ASSOC' PROF' DAVID KAVANAGH

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ASSOC. PROF. DAVID KAVANAGH BA Dip Psychol
(Sydney) MA PhD (Stanford)
 David Kavanagh is a clinical psychologist who
has over 25 years of clinical and research
experience, and has more than 100 scientific
publications. He is currently Associate Professor
of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry and
Psychology at the University of Queensland, and
Director of Research for the Faculty of Health
Sciences.  David was a psychologist and later
an area co-ordinator of community health service
in Western Sydney during the early phases of the
community mental health program in the 1970s, and
has retained a close involvement with community
health services since that time.  His academic
research has mainly been about trying to predict
and prevent relapse in mental disorders, and he
has spent his career trying to make a bridge
between theory and practice. Over the last 15
years he has had a special interest in the
management of serious mental disorders, including
associations of psychosis and addictive
disorders.  Professor Kavanagh is the lead
investigator in an NHMRC Partnership Grant for
2003-2007 that has a cash budget of over 4m.
That project will attempt to develop sustainable
ways to address relapse, social functioning and
physical health in people with mental disorders.
One stream of the project is on rehabilitation in
people with high support needs. He is also the
lead researcher on a current project to improve
the professional supervision of staff in mental
health services throughout Queensland.  He is a
Fellow of the Australian Psychological Society.
In 1992, David was awarded the Ian Mathew
Campbell Prize by the Australian Psychological
Society for contributions to clinical psychology
research and practice. In 1999 and 2002 he
received a Sunflower Prize from the Schizophrenia
Fellowship of SE Queensland for research on
schizophrenia.
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PROF. MICHAEL SAWYER MBBS, PhD, Dip Child Psych.,
FRANZCP, FRCPC
Michael Sawyer is a Professor of Child and
Adolescent Psychiatry in the Department of
Paediatrics at the Adelaide University and Head,
Research and Evaluation Unit at the Women's and
Children's Hospital in South Australia. He is
also Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of
Health Sciences at Adelaide University. Professor
Sawyer completed his undergraduate medical
education at Monash University and his
post-graduate training in psychiatry at McMaster
University and the University of Toronto in
Ontario, Canada. Professor Sawyer's research has
focused on the quality of life of children with
chronic illness and the epidemiology of child and
adolescent mental disorders. Professor Sawyer
was the lead investigator in the Child and
Adolescent Component of the National Survey of
Mental Health and Well-Being in Australia. He
has been a member of the Australian Rotary Health
Research Fund research committee for the past
four years and is currently Vice-Chairman of this
committee.
DR. MIKE RUNGIE BA Dip Psychol (Sydney) MA PhD
(Stanford)
  Dr. Mike Rungie is the Chief Executive Officer
of ACH Group in South Australia. ACH Group is a
not-for-profit organisation supporting over
12,000 older people each year.  ACH Group
believes in focusing on elderly people,
methodically understanding their changing needs,
supporting older people to have full lives and
leading change in the service sector based on
this. ACH Group has worked to supplement
community and families rather than take over,
such that networks, roles, reputation and
competencies of elderly people are developed (at
a time when increasingly there are messages that
this is not possible).  It is not surprising that
the organisations strong focus on elderly people
has driven it to much innovation in service
delivery. The organisation has successfully
trialled Community Options, Community Aged Care
Packages, EACHP, Day Therapy Centre alternatives,
Respite alternatives, acute care /aged care
interface programs, new Housing options,
individualised residential care, rehabilitation
and positive ageing.  ACH Group works strongly
as a team developing its values, management
practices, quality processes, employer of choice
and relationship with elderly people and the
community. It also works to develop partnerships
with organisations with a different expertise to
develop new possibilities for elderly people and
communities.
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MR DAVID CLARKE
Originally trained as a teacher and later in
management, Dave worked in a variety of jobs
including Pottery and Oyster Farming, before
spending more than 20 years in social and
community services organisations, with a
particular focus on disability services. In the
late 80's and early 90's, Dave was involved in
the creation and piloting a number of new types
of disability services, and establishing new
community based organisations to deliver those
services. As a consultant he has provided advice
to large and small community organisations on
governance and change management, and has
conducted reviews of community organisations for
the Federal Government. For the past 6 years as
CEO of VICSERV, he has been working to
consolidate the early growth of the psychiatric
disability support sector, with a particular
focus on quality and workforce professional
development. In addition to being CEO of VICSERV
Dave is currently a member of the State
Ministerial Advisory Committee on mental health,
and a board member of QICSA, the Victorian
Community Health quality accreditation body.
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DAVID KAVANAGH BA Dip Psychol (Sydney) MA PhD
(Stanford)
PROF. IAN HICKIE
In 1997, Professor Hickie was appointed
Professor of Community Psychiatry at the
University of New South Wales. In that position
he focussed on the identification and management
of common forms of depression and anxiety in
primary care. Additionally, he has designed
innovative educational and training programs to
increase the mental health skills of general
practitioners. As part of that process, the
information packages have been increasingly
promoted to patients and their families so that
they can become more active participants in their
own long-term care.  Professor Hickie has strong
clinical expertise in the area of mood disorders,
with particular reference to treatment resistance
and social and interpersonal risk factors. He
also has research expertise in neuroimaging of
mood disorders, physical health consequences of
depression, somatic presentations of mood
disorders and chronic fatigue states. Professor
Hickie has written more than 100 articles in
scientific journals and has held research grants
from the National Health and Medical Research
Council since 1991. His academic excellence has
been recognised by national awards from the Royal
Australian and New Zealand College of
Psychiatrists (Junior Research Award 1992, Senior
Award 1997), and the Australasian Society of
Psychiatric Research (Organon Award 1990
Novartis Oration 1998). His service innovation
and contribution to education was recognised by
the presentation of The Mental Health Services
Conference (TMHS) Gold Award in 1999.  Since
October 2000, Professor Hickie has been CEO of
beyondblue the national depression initiative
with particular focus on community awareness,
destigmatisation, prevention and changes in
general practice.
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PROF. ALEXANDER (SANDY) C. McFARLANE MB.
BS.,(Hons), MD., Dip. Psychother., FRANZCP
Professor McFarlane is one of the peers in the
field of traumatic stress. He is currently the
Head of the Department of Psychiatry at the
University of Adelaide and based at The Queen
Elizabeth Hospital. He is a recognised
international expert in the field of post
traumatic stress disorder and is a Past President
of both the International Society for Traumatic
Stress Studies and the Australasian Society for
Traumatic Stress Studies. He is currently the
Senior Psychiatrist in the Australian Defence
Forces.  Apart from his interest in post
traumatic stress disorder in relation to disaster
victims and other civilian accidents, he has
broadened the relevance of this knowledge to the
area of those suffering severe mental illness.
In particular, he has been interested in the
traumatic suffering of people with psychotic
disorders and the relevance of the knowledge
derived in the PTSD field to the rehabilitation
of these patients.  Further, he has been
interested in the general issue of the role of
impairments and the impact they have on the
pattern of disability and handicap in psychiatric
disorders.  He has published over 160
articles in various refereed journals and has
co-edited three books.
MS PAT SUTTON
Member of the Guardianship Board, currently
sitting on the Appeals Board, which hears appeals
from people detained under the Mental Health
Act.  Member of the Management Board, as well as
the community awareness unit of the Mental
Illness (formerly Schizophrenia)
Fellowship.  Ambassador of the Carers
Association  Member of the Mental Health Carers
Task Group  Coordinator of the western region
Consumer and Carer Forum, working alongside
service providers. This group has recently
received funding for 2 years for consumer and
carer peer workers for the north and west
regions.  Pat has spent many years as an advocate
for people with severe and ongoing mental
illness.  Pat has 4 children, including 2 sons
with Schizophrenia.
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MR JEFF FIEBIG
Jeff has been involved in the area of aged care
since the early 1980s. From 1980 to 1995 he
managed the Commonwealths Aged Care program in
South Australia and took a lead role in the
development of many national and state
initiatives including - Community Options, -
Community Aged Care Packages, - Nursing Home
Options (EACHPs), - Multipurpose Services
(Rural Health Services), - Ageing in Place
Services, - Seniors Information Service, - The
Aged Rights Advocacy Service, - Multicultural
Aged Care, - The Community Visitors Scheme.  Jeff
was a co-author of the 1988 Report Residents
Rights in Nursing Homes otherwise known as the
Ronalds Report which led to the introduction of
many residents rights initiatives in residential
aged care.  In 1995 Jeff became the Director,
Office for the Ageing with the South Australian
Government. From 1996-2001 he was a member of the
South Australian Ministerial Advisory Committee
on Ageing chaired by Dame Roma Mitchell. During
his time with OFTA a major series of South
Australian State Government policy directions
were released including,Ageing A 10 Year Plan
for South AustraliaMoving Ahead a plan to
improve the health needs of older people in South
Australia. In addition, a number of other
reports, studies and initiatives were developed
including- a study of the needs of indigenous
older people - a report on the issues facing
older people of culturally and linguistically
diverse backgrounds- the commencement of the
South Australian Network for Research on
Ageing- a review of the Home and Community Care
Workforce in South Australia the development of
the Acute Transition Alliance program (a
hospital discharge program)  Jeff currently is
employed by the Italian Benevolent Foundation and
is subcontracted to the ACH Group to manage their
Program Development Division. Jeff is a board
member of the Aboriginal Elders Village and the
Ethnic Link Advisory Committee. He also does some
national consultancy work.