Expanding the Conversation: From Moral Injury to Embitterment
Tracks
Prince Room and Virtual via OnAIR
Monarch Room - In Person Only
Marquis Room - In Person Only
| Monday, March 2, 2026 |
| 9:45 AM - 10:30 AM |
| Prince Room |
Overview
Dean Yates, Author of Line in the Sand, a memoir on healing from trauma; Workplace Mental Health Expert
Details
Three Key Learnings:
Moral injury is real and can have long-lasting, devastating consequences for sufferers and their families Moral injury needs to be factored into the management of psychosocial hazards in all frontline workplaces Moral injury is not always preventable, but it can be mitigated.
Moral injury is real and can have long-lasting, devastating consequences for sufferers and their families Moral injury needs to be factored into the management of psychosocial hazards in all frontline workplaces Moral injury is not always preventable, but it can be mitigated.
Speaker
Dean Yates
Author of Line in the Sand, a memoir on healing from trauma; Workplace Mental Health Expert
A story of moral injury from the frontlines
Presentation Overview
This presentation will take delegates into the mind, body and soul of Dean Yates, a former journalist and bureau chief for the international news agency Reuters. Delegates will understand what it feels like to have moral injury. How it impacts loved ones. They will get an insight into prevention and healing strategies.
Dean suffered a moral injury following the deaths of two of his Iraqi staff in Baghdad, killed in a U.S. helicopter attack in 2007. He was the bureau chief, responsible for their safety. They were killed on his watch. The presentation will show how this event led to Dean’s unravelling nearly a decade later, took him to the brink of suicide, and his first admission to the Ward 17 psych unit in Melbourne. It was in Ward 17 that Dean began assessing his actions and inactions, culminating a year later in a healing ceremony where he sought the forgiveness of his dead staff and unexpectedly forgave himself.
Not long after his first psych ward admission, Reuters saw Dean as damaged goods and tried to force him out of an organisation he’d served loyally for 23 years. That betrayal, that moral injury was harder to deal with than anything Dean experienced covering war and natural disasters, even the deaths of his Iraqi staff. As Dean’s presentation will show, he wasn’t alone. During three admissions to Ward 17 (2016-2018), he met dozens of first responders and veterans who all said betrayal and abandonment by their bosses and organisations was worse than the occupational trauma they experienced; that workers’ comp/DVA hell was worse than anything they saw on the frontlines.
Aided by high-quality images, Dean’s presentation will give delegates a unique insight into moral injury because he’s lived it, healed from it and spent seven years writing a critically acclaimed memoir about his journey.
Dean suffered a moral injury following the deaths of two of his Iraqi staff in Baghdad, killed in a U.S. helicopter attack in 2007. He was the bureau chief, responsible for their safety. They were killed on his watch. The presentation will show how this event led to Dean’s unravelling nearly a decade later, took him to the brink of suicide, and his first admission to the Ward 17 psych unit in Melbourne. It was in Ward 17 that Dean began assessing his actions and inactions, culminating a year later in a healing ceremony where he sought the forgiveness of his dead staff and unexpectedly forgave himself.
Not long after his first psych ward admission, Reuters saw Dean as damaged goods and tried to force him out of an organisation he’d served loyally for 23 years. That betrayal, that moral injury was harder to deal with than anything Dean experienced covering war and natural disasters, even the deaths of his Iraqi staff. As Dean’s presentation will show, he wasn’t alone. During three admissions to Ward 17 (2016-2018), he met dozens of first responders and veterans who all said betrayal and abandonment by their bosses and organisations was worse than the occupational trauma they experienced; that workers’ comp/DVA hell was worse than anything they saw on the frontlines.
Aided by high-quality images, Dean’s presentation will give delegates a unique insight into moral injury because he’s lived it, healed from it and spent seven years writing a critically acclaimed memoir about his journey.
Biography
Dean Yates is the author of Line in the Sand, an acclaimed memoir published in 2023. Dean was a longtime journalist and bureau chief for the international news agency Reuters. He covered some of the most traumatic events of the past 25 years, including the Iraq War. During three admissions to the Ward 17 psych unit in Melbourne (2016-2018) for treatment of his PTSD, Dean learnt about the moral pain and loss experienced by first responders and veterans. He helped persuade the Tasmanian government to introduce legislation that made PTSD a presumptive work-related illness for state workers, including first responders.
