Speakers

As Queensland's Mental Health Ambassador, Hayley shares her story and commitment to reducing stigma associated with mental illness and the importance of mentally healthy workplaces.

Hayley Lewis captured the hearts of Australians by winning five Gold Medals at the 1990 Auckland Commonwealth Games at the age of 15. A year later, she went on to become one of Australia’s youngest ever World Champions by winning the 200m freestyle at the Perth World Championships.

In 1992, at her first Olympics, Hayley brought home a silver and a bronze followed by more medals at the '93 Pan Pacs, the '94 Commonwealth Games, the '95 World Championships and the '96 Atlanta Olympics. After a short break, she returned to swimming in 1999 and achieved her goal of making the 2000 Olympic team, as well as the 2001 World Championship team.

Hayley became the first athlete ever to compete for her country in both pool and open water swimming at the same meet. She went on to win a bronze medal and officially retire at the age of 27.

Since those heady days, Hayley has opened a swim school, hosted five seasons of the reality show The Biggest Loser, authored a small business book 'Dream, Believe, Create' and has over 18 years' experience as a small business owner and has completed a psychology degree.

Dave Burroughs is the Principal Psychologist of Australian Psychological Services and Chief Mental Health Officer for Westpac Group. He has a 20-year international career as a strategist, consultant and psychologist working across multiple industries.

With career experience across clinical, military, organisational, and community psychology domains, Dave has a commitment to evidence-informed practice and a reputation for tackling complex organisational issues.

He is a mentally healthy workplaces ambassador for SafeWorkNSW, Champion for the National Communications Charter for Mental Health and Suicide, co-founder of Mantle men’s mental health and partner at Psychological Safety Australia.

Mark is a workplace psychologist and risk specialist with a broad background beginning his career serving nearly a decade in the Australian Army as a Psychology Officer. This gave him the opportunity to provide individual, team, and organisational psychological intervention both in Australia and overseas. During this time, Mark also had the privilege of working with Australia’s elite special forces in human performance, selection, workplace mental health, and resilience. He was awarded an Australian Defence Force Gold Commendation for his motivational and supportive leadership in this role.

Mark has also worked across industry in human factors, human performance, workplace mental health, and executive leadership development. He has a passion for delivering tailored workplace interventions to promote positive mental health to create a flourishing work environment. He takes a practical and applied approach to psychology and communicates it in a way that is easily accessible.

Mark is a workplace psychologist and risk specialist with a broad background beginning his career serving nearly a decade in the Australian Army as a Psychology Officer. This gave him the opportunity to provide individual, team, and organisational psychological intervention both in Australia and overseas. During this time, Mark also had the privilege of working with Australia’s elite special forces in human performance, selection, workplace mental health, and resilience. He was awarded an Australian Defence Force Gold Commendation for his motivational and supportive leadership in this role.

Mark has also worked across industry in human factors, human performance, workplace mental health, and executive leadership development. He has a passion for delivering tailored workplace interventions to promote positive mental health to create a flourishing work environment. He takes a practical and applied approach to psychology and communicates it in a way that is easily accessible.

Anna is an award-winning international speaker, author, trainer and workplace mental health consultant. As a respected member of global HSE, Anna was recognised as a Global Top 10 Health and Safety Influencer in 2020 and voted LinkedIn’s Top Voice for Workplace Mental Health in 2022.

With over 18-years’ consulting experience, Anna supports employers by helping them to see that embracing mental health in the workplace can help prevent injury and drive a great culture. She helps Australian businesses transition from fearful and confused, to confident and responsive when faced with mental health challenges in the workplace.

With a background in psychology, Michelle has worked in a range of operational and leadership roles across various departments within WorkCover Queensland. In her current position, she leads the planning and delivery of the mental health and injury claims strategy—providing technical expertise and coaching for claims teams, and offering guidance and mentoring for leaders to support capability and promote mental health literacy.

Professor Michelle Tuckey is one of Australia’s leading researchers in workplace bullying prevention—recognised globally for her theoretical and practical advances in this domain. She works towards change at a systemic level and has had significant national impact, including supporting the Australian Human Rights Commission’s Set the Standard: Report on the Independent Review into Commonwealth Parliamentary Workplaces (2021) and guiding the Australian Medical Association's revised Position Statement on workplace bullying, harassment, and discrimination. The evidence-based psychosocial risk management program developed through Michelle's research has been implemented in more than 85 worksites around Australia. She has published over 100 significant research publications and currently serves as Associate Editor of the European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Occupational Health Psychology and the International Journal of Stress Management.

Nicholas is a psychologist and data scientist leading the National People at Work® programme in the Psychological Health Unit at Workplace Health and Safety Queensland.

He is passionate about developing systems that support workers to flourish, and has experience in performance measurement, leadership, staff selection and development, and psychometrics.

Nicholas has worked in the public and private sectors, in selection and assessment in Defence and emergency services, and has provided consulting services across education, sports, construction, research, and other industries.

Skye is an Associate Professor of Law and consults on matters of sex discrimination.

She is passionate about the elimination of sexual harassment, particularly in the dynamic rural context, having written and published the book Whispers from the Bush – The Sexual Harassment of Australian Rural Women.

Skye has reviewed and facilitated gender equity solutions for a wide range of industries including forestry, seafood, meat and also in the legal profession.

In 2017, the Victorian Women's Trust produced a short documentary about Skye's research called Grace Under Fire, and in that same year, she was the recipient of the Chancellor’s Young Alumni Award (University of Canberra) for her contribution to sexual harassment redress in Australia.