning opportunities available in Australia to further her knowledge in ambiguous loss, she applied for a Winston Churchill Memorial Fellowship in 2005. Her study tour took her to Canada and USA where she studied at organizations providing services to people traumatized by ambiguous loss including the 9/11 programs in New York. Professor Pauline Boss, principle theorist of Ambiguous Loss Theory trained her.
Kanthi is also the author of an ARAFMI Mental Health Carers &
Friends Association (WA) Inc 1997 publication “About Mental Illness: A booklet for Partners”. She is the recipient of the 2001 Australian Association of Social Workers Award for Excellence in the category of Innovation and Pioneering and the 2004 ARAFMI Service Provider Award. In 2006 she set up Dr K.B. McManus Memorial Fund for people affected by mental illness in Western Australia to access the Arts. She is currently involved in research towards a PhD degree on the topic of Ambiguous Loss Associated with Mental Illness.
Pre-Conference Workshop: Therapeutic Work with Ambiguous Loss Associated with Mental Illness
Dr Usha Sundaram
Dr.Usha Sundaram has worked for nearly twelve years as a Psychiatrist at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS) in Bangalore, India. She began searching for additional ways to help people, and decided to apply her many years of training in yoga. Dr.Sundaram found that yoga was a practical and effective approach to reintegrating the body, mind and spirit.
Dr. Sundaram has traveled extensively all over India, teaching yoga at schools, colleges, temples, churches, corporate groups and to individuals. She was a Visiting Professor at Youngstown State University in Ohio in 1988-89. She has since been coming every year to the United States, teaching at Ohio, Texas, Indianaplis, Mineapolis, Los Angeles and llinois. In 2001, she conducted a six-day course with Joseph Le Page of the IYT, at Kripalu. She has published articles in journals and has authored a book on "Mantra". 
Dr.Sundaram brings the message that yoga is not a religion, but rather a science to reach into your own inner self and rediscover your potential for healing, wisdom and compassion. Under the guidance of her guru, she is currently researching the ancient meditation techniques described in the Upanishads. Dr. Sundaram practices under the name of Swami Dharamkeerti Saraswati as initiated by her Guru Paramahams Sri Swami Satyananda Saraswati. She is presently studying the Vaishnava Upasana and Agama Shastra through her Guru Sri. Rajagopalachar.
Pre-Conference Workshop: Thresholds of Consciousness and Yoga
Dinner Speaker
Craig Hamilton
Ambassador for beyondblue
Craig Hamilton joined ABC radio as 'the sideline eye' on weekend Rugby League broadcasts in 1995.
Since then he has worked with ABC team-members David Morrow and Warren Ryan calling Grand Finals, State of Origin Games and Test Matches involving Australia.
Born and raised up in the Hunter Valley town of Singleton, he spent 16 years working as an underground coalminer in the Newcastle area before embarking on a radio career.
As a talented sportsman, Craig represented both the Newcastle and NSW Country cricket teams, with a career highlight being selected to play against the touring Sri Lankan side in 1990.
In the year 2000, on the eve of the Sydney Olympic Games where he had been assigned to work as a broadcaster, Craig experienced a psychotic episode and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.
He spent two weeks in hospital and, since his recovery, has worked tirelessly as an advocate for mental health issues, speaking at conferences and lobbying for extra funding to support people and their families who have experienced depressive illness.
In 2004 Random House released his highly acclaimed memoir "Broken Open" which gives a very personal account of living with Bipolar Disorder.
Craig is an Ambassador for beyondblue and is a much sought after motivational speaker who tells what it's like to battle a serious illness. In sharing his story and experiences he offers hope to others.., Craig lives in Newcastle with his wife and three children.
http://www.craig-hamilton.com/biography.html
Dinner presentation: A personal journey with Bipolar Disorder