Abstract presentations



In order of how they appear in the program

1

Art for Inclusion: Turning Stigma into Superpower: A Bipolar Artists Path to Advocacy

Ross Vaughan
Bunbury Regional Art Gallery

The life of an artist is often romanticised—aloof, nostalgic, and full of clichés: a second-floor garret on the Riviera, late nights of painting, Bordeaux in hand, a model draped across a chaise lounge. But my lived experience as an artist born with Bipolar I disorder tells a different story.

Bipolar didn’t fully emerge until my late teens and early twenties. I completed an art degree and excelled, driven by the tactile nature of my work and an ability to create at all hours. This was my first sign of mania: I would go days without sleep, producing obsessively until I burned out and withdrew. Like many around me, I began drinking and smoking—using alcohol to self-medicate.

I kept my bipolar hidden from employers, friends, and partners out of fear of being labelled or misunderstood. My behaviour became self-sabotaging and self-harming—logical to me at the time, but fuelled by shame and stigma.

For years I remained stuck in this cycle until I made the decision to learn about mental health. I joined the Southwest Consumers Advisory Group (SWCAG), supported by the WA Country Health Service, and later became involved with CoMHWA. Through these groups, I discovered the power of self-advocacy, peer connection, and knowledge. I began to feel empowered.

This led to a turning point: I started voluntarily running inclusive art classes for people of all abilities. Seven years later, the program has grown, with three successful group exhibitions and ongoing funding. It now runs at Bunbury Regional Art Gallery as part of a supported community initiative.

My journey is one of recovery, identity, and transformation. Through lived experience, creative expression, and challenging stigma, I’ve turned what once felt like a burden into a powerful tool for connection and change. I would site examples, show photos and reels for my presentation.

2

Feasibility Randomised Controlled trial of Peer Led Behavioural Activation for Farmers with Mood Problems

Martin Jones
Edith Cowan University

Introduction

Farmers in Australia face barriers in accessing psychological treatments for depression which may partly explain the elevated risk of suicide in this population. Behavioural Activation (BA) is a simple, evidence-based intervention to treat depression which is probably just as effective as a more complicated intervention Cognitive Behavioural Therapy. Its simplicity makes it suitable for delivery by members of the farming community. Back on Track is a peer-led model of BA, co-designed with farming communities in, Victoria, Australia. In this model, peer workers—individuals with lived experience of farming life—deliver BA to farmers living with depression.  

Aim

In this presentation we will report the feasibility of the RCT - Back on Track program - for farmers living with depression.

Method

We conducted a two-arm feasibility randomised controlled trial. Participants were randomised to either the Back on Track intervention or a control condition. The intervention group received BA sessions delivered by peer workers over a 10-week period. Data were collected at baseline, 10 weeks, and 26 weeks.  

Results

We will report the recruitment and retention of the back on track workers participation in the trial. The number of participants – farmers - who consented to participate, completed baseline assessments, agreed to randomisation, commenced the intervention, and completed the follow-up measures will also be reported. In addition, we report the number of sessions in which satisfactory adherence to BA was observed.

Conclusion

The Back on Track model may enhance access to a BA for farmers experiencing depression. The model we will present may have relevance in rural communities more generally which struggle to access low intensity psychosocial intervention.

Click Here for Trial Registration

3

Needs Driven Innovation Within CAMHS: Paediatric Conultant-Liaison in a Rural Hospital

Savio Sardinha, Katherine Illich & Siti Haji Ahmad
WA Country Health Service

Paediatricians and child psychiatrists review children with complex comorbidity, noting similarities between Child Development Service (CDS) and CAMHS in managing developmental disorders and co-morbidities. Mental health and Behavioural comorbidity is common in developmental disorders, with a challenge of demarcating the two (Olusanya, Davis et al. 2018).

Rural paediatric children with these conditions are less likely to be referred to allied health and psychology services, with a gap in accessing multidisciplinary teams. (Bowling and Bearman 2023).

Clinicians identified barriers including family factors, service fragmentation, long wait times and inadequate training for paediatricians and general practitioners. Rural and regional locations provided additional challenges but a greater sense of collaboration, with opportunity to improve service integration. Suggestions for an optimal system included improving access to child psychiatry expertise, whilst improving training for paediatricians, leading to access to timely and early interventions.

This would also help in reducing inappropriate referrals from paediatrics to CAMHS, positively impacting on service demand issues within CAMHS. Timely access to appropriate referral/assessment pathways can also positively impact on length of hospitalization. 

Method: 

Analysis of referrals to CAMHS from Kalgoorlie Paediatrics from January 2024-March 2025, looking at primary diagnosis(es) and reason for referral.

Co-morbid behavioural and mental health issues as meeting criteria based on CAMHS Model of Care will be cross referenced with reporting of:Total number of referrals with proportion activated.Total triaged.Referrals from Paediatrics with activated versus not.

Top 3 diagnoses of paediatric Referrals with co-morbid mental health with activated versus not.

Conclusion: 

Collaboration with paediatrics can improve early interventions and appropriateness of referrals to CAMHS in children with Neurodevelopmental Disorders with co-morbid behavioural and mental health issues. We anticipate improved ability of paediatric registrars/nurses to manage common psychiatric co-morbidities in collaboration with CAMHS.

We propose a telehealth-based C-L model in Kalgoorlie hospital within current CAMHS resources. 

4

Bridging the Gap: the Role of the Mental Health Nurse Practitioner in Rural Primary Care

Gary Greenwald
Edith Cowan University

Introduction 

The presentation summarises the role and impact of a MHNP in rural primary health. The NP Pilot is funded over 18 months to diagnose and treat a wide range of mental health conditions at no cost to patients

Purpose

The Pilot aims to enhance the availability and accessibility of comprehensive primary care to the WA community, including supporting the delivery of care to under-served populations while collecting data to inform future primary care policy. Interventions include: 

  • Assessment and treatment pathways for people living with a personality disorder including using strength-based risk assessments.
  • Health education and screening for Aboriginal Youth in collaboration with Clontarf
  • Interventions for people presenting in mental health crisis at their GP practice who do not require hospital care
  • Collaborations in an initiative to develop interagency youth mental health services
  • Differential diagnosis/complex primary health case reviews.
  • Specialist diagnostic assessments, psychologically informed care, and prescribing for neurodivergent people  
  • Ongoing support for people living with a serious mental illness including high risk medication monitoring, improve physical health outcomes, and increased social connectivity.

Methodology

The MHNP Quality Improvement workplan has identified unmet needs in vulnerable mental health client groups with clear metrics for monitoring pilot project outcomes. The pilot also collects consumer feedback which is used for ongoing service development and to identify unmet needs.

Results

  • Positive outcomes include:
  • Reduced wait times
  • Reduced crisis presentations at ED,
  • Increased access to diagnostic assessments 
  • Improved monitoring of high-risk medications.
  • Greater choice of provider.
  • Positive consumer and colleague feedback. 

Conclusion

MHNP’s bridge the gap between public health and NGO/Private practitioners. MHNP’s provides timely services for vulnerable and marginalised groups and increases consumer satisfaction and safety.

5

Beyond the City Limits: Supporting LGBTIQA+ Youth in Regional WA

Brooke Taylor
WAAC

A look into supporting LGBTIQA+ communities in regional & remote areas where access to resources and support limited.    Brooke Taylor will discuss her experiences as a Geraldton LGBTIQA+ Community Development Officer for WAAC's Freedom State Project.  

This project aims to improve the outcomes and experiences of the local LGBTIQA+ youth in Geraldton, Bunbury & Kalgoorlie by increasing education, reducing stigma and increasing the capacity of service providers, schools & local government to support this community. We will discuss:

  • What we do in the regions to support local LGBTIQA youth and the wider community
  • Why this work is needed in the regions & remote areas
  • What areas  the Geraldton LGBTIQA+ community has identified as priorities for change
  • The obstacles & challenges faced
  • What has worked for us in the regions & what hasn't
  • The impact observed in doing this work in regional areas
  • How the delivery of this project has differed between our three regional locations & how this differs from our Perth services
  • Benefits of local employment vs a FIFO model, the challenges sourcing local staff, and why lived experience is important
  • The challenges for regional based staff in these roles within their communities 
  • What else is needed to support regional & remote communities 

6

Suicide and School Talk

Kristie Rolfe
Infant Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service

This presentation aims to highlight the importance of adopting a collaborative and systems approach to suicide postvention to transform how suicide is framed within institutional contexts. Suicide postvention refers to the responses following a suicide. The origins of suicide postvention focussed on individual grief and psychological recovery. More recently postvention emphasises inclusive, context sensitive support, valuing lived experience and community led healing. Suicide postvention is an important prevention strategy, as bereaved people often talk about the challenges and issues they face navigating grief and trauma after a suicide.

How we talk about suicide shapes public understanding, stigma, and willingness to seek help. Suicide literacy (the knowledge and beliefs about suicide) affects how people interpret warning signs and access support. Dominant narratives that frame suicide as shameful or selfish can reinforce stigma, silence, and isolation. Suicide within the young people population is a significant issue, and schools are an important site for both prevention and postvention strategies. When a school experiences the loss of a student due to suicide, it can leave the school community feeling shocked and traumatised and impact the stability of the school.

The research undertaken sought to understand how suicide is framed in schools through suicide postvention activities. Informed by a constructionist perspective and utilising a critical discourse analysis method, this study critically analysed the language used within publicly available education department documents in Australia relating to suicide postvention. This research found that these postvention guidelines frame suicide as a crisis and risk management issue, reinforcing dominant discourses that perpetuate stigma and hinder help-seeking. The research highlights opportunities to move beyond reactive, crisis-focused models of suicide postvention responses, and instead align with broader school responses to loss, while promoting long-term community resilience. This can be achieved by incorporating best-practice activities and fostering a more supportive, stigma-free environment.

7

Building Stronger Foundations: The Geraldton Perinatal and Infant Mental Health (PIMH) Workforce Project

Brooke Maddestra & Jenna Thornton
Pregnancy to Parenthood

Background

Improving awareness of Perinatal & Infant Mental Health (PIMH) in regional and rural areas is critical in reducing the stigma associated with accessing treatment supporting the social-emotional wellbeing of very young children and their families. With limited access to specialist PIMH services available, prevention and early intervention strategies/programs are essential to raise awareness of emerging mental health disturbances during this foundational period. Workforce development initiatives that upskill healthcare professionals to identify and respond to PIMH concerns early are a priority.

Objectives

In collaboration with local stakeholders, the aim was to develop and deliver a PIMH training program for multidisciplinary professionals in Geraldton WA; an area of urgent need with no local specialist PIMH services. This included training in PIMH assessment and intervention strategies and understanding risk and protective factors in the parent-infant relationship. 

Methods

We developed a 9- month PIMH Workforce Development Training Program consisting of in-person training and reflective supervision, aligned with AAIMH’s Competency Guidelines for Culturally Sensitive, Relationship-Focused Practice Promoting Infant Mental Health®. The domains included 

  1. Identifying PIMH issues including early signs of mental health disturbances in the infant and the infant-parent relationship, 
  2. Providing brief, targeted, dyadic PIMH interventions, 
  3. Coordinating systemic and culturally sensitive care.

Participants were 12 local intersectoral professionals. Self-report measures were used to examine perceived increase in skill acquisition.

Results

Participants reported increased skills and confidence across all program domains.

Conclusions and Implications

The Project provided high quality, internationally recognised professional development in IMH. Increased workforce capacity will help identify and prevent IMH problems, reduce stigma associated with help-seeking and improve child developmental outcomes. The project has attracted further funding for Phase 2, reaching wider audiences improving healthcare accessibility through workforce development and training.  

8

4Me & Men Everywhere - Empowering Wheatbelt Men: A Co-Designed Mental Health Campaign Driving Connection, Action and Lasting Change

Jo Drayton
Holyoak

In the Wheatbelt region of WA, it had become evident through Holyoake’s engagement at community events, field days, and direct service delivery that the majority of Wheatbelt males were not connecting/engaging with generic state or national mental health campaigns. These campaigns often lacked culturally and contextually relevant messaging and imagery, resulting in limited impact and engagement.

In response, Holyoake initiated an innovative grassroots campaign that authentically addressed the unique needs of Wheatbelt males. Utilising co-design, Focus groups comprising men aged 21 to 75 were created (including lived experience, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males along with mental health professionals) who meaningfully contributed to collaboratively developing a localised mental health and suicide prevention campaign.

The key themes that emerged were: men were not prioritising their own mental health, but expressed a desire to feel more in control of their wellbeing, they wanted to be able to recognise risk factors, unsafe/harmful behaviours, and be bale to identify the signs of psychological distress, along with a strong desire to reduce the stigma surrounding help-seeking.The resulting campaign, 4ME & MEN EVERYWHERE, was launched during WA Men’s Health Week. Phase 1 introduced co-designed promotional assets and merchandise that served as powerful, culturally resonant engagement tools. Phase 2 re-engaged participants to craft targeted calls to action and health promotion messaging, building on the established platform.

Unlike conventional campaigns, this initiative utilised community-driven engagement to create a sustainable model of awareness and empowerment. It has significantly increased participation, with Wheatbelt men taking ownership of the campaign and becoming active advocates/champions for mental health in their communities.

This presentation will detail the campaign’s development process, highlight key insights, and demonstrate the powerful outcomes of authentic co-design. It offers a replicable model for empowering vulnerable male populations to prioritise their wellbeing, reduce self-stigma, and create lasting generational change.

9

Culturally Sensitive Implementation of Safewards, Enhancing Mental Health Care for Aboriginal Inpatients at Mabu Liyan

Lisa Shields
WA Country Health Service

The Mabu Liyan mental health inpatient unit in Broome, Western Australia, serves a predominantly Aboriginal population, emphasizing cultural sensitivity in its implementation of the Safewards model to enhance patient safety and well-being.

This 13-bed acute psychiatric unit, located at Broome Health Campus, integrates culturally safe practices to address the unique needs of Aboriginal patients from the Kimberley and Pilbara regions.

The Safewards model, designed to reduce conflict and containment in mental health settings, is being adapted to align with Aboriginal concepts of social and emotional well-being, which prioritise cultural identity, community connection, and holistic health.  Key cultural sensitivity strategies include the employment of dedicated Aboriginal mental health staff and collaboration with respected Aboriginal community members who bridge cultural gaps, ensuring care respects traditional values, language, and spirituality.

This collaboration facilitates culturally informed interventions, such as storytelling and community linkage, integrated into Safewards tools like ‘Talk Down’ and ‘Positive Words’. Other Safewards interventions such as ‘Discharge Messages’ and ‘Clear Mutual Expectations’ are being co-designed to ensure both language and artwork are culturally appropriate.

The unit maintains close collaboration with community mental health services to support cultural continuity post-discharge.

Training in trauma-informed care acknowledges historical and intergenerational trauma from colonisation, enhancing staff awareness of cultural nuances.

Patient feedback emphasizes the importance of culturally safe places, with Mabu Liyan’s name, meaning “a place of good spirit”, reflecting its commitment to healing environments.

Challenges include ensuring consistent cultural training and engaging transient populations.

Outcomes suggest reduced seclusion rates and improved patient trust, though quantitative data is limited.

This culturally adapted Safewards implementation demonstrates a model for mental health care that respects Aboriginal cultural frameworks, offering insights for other indigenous-focused inpatient settings.

10

Promoting Wellbeing in Rural and Remote Health Workplaces

Nicole Jeffrey-Dawes
CRANAplus

Working in the ‘helping professions’ is emotionally demanding. Numerous studies of workers with the health sector have found higher levels of work-related stress and burnout than many other occupational groups. 

Rural and remote health workplaces across Australia have been challenged in the last few years more than at any other time in recent history. It can also be challenging to promote wellbeing in rural and remote health workplaces where many are currently experiencing workforce shortages, community and workplace violence, issues of personal safety, and traumatic clinical events. As a result, CRANAplus has been developing innovative ways to support the health workplace to prioritise wellbeing.

This presentation will discuss the innovative ways in which CRANAplus can support the wellbeing of you and your workplace in rural, remote, or isolated settings, and will also provide a taster of activities to help support your self-care.

11

Expanding Accessibility of ECT in Rural and Remote Settings

Mathew Coleman
Midwest Mental Health Service and Community and Drug Services
Chelsea Minett & Angela Nevill
WA Country Health Service

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is a highly effective treatment for serious mental health conditions but still carries a stigma. Despite decades of evidence on the efficacy, tolerability and side effects, the issue of stigma needs to be framed within larger issues including: the stigma associated with mental illness; the medicalisation of mental health; and the perceived threat ECT represents to the autonomy of individuals1. There is also opposition from some health, and mental health professionals, who focus on the possible harm of biological treatments, but are less critical of risks associated with other interventions such as psychotherapies. The stigma associated with ECT has not been addressed in rural or remote settings where access to treatment is not present or significantly limited2.  

ECT accessibility has been restricted to one region out of seven across WA Country Health Service. Otherwise, people requiring or requesting ECT need to travel to Perth where private and public services are available.  In expanding accessibility of ECT in rural and remote settings, stigma amongst health professionals is one frequently referenced barrier and challenge. There is evidence that this stigma can lead to a lack of training, limit accessibility to treatment, and introduce variability in its application.  

This presentation sets out to describe the development of a new ECT service within WACHS, and reports on the development, training and orientation to ECT as a service within a regional hospital. The session will review the barriers and challenges described in the international literature with a specific emphasis on rural and remote mental health care and services. A descriptive analysis will provide a first hand account of the implementation strategy, the responses from health and administrative professionals including the roles of psychiatry, nursing and the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist in establishing and accrediting a new service in a regional location.