SCIENTIFIC COMMITTEE
The ACMHN Conference Scientific Committee is established to oversee the design, planning, development and execution of the International Conference Program. The 2026 committee is chaired by Dr Brent Hayward. Brent, along with the Scientific Committee members, bring passion and commitment to their roles in delivering a high-quality conference program.
Dr Brent Hayward
Brent is a Credentialed Mental Health Nurse, a Registered Disability Practitioner, and Fellow of the ACMHN. He is the incoming Chair of the ACMHN Scientific Committee tasked with delivering the annual conference. He has worked in a variety of clinical, policy, and leadership roles in the mental health, disability, and government school sectors. His PhD explored the influences on positive behaviour support in the NDIS. He left the public sector for academia and is now a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Monash University. He teaches in the undergraduate nursing program, supervises postgraduate students, and researches school nursing, mental health nursing, and disability support policy.
Leigh Peterson
Credentialed MHN
Nurse Practitioner - Mental Health Liaison & Addiction Medicine
NP at NPathy
SA Branch Chair ACMHN
Dr Russell James
Dr Russell James is a mental health nurse and Senior Lecturer within the School of Nursing at the University of Tasmania, and President of Mental Health Friends and Families Tasmania, an advocacy organisation for supporters of individuals living with mental ill-health.
Dr Eric Lim
Eric is a Senior Lecturer and Academic Chair, Contemporary Mental Health at Murdoch University. He is a credentialed mental health nurse and a Fellow of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses (ACMHN). Eric is also a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy. Eric is well-recognised by his peers for his contributions to mental health nursing and was appointed the inaugural Chair of the ACMHN Research Special Interest Group.
Eric has more than 20 years of experience in the field of mental health and is currently a Teaching and Research Academic. His clinical experiences and research highlight his ability to provide high-quality, recovery-focused care to individuals experiencing mental illnesses, trauma, and psychosocial stresses such as migration, cultural and linguistic discrimination, racism, and acculturation. He has established a national and international reputation for research in the field of mental health for vulnerable and underrepresented populations, including young people with mental illnesses and people from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in Australia.
Adrienne Lipscomb
Ms Adrienne Lipscomb is a proud Wiradjuri and Ngemba woman and experienced mental health nurse with over 15 years working across remote, forensic, and child and adolescent settings. She is a lecturer at the University of Melbourne’s School of Health Sciences and an Aboriginal Senior Therapeutic Practitioner with the Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA) Aboriginal Children’s Healing Team. Adrienne holds a graduate certificate in Wiradjuri Language, Culture and Heritage, graduate diploma’s in Mental Health Nursing and Indigenous Trauma and Recovery Practice and is currently completing a Master of Indigenous Health. A Leaders in Indigenous Nursing and Midwifery Education Network (LINMEN) Advisory Group member, Adrienne brings expertise in trauma-informed, culturally responsive care across both clinical and educational environments.
Becky Hunston
Becky is a UK trained mental health nurse with over 25 years of experience across a range of mental health nursing settings, including working as a mental health nurse practitioner in the UK in the community setting. Having moved to South Australia in 2016, Becky is currently working as an advanced nurse consultant – nurse portfolio lead within SA Health.
Prof Rhonda Wilson
Professor Rhonda Wilson is an internationally recognised mental health nursing scientist with a research focus on digital health interventions. She is Professor of Nursing in the Nursing and Midwifery School, at University of Newcastle where she leads the largest Master of Mental Health Nursing program in Australia with 1000 students enrolled, generating 400 graduates per year. Rhonda leads an innovative digital mental health nursing laboratory, supervising 12 PhD students. She is a Registered Nurse and a Credentialed Mental Health Nurse and has worked across various roles as a clinical nurse, researcher and academic in Australia, Denmark and New Zealand over the past 35 years.
As a Wiradjuri descendent, she is a vigorous advocate for the promotion of cultural safety and decolonisation in our education and health institutions.
Kate Thwaites
Kate Thwaites has recently been appointed the new Chief Mental Health Nurse and Executive Officer (CMHNEO) at ACMHN.
An accomplished executive and senior mental health nurse, Kate brings more than two decades of leadership experience across Australia's public mental health system. Her career spans clinical practice, statewide reform, regulation, quality and safety, and professional leadership.
Prior to joining the ACMHN, Kate served as Victoria's Deputy Chief Mental Health Nurse and held senior executive roles leading major mental health reform initiatives across government and health services. She is recognised for building strategic partnerships, influencing policy, strengthening governance, and leading complex organisational change.
Kate is passionate about advancing the mental health nursing profession, supporting workforce development, improving access to high-quality mental health care, and ensuring that the voices of people with lived and living experience inform policy and practice.
ACMHN 2026 Destination Partner
