Meet the Speakers
Confirmed Keynote Speakers
Melanie Briggs
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Melanie Briggs
I am a descendent from the Gumbaynggirr and Dharawal peoples. I am a mum to two beautiful children and live on the traditional sacred lands of the Wodi Wodi people. I have a Bachelor of Midwifery, Master of Primary Maternity Care and an Advanced Diploma in Leadership and Management.
I am an Endorsed midwife and manage the Birthing on Country program at Waminda South Coast Women’s Health and Wellbeing Aboriginal Corporation. I have knowledge and experience on the co-design and legislative change for NSW Private Health Facilities Act 2023 for standalone birth centres to remove requirements that restrict and reduce midwifery led continuity of care and autonomy. I have been involved in the review and development of national strategies, frameworks, and governance to enhance First Nations perspectives on cultural safety and the inclusion of raising awareness of racism in the health system, First Nations maternal and neonatal outcomes. My goal is to develop and nurture a culturally safe maternity workforce by raising awareness of racism, that will improve outcomes for First Nations women and their babies.
Melanie’s keynote presentation at the 2024 AAIMH conference will be entitled ‘Generational Healing from birth to parenting – Our Ways’
Joe Coyne
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Joe Coyne
Joe Coyne is the Queensland Representative for the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health. Joe has worked for over 20 years in the area of child and family psychology. He is an accredited therapist and supervisor for the Circle of Security Intervention and is currently the Course Coordinator of the Masters of Educational & Developmental Psychology at QUT.
Dr Izaak Lim
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Dr Izaak Lim
Dr Izaak Lim is a child and adolescent psychiatrist with a special clinical and academic interest in perinatal, infant and early childhood mental health. He belongs to the Infant Mental Health Ethics Collaboration, which has partnered with the World Association for Infant Mental Health to develop resources aimed at enhancing ethical practice in the field. He teaches a course on the ethics of mental healthcare at Monash University and is a member of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ Committee for Professional Practice, which is currently revising the College Code of Ethics.
Ashley McCormick
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Ashley McCormick
Dr Nicole Milburn
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Dr Nicole Milburn
Dr Nicole Milbourn is the National Chairperson for the Australian Association for Infant Mental Health. Nicole is a Clinical Psychologist with two-and-a-half decades of experience working with infants, children, adults and families in private practice, public mental health and therapeutic services.
Associate Professor Campbell Paul
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Associate Professor Campbell Paul
Associate Professor Campbell Paul is the Past President of the World Association for Infant Mental Health. Campbell is a Consultant Infant and Child Psychiatrist at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and Honorary Principal Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Melbourne.
Deidre Quinlan
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Deidre Quinlan
At Circle of Security International (COSI) Deidre Quinlan, LICSW, IMH-E, is part of the second generation of leadership. Her daily stewardship focuses on the fidelity and future of COSI, considering personal impact, professional development, and global relevance. In partnership with her co-owners, she directs the day-to-day operations and plans for the future of the company. In addition, she provides international training, clinical supervision, coaching, and consultation with professionals around the world. Since 2012, Deidre has led many COSI projects including the development of the Fidelity Coaching model, Path to Secure Hands Learning Series, and the COS Classroom Approach.
Like many providers, learning about Circle of Security began a journey of self-discovery for Deidre. She has been passionate about the model since she was first introduced in 2007 at the University of Minnesota IECMH Program. She continues to deepen her learning in both her personal and professional life journeys. This includes years of clinical supervision, mentorship, love, and friendship with the COS originators for which she is truly grateful. She is particularly interested in resilience and the ability of the developing person to persevere and overcome childhood risks and adversities. As legacies go, supporting our children’s developing capacities for caring and kindness, self-reliance, and resilience leave Deidre filled with hope for the possibilities of what could be.
Dr Mike Sherman
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Mike Sherman
A licensed clinical psychologist and NAPA/UC Davis Infant-Parent Mental Health fellow, Dr. Mike Sherman has expert training and experience in the field of Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health. For more than 15 years, he has worked at the nexus of community mental health and child welfare programs, including direct service provision, supervision, training, consulting, program development, and administration. Dr. Sherman’s training, clinical practice, and administrative experience have given him a deep understanding of the needs and barriers in our systems of care. Dr. Sherman is the Infant and Early Childhood Mental Health Clinical Consultation Manager for Safe Babies, a program of ZERO TO THREE. His goal is to broaden the capacity of providers, programs, and systems to foster children’s social, emotional, and behavioral health and development.
Fleur Ward
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Fleur Ward
Fleur Ward is a lawyer who specialises in Children’s Law in Victoria. Currently, Fleur is Special Counsel part-time, at Nicholes Family Lawyers, and Fleur is also the Senior Litigation & Education Lead at Djirra, Aboriginal Family Violence Legal Service. Fleur is a committed advocate for systematic reform of problematic aspects of the child protection legal system in Victoria. Fleur is a Law Institute of Victoria (LIV) Accredited Specialist in Children’s Law, she is a long-standing member of the LIV Children’s Law Advisory Committee. Fleur also sits on the board of A Better Life for Foster Kids Victoria and other committees which seek to develop therapeutic jurisprudence in the child protection legal system.
Professor Andrew Whitehouse
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Professor Andrew Whitehouse
Andrew Whitehouse is the Angela Wright Bennett Professor of Autism Research at the Telethon Kids Institute, Professor of Autism Research at The University of Western Australia, Director of CliniKids, Research Strategy Director of the Cooperative Research Centre for Living with Autism (Autism CRC), and Adjunct Professor at Curtin University and Edith Cowan University.
Andrew has published over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and attracted over $60 million in competitive research grants. Among his many areas of work, Andrew has led research into pre-diagnostic therapies for infantas showing early behavioural signs of autism. This therapy – called iBASIS-Inklings (‘Inklings’) has established efficacy through clinical trials and cost efficiency, and is now being piloted by the Federal Government in jurisdications across Australia.
In acknowledgement of his achievements, he has been awarded a Eureka Prize and a Paul Harris Medal, and has been elected to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2023, he was the Western Australian of the Year (Professions category).
Angie Who
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Angie Who
Angie Who is a Sydney based independent artist dedicated to creating musical experiences for families that foster joy and connection. With a special interest in the profound benefits of parent-infant singing Angie recorded her first album ‘Littlefolk’ in 2015 and has continued to work in this area, more recently facilitating ‘Lullaby Club’ a singing circle for new mothers (with tea and cake!). 2023 saw her take a version of this (Lullaby Love) to The Sydney Opera House where she had the absolute joy of group singing in a room full of new parents, grandparents and their tiniest family members.
Conference Dinner Speakers
Anne Buist and
Graeme Simsion
About the Authors
Anne Buist and Graeme Simsion
Anne Buist has been a Professor of Perinatal Psychiatry at Austin Health for over 25 years, and ran the beyondblue Postnatal Depression program resulting in routine perinatal screening for mood disorders. She’s written four psychological crime novels (Natalie King series) a standalone thriller, The Long Shadow and (with Graeme Simsion) the Two Steps novels of walking and rediscovery.
Graeme Simsion has written seven novels, including the Rosie Project series, which has sold over six million copies in forty languages, with sixty-five weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. He and Anne are married and have two adult children.
Psychiatry registrar Doctor Hannah Wright, a country girl with a chaotic history, thought she had seen it all in the emergency room. But that was nothing compared to the psychiatric ward at Menzies Hospital.
Hannah must learn on the job in a strained medical system, as she and her fellow trainees deal with the common and the bizarre, the hilarious and the tragic, the treatable and the confronting. Every day brings new patients: Chloe, who has a life-threatening eating disorder; Sian, suffering postpartum psychosis and fighting to keep her baby; and Xavier, the MP whose suicide attempt has an explosive story behind it. All the while, Hannah is trying to figure out herself.
With intelligence, frankness and humour, eminent psychiatrist Anne Buist tells it like it is, while co-writer Graeme Simsion brings the light touch that made The Rosie Project an international bestseller and a respected contribution to the autism conversation.
‘Highly engaging. Brings alive the frontline of mental health care.’ Prof Patrick McGorry AO
‘Gripping, informative…(gives) voice to the experiences of those impacted by mental illness.’ Ariane Beeston, Author of Because I’m Not Myself, You See.
