Preventive Mental Health Conference 2026

Emma McBride is the Federal Member for the electorate of Dobell, on the Central Coast of NSW and was elected in 2016. After the 2019 election Emma was appointed Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Shadow Assistant Minister for Carers. Emma was the Deputy Chair of the House of Representatives Select Committee on Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in 2021. Following the 2022 election, Emma McBride was
appointed Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention and Assistant Minister for Rural and Regional Health. After the 2025 election, Emma McBride was reappointed to these portfolios.

Emma worked in health for over 20 years, both in Australia and abroad. She was a Specialist Mental Health Pharmacist and the Chief Pharmacist at Wyong Hospital, and prior to her election to Parliament, was the Deputy Director of Pharmacy for Central Coast Local Health District.  

Emma’s background in a range of health care settings provides a unique platform to promote better health services for both her local area and the broader community.  

Emma is a passionate advocate for quality healthcare, close to home. Emma recognises the unique challenges facing rural and regional communities in accessing health care and hopes to help shape public policy that promotes the health and wellbeing of all Australians, regardless of where they live.

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Marthe R. Gold, M.D., M.P.H., is a Senior Research Scholar at the New York Academy of Medicine.  She is a graduate of the Tufts University School of Medicine and the Columbia School of Public Health.  As a clinician, she has worked in both rural and urban underserved medical care.  As Senior Policy Adviser in the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health in the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services from 1990–1996 her focus was on the economics and outcomes of clinical prevention and public health programs. There she directed the work of the Panel on Cost-Effectiveness in Health and Medicine, an expert panel whose 1996 report remains an influential guide to cost-effectiveness methodology for academic and policy uses. Elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2008, she has participated in a number of their consensus studies.  She served as Co-Chair of its Committee that offered a Blueprint for a National Prevention Infrastructure for Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Disorders that was published in 2025.

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Prior to joining the PC, Angela served on a number of government bodies including as a Commissioner at the Commonwealth Grants Commission, a member of the Economic Inclusion Advisory Committee and a Board Member at Melbourne Health. In 2023 Angela was appointed to the independent panel reviewing the Commonwealth Government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Angela is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Tasmania.

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Pat Dudgeon, a Bardi woman from Western Australia, is a psychologist and professor at the Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health and the School of Indigenous Studies at UWA. Her research focuses on Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention. She is the director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention and lead Chief Investigator for the national Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing research project. Pat has served on numerous boards, including the National Suicide Prevention Office Advisory Board, NACCHO Culture Care Connect, Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit Australia), and AIPA, and was a National Mental Health Commissioner for five years. A leading voice in Indigenous mental health, her significant publications include Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice (2014) and the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project Report – What the Evidence and Our People Tell Us (2016).

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Dr. Stewart is a member of the Yellowknives Dene First Nation. She is a registered psychologist and Director of the Division of Social and Behaviour Health Sciences. She holds the TC Energy Research Chair in Indigenous Health. Research and teaching interests include Indigenous health and healing in psychology (homelessness, youth mental health, identity, and work-life development), Indigenous determinants of health, Indigenous pedagogies in higher education and health sciences, and Indigenous research ethics and methodologies. She is committed to advancing Indigenous healing issues in academics, health practice, and policy. 

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Dr. Sarthak Gandhi (he/him) is a junior doctor, researcher, and national youth mental health advocate passionate about improving how our systems support children and young people to live well. He currently serves as a Board Youth Advisor at headspace National, where he contributes to national governance and policy and helps embed youth participation and lived experience in mental health system reform. As a paediatric trainee, Sarthak brings a child- and family-centred approach to clinical care and works closely within multidisciplinary teams to strengthen how health services support children, young people, and families. Alongside his clinical work, he is a researcher at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, where his research examines how language, settings, and systems shape early mental health support across schools, primary care, and community contexts, with a strong focus on promotion, prevention, and early response. Shaped by his own experiences navigating care as a young person, Sarthak’s work is grounded in compassion, equity, and meaningful collaboration.

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Nick Titov is a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at Macquarie University, a Clinical Psychologist and Executive Director of the Australian MindSpot Clinic. MindSpot is a digital psychology clinic, funded by the Australian Government, and delivers psychological services to more than 30,000 adults each year. Nick has published more than 300 peer-reviewed papers and his current research focuses on the role of everyday behaviour on mental health. Nick serves on multiple advisory groups to national and international organisations. Nick was awarded an Order of Australia in 2025.

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Carlyn Christian is the Director of Impact Campaigns at Movember, leading global marketing for programs in men’s mental health, prostate and testicular cancer, and health literacy. She has over ten years’ experience in social marketing and behaviour change, delivering large-scale digital campaigns focused on shifting attitudes, increasing help seeking, and improving access to care. Her work sits across behavioural science, health promotion and creative strategy, with a focus on how digital approaches can meet people where they are.

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Dr. Addie Wootten is a mental health leader dedicated to supporting a positive and proactive approach to mental health. She is the Director of Strategic Engagement at Smiling Mind, where she previously served as CEO for over eight years and a Clinical Psychologist by background. Under her leadership, Smiling Mind has become known as a global leader in preventative mental health, with its app reaching over 9.5 million users and programs embedded in more than 1,700 schools across Australia.

Dr. Wootten holds a doctorate in clinical psychology from Monash University and has a background in research and clinical practice in major Melbourne with a strong focus on supporting people living with cancer. Before joining Smiling Mind, she was Director of Clinical and Allied Health Research at the Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre.

She is a passionate advocate for building mental fitness from early childhood and has led the development of evidence-based digital tools and wellbeing programs. A Williamson Community Leadership Program alumna, Dr. Wootten is also a published researcher in mindfulness, e-health, and psychological wellbeing.

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David McGrath is the Chief Executive Officer of the National Mental Health Commission. With extensive experience as a Board Director for the Black Dog Institute, a Senior Executive in NSW Health and formerly chairing the National Mental Health Standing Committee, David now leads the Commission’s work to monitor, evaluate and improve Australia’s mental health and suicide prevention system. Additionally, David is a highly experienced public policy consultant who has been an advisor to the World Health Organisation for over a decade. 

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Dr Brown is the Chief Medical Officer for Medilinks, an organisation providing services to veterans. She currently sits on the Board of Wellways and from time to time, provides consultancy services as an expert advisor. She was one of three Commissioners appointed to the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide. She formerly held roles including Senior Clinical Advisor at the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care; Chief Executive Officer of the National Mental Health Commission; Director-General, ACT Health; Chief Psychiatrist/Director of Mental Health in Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, and the Northern Territory; and an NHS International Fellow in the United Kingdom. She has also served on the Boards of Ahpra, Health Workforce Australia, the National eHealth Transition Authority, and Healthscope (Advisory Board).

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Monica is Victoria’s first Wellbeing Promotion Adviser, commencing in the role in June 2022. She is also the Executive Director of the Prevention, Policy and First People’s Branch of the Mental Health and Wellbeing Division in the Victorian Department of Health.
She has worked as an Executive in Public Health, Primary Care and Human Services for many years in Victoria and previously in the Northern Territory.
Monica’s areas of expertise are health inequities, public health and health promotion, particularly with marginalised communities. Monica also brings lived and living experience of the mental health system and of intellectual disability and neurodiversity as a carer.

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As Deputy Commissioner System Development, Julia Knapton leads system-wide strategy and reform at the Western Australian Mental Health Commission, including health promotion and prevention. She rejoined the Commission in 2023 after serving as Executive Director at Healthway, where she advanced health promotion efforts through strategic grants and partnerships. Julia has held senior roles in mental health and alcohol and other drug policy and programs, and brings over 30 years’ experience in health and education. She is committed to placing people at the centre of planning to improve outcomes for individuals, families and communities across Western Australia.

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