Abi is a youth mental health advocate passionate about amplifying the voices of young people. At 22 years of age, Abi has worked with a number of organisations including Orygen, Consumers Health Forum, Wellways and the QLD Mental Health Commission, and has been recognised for her work as the 2022 recipient of the Jude Bugeja Peer Experience Award. Abi uses her own story of mental ill-health to reduce stigma and promote awareness, speaking in schools and at events. Her lived experience as a young person provides her with unique expertise in order to advocate for young people and advise on organisational policy and procedures.

Professor Susan Danby is recognised internationally as one of Australia’s leading experts in young children’s engagement with digital technologies, social interaction, and childhood studies. As Director of the Australian Research Centre of Excellence for the Digital Child, Susan leads a collective of national and international researchers and partners across government, industry and the community to further the Centre’s vision – young children are healthy, connected and educated in a rapidly changing digital age. Susan has an Honorary Doctorate (Uppsala University, Sweden) and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Social Sciences in recognition of her outstanding contributions to the fields of early childhood and digital technologies.

Dr Aliza Werner-Seidler is Head of Population Mental Health at the Black Dog Institute, UNSW Sydney, and currently holds an Emerging Leader NHMRC Fellowship to investigate the prevention of adolescent mental illness. Aliza is passionate about researching ways to improve the prevention and treatment of common mental illnesses in young people. Her research interests including investigating the use of technology to increase access and reach to evidence-based interventions, working in partnership with schools to deliver effective preventive programs, and investigating the role of poor sleep as a risk factor for mental illness. She is currently leading the Future Proofing Study which investigates the mental health of teenagers from across 145 Australian schools.