Meet our newest member, Associate Professor Melissa Petrakis

Melissa is Group Director of Social Work Innovation, Transformation and Collaboration in Health (SWITCH) Research Group and coordinates health and mental health units in the Department of Social Work, Monash University, Australia. She has worked in mental health for over 30 years, as a clinician, service manager, suicide-prevention national project lead, then practice-based researcher. She has authored over 100 publications and is sought after to mentor projects internationally. She has concurrently been a university educator of health professionals for over 20 years. In 2016 she was awarded The Tom Trauer Evaluation and Research Award, Australian and New Zealand TheMHS Awards, acknowledging excellence in her approach to research, championing co-design, co-production and co-authorship, with clinicians, people with lived experience of mental illness and families. During the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System she was Chair of the Board of Tandem, the state-wide peak body representing family carers in mental health.

“I have appreciated ANZAHPE to connect with education-engaged colleagues from diverse health professions and settings across Australia and New Zealand. It was great to hear from others working with participatory methods, to elevate lived and living experience input into classroom activities and curriculum design.”