Forensic Mental Health Professional Development Program 2026 Conference

Larissa Dern and Associate Professor Tess Maguire

Lived experience workers have an essential role in our workforce. In this role they may provide support directly to consumers, families, carers and supporters, or through leadership, consultation, system advocacy, training or research. They also create change and work to shift the culture of care to be more person-centred and recovery oriented. In this session Larissa and Tess will talk about the lived experience workforce, and how we can all work together to enhance care across inpatient and custodial settings.

Dr Margaret Nixon

Managing the needs of people with mental disorders in contact with the justice system requires highly skilled, motivated, and compassionate professionals across a range of disciplines. Their work is governed not only by their own professional standards of practice but is also required to meet community expectations and legislative requirements, often with minimal resources. The work these professionals undertake is often challenging, emotionally taxing, and sometimes involves a risk to their own personal safety.  Not surprisingly, significant turnover in staffing is common, leading to a continual and often reactive need for upskilling, education, and professional development. More sustainable models of professional education for the forensic mental health workforce would not only provide better care for the people we work with, but reduce costs, staff attrition, and improve safety. This brief call to arms makes suggestions to organisations about considering staff education as an integral part of their model of care.

Dr David Thomas

This session will be presented by Dr David Thomas. David is a psychiatrist with the Victorian Institute for Forensic Mental Health (Forensicare) and Hon Research Fellow with the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science, Swinburne University of Technology. He has worked as a Consultant in Neurodevelopmental Psychiatry in the UK since 2001. Stay tuned for detials.

Dr Lisa Forrester and Dr Paula Verity

The Children’s Court Clinic functions are outlined in the Children, Youth and Families (CYF) Act 2005 under Section 546, however, the key role of the Clinic is to undertake clinical assessments of children, young people and families, and to submit reports to the court to assist in judicial decision making.  Referrals received by the Clinic tend to fall into the following categories: referral for a psychological family assessment; referral for a psychological assessment/risk assessment of a young person involved in offending behaviour; referral for a neuropsychological assessment of an individual (child or an adult); and, referral for a psychiatric assessment of an individual (child or an adult).  However, within these categories, there are a broad and diverse range of issues that might be listed for assessment and consideration. 

This presentation aims to provide an overview of the work undertaken by the Clinical team of the Children’s Court Clinic, focusing on how to work within an evidence-based framework, whilst acknowledging the limitations of a cross-sectional, one-off assessment model. We hope that this can be an interactive session, with opportunities for discussion and questions.

Moderated by Dr Shelley Turner, Executive Director Hospital Operations at Forensicare, panel members include:

• Tony Johannsen - Director of Clinical Practice, Evidence & Quality at Family Life
• Professor Stephane Shepherd - Co-CEO of 16 Yards, and Professor of Forensic Psychology at Deakin University 
• Associate Professor Ashley Batastini - Associate Professor in the Centre for Forensic Behavioural Science at Swinburne University of Technology