Thought Leaders 3

This webinar will consider workforce perspectives on current and upcoming reforms in Victoria and address practical themes by showcasing the views of frontline workers.

Register below

Speakers

Anita Conlon leads the Peer Cadet Program and is the Peer Projects Advisor at Wellways. She has delivered major peer-led projects, quality and co-production systems work, and community education programs, including a community education stigma reduction project that delivered 360 peer-led workshops over a year to grassroots community groups.

Anita is passionate about innovative and collaborative approaches to bolstering the peer workforce in supportive and structured environments. 

Dr Astha Tomar is Chair of the Victorian Branch Committee at the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists (RANZCP), Head of Youth Mental Health Services at Peninsula Health, and a consultant psychiatrist at Melbourne Clinic.

Through her involvement and leadership in the RANZCP's Victorian Branch Committee, Astha has developed various policy statements and submissions, including responses to support the wellbeing of health care workers across COVID-19, SafeScript, the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System and the Productivity Commission Report on Mental Health.

George Skoufis is a Senior Lived Experience Worker, Consumer Consultant and mental health advocate. Beginning his work with the Butterfly Foundation in 2009 and focussing on the eating disorder space, George became the lead male recovery coach in Australia. He has worked as a peer support worker for Flourish Australia, worked in the Post-Discharge Support Program at Alfred Health and is a recovery coach for the NDIS.

George is also Project Lead for Lived Experience Leadership Pathways and on the Model of Care Committee for St Vincent’s Community Mental Health, and is Coordinator of the Remaining Connecting Project and Coordinator of HIS Funding for their Clarendon Clinic.

Gillian Clark is a social worker with 23 years’ experience in the AOD and mental health sectors.  She worked for 11 years in a regional Area Mental Health Service as part of the Victorian Dual Diagnosis Initiative (VDDI) and is now a project worker with VAADA on the Mental Health Royal Commission.

Gillian’s clinical experience spans AOD supported accommodation, AOD forensic counselling, family violence counselling for women and children, working with individuals who have complex co-occurring needs, and as an AOD clinician in the UK. Gillian has cemented her clinical skills through completion of a Graduate Diploma in Community Mental Health and Masters in Addictive Behaviours.

Dr Ines Rio is Chair of North Western Melbourne PHN and a general practitioner with postgraduate qualifications in public health, obstetrics, venereology and governance. Alongside her clinical roles in a community health centre and hospital, she has been involved in health care system reform and leadership for over two decades. She is also on the Federal Government’s TGA Advisory Group on Vaccines and several committees related to COVID.

About this series

Mental Health Victoria's Thought Leaders is a series of free monthly webinars taking a deep dive into the key issues and hot topics affecting mental health.

More information

If you have any queries, please contact us at mhvic@mhvic.org.au