2023 AADPA Board of Directors Candidate Statements

I was the founding President of AADPA and have served on the board since its inception. I am currently the immediate past President and would be honoured to stand for re-election to the Board.

In my role as President of AADPA and Board Member, I have led a number of important developments at AADPA, including the development of AADPA’s evidence-based guideline for ADHD which was approved by the NHMRC in October 2022. This guideline has now been downloaded over 28,000 times and its implementation is listed as a priority within the Terms of Reference for the current Senate Inquiry into ADHD.

It is my hope that I can serve on the Board of AADPA throughout 2023/24 to work towards securing additional funding for AADPA to effectively implement these guidelines for the benefit of Australians living with ADHD. I will also play a leading role in AADPA’s response to the recommendations arising from the Senate Inquiry into ADHD.

I am an Early Career Researcher, with a PhD from Macquarie University in Neurodevelopmental conditions and am currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the University of Sydney. I also have lived experience of ADHD and a strong commitment to ADHD advocacy.

I believe I am in a rare position of being able to synthesise scientific research to lay audiences with my own experience of ADHD, including the diagnostic journey, seeking support and managing educational and employment needs and have published many research papers and conversation articles as well as discussed both my research and ADHD lived experience on radio and national television,

I am a coordinating member of the neurodevelopment community research advisory group for the Brain and Mind Centre and was the 2023 recipient of the AAPDA Florence Levy Early Career Researcher Award. My work has led to the establishment of the Australian Child Neurodevelopment Research Registry and the Sydney Child Neurodevelopment Research Registry, both of which have become cornerstones of research-integrated clinical practice. I would be proud to represent both the scientific community and the ADHD community on the AADPA Board.

I was a founding member of AADPA and am currently President having taken over from Mark Bellgrove in January 2023. I would like the opportunity to continue to continue this journey and help AADPA continue to grow and develop.

Education is going to play an important role in our vision going forward. We need to work with the other main colleges and associations to ensure that all professionals have access to high-quality training in the assessment and management of ADHD.

We will also continue to work closely with Government to improve access to services for people with ADHD and make sure that these services are delivered in a way that not only respects people with ADHD but also involves them at all stages of the journey.

I am currently a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (MAICD). I am currently completing the AICD Company Director’s Course for the award of GAICD postnominals.

I served as a non-executive director on an independent school board for 6 years, and have experience in strategic planning, risk management, and developing organisational culture at a Board level.

I am a vocationally registered specialist GP with a specific interest in diagnosis, management, and the personal impacts of living with neurodiversity including ADHD, Autism and trauma.

I have lived experience as a person with ADHD and I have family members with ADHD, and will bring to the board a deep understanding of the experiences of people living with ADHD.

I am a Consultant Psychiatrist and Psychotherapist working with Adults with ADHD Lived Experience for 10 years and an inaugural member of AADPA.

I am a Member of UKAAN, the United Kingdom Adult ADHD Network, having completed the training in 2016.

I was the Inaugural Chairperson of the RANZCP ADHD Committee, and continue as an active member of the committee, vigorously advocating for ADHD training for Registrars and Consultants, and promoting Public Mental Health ADHD Service provision.

I established Australia and Aotearoa’s first comprehensive ADHD in Adult Psychiatry education program, completed by 200 Consultant Psychiatrists. I was not able to establish the Swinburne University Centre for ADHD Clinical Excellence, but not for lack of trying.

I believe Our Communities have an obligation to ensure every person with ADHD Lived Experience, and their Family, has equitable access to Expert Clinicians with excellence in ADHD Education

I believe Our Communities, through Government, Public Service, NGOs and Educational Organisations, have an obligation to ensure every Clinician working in the ADHD field is fully supported.

I fully support AADPA in its vital role in ensuring Our Communities fulfil these obligations.

I am a Clinical Psychologist and Director of the Adaptive Strategies North Queensland (ASNQ) Wellness Clinic. I am also an Adjunct Lecturer at James Cook University, Townsville.

I have a prior 20-year career with the Queensland Police Service and retired as a Detective/Officer in Charge of a regional Child Protection and Investigation Unit. My decision to retire from policing was driven by a strong commitment to pursuing my interests in the fields of Clinical Psychology, ADHD, Criminology, and Academia.

My tertiary qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts (Criminology and Criminal Justice), Bachelor of Behavioural Science, Bachelor of Psychological Science (Honours), and a Doctor of Psychology (Clinical).

The ASNQ Wellness Clinic’s primary focus is the assessment and management of neurodevelopmental conditions affecting children and adults. My scholarly research is centred on exploring the interconnections between youth, the criminal justice system, and ADHD. My academic work in this area includes a recent book chapter co-authored with Professor Suzy Young.

Furthermore, I have served as an editor and contributor to the forthcoming Special Issue of the Bond Law Review, entitled ‘ADHD, Youth Justice, and the Law.’ My overarching goal is to engage with those with a lived experience of ADHD as well as any other relevant individuals or organizations that might help effect positive change for those with ADHD and especially to reduce the overrepresentation of those with ADHD in the youth and criminal justice systems. As such it would be an absolute privilege to be elected as a member of the AADPA Board.

As a general paediatrician working in the community and in public children’s hospitals over the last 8 years, I have gained professional experience and knowledge in assessing, diagnosing and managing ADHD in children and adolescents, along with helping support their families to support their child.

During 2019-2023 I was the clinical lead for the Hunter New England ADHD Shared Care Program where I led the development and implementation of linking local Public paediatric patients with ADHD into collaborative care between their GP and paediatrician. This project continues in the HNE today and was the key reason the HNE received a $ 2.2 million grant from the NSW MOH to further ADHD paediatric care in regional and remote areas of HNE.

During these initiatives I developed an education module and guidelines, to help support GPs to engage in collaborative ADHD care. This module is not the building blocks of a NSW MOH online eModule for GPs so anyone across NSW can upskill in ADHD with the aim to engage in collaborating care with non-GP specialists. I have also been a member of the working group in AADPA for developing the Prescriber Manual – a resource for all ADHD prescribers in Australasia.

As a Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist, Clinical Director of a Neurodiversity-affirming group private practice, and a person with lived experience of ADHD, both in myself, and my children, I feel I have a unique perspective to offer the board.

Through founding The Kooky Clinic over a decade ago, my experience in offering ADHD services has culminated with the launch of our innovative “Hype! ADHD Centre” model of care in December 2022. Ours is the only clinic in Australia of its type, that is directly addressing the specialist bottleneck, in a profoundly significant way.

We have achieved cheaper and quicker access to AADPA-guideline-driven ADHD services by empowering GPs with a special interest in ADHD (GPwSIs) to assess and treat ADHD patients of all ages, under an integrated specialist training, supervision, and case conferencing model. This GPwSI-led service is continuing to optimise technology to streamline processes for greater cost efficiency, safety, and consistency.

This model has allowed children and adults to access holistic ADHD treatment, including stimulant medication, without the need to see a specialist directly, unless their case is complex, high risk, or unusually challenging. With the Hype! ADHD model, quality care is more accessible, approximately half the standard out-of-pocket costs, with the potential to be upscaled around the country.

My goal of being on the AADPA board is to bring innovation to the table, to improve ADHD care nationally, to share my experiences, and to ultimately, improve the lives of my ADHDer community, to the best of my abilities.

I would like to continue serving AADPA as a Board Director. I was an inaugural member of the Board in 2016, and am the current Vice President.

I have over 30 years of clinical and research experience in ADHD, running a very busy private practice across the lifespan, being involved in research projects, supporting educational events, chairing a 70-strong ADHD peer review group, and last but not least, a 20-year involvement with the local ADHD community support group in WA, both on the Management Committee and chairing the Professional Advisory Body.

Within the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists, I am an active member of the ADHD Network Committee and have lectured for the College at educational events. If re-elected to the AADPA Board, I will continue my efforts to encourage ADHD best practice clinically and to stay engaged with community action.

I am the lead clinician for a busy network looking after around 650 kids and adults with neurodevelopmental disorders. Includes Child And Adult Psychiatrist, developmental, pediatrician, psychologist with assessment capacity for learning disorders and autism, range of allied health and strong school networks.

Previous board experience includes Rural Doctor Association WA President, Chair obs subcommittee GRH, Chair Sjogh MAC, Regional, hospital chair, current chair Abrolhos Group, long, serving member of the above boards. Member WACRRM board which was the predecessor of Rural Health West.

ADHD has massive issues. It’s hard for ADHDer to seek out care; they don’t know where to go, get turned away, books are full, some psychiatrists “don’t do ADHD”, some GPs “don’t think it’s that bad” or “if I refer someone to an ADHD specialist they all come back with stimulants”. Telehealth services are popping up with very variable quality in diagnostics & follow-up care. ADHD clinicians are overbooked; it’s often too hard to do follow-up well or as closely as needed to fix medication problems before pts run for the hills.

We need more clinicians skilled at both diagnosing & managing ADHD now & need to improve awareness of ALL doctors; to improve access, and to maintain/improve safety. We need to get regulators & legislators on board to make changes. We need collaboration; not talking down each other’s capabilities.

We need to upskill GPs, psychiatrists, paediatricians, psychologists. We need credentialed GPs who can handle LOW RISK ADHDers without the red tape they have now. By doing so, we increase availability for specialist ADHD psychiatrists/paediatricians capacity to see more complex cases and help with troubleshooting when things don’t go as expected. My work in this space shows that GPs CAN do this safely and competently – I mentor GPs nationally taking their first steps in this space.

There is so much concomitant autism & awareness of the AuDHD presentation befuddles many clinicians. This should be a focus going forward. I have AuDHD & proud. I’m the founder of ADHD GPs Australia/NZ, part of RACGP neurodiversity SIG & prev on GPRA exec council/ASMOFQ/AMAQ jnr dr/more.