20th - 21st Nov 2025 l Virtual Online
SERVICE USERS IN ACADEMIA SYMPOSIUM 2025
Keynote Speakers
Mary O'Hagan
Involved in mental health issues for over 30 years, initially as a user of mental health services – then in various advocacy, advisory, provision, entrepreneurial, funding, consultancy, board and commissioner roles – at the local, national and international levels. Helped to initiate the 'mad' movement in New Zealand in the late 1980s and was the founding chairperson of the first worldwide network by and for people with mental distress in the early 1990s (World Network of Users and Survivors of Psychiatry). Mary has been a mental health commissioner and an advisor to the UN & WHO. She is a pioneer in the peer workforce and creator of a social enterprise, PeerZone, that develops resources and supports for people with mental distress and the people who support them.
Mary has written an award-winning memoir called ‘Madness Made Me’. In 2015 she was made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for services to mental health.
Teddy Johnston
Tagalaka and Taepithiggi
Teddy is a proud Tagalaka and Taepithiggi person—a Queer, Neurodivergent and First Nations person from the Gulf of Carpentaria, Far North Queensland. Teddy has lost many loved ones to suicide, including his brother, and is a suicide survivor himself. He brings the heart of his lived experiences and expertise into his work as a senior public servant, striving to make systems kinder and more just for marginalised communities. His career spans social policy, criminal justice, mental health, and Indigenous Affairs.
As a keen touch footballer, representing Victoria, ACT, and Southwest NSW at the National Touch Championships, Teddy believes in being authentic and unapologetic about queerness and blakness, no matter the setting.
Teddy is passionate about coaching and mentorship - particularly First Nations public servants - anything he can do to empower others.
We are so honoured to have Teddy speaking to us about his experiences.
Egan Bidois
(Ngāti Ranginui, Ngāiterangi, Te Arawa)
Egan brings a wealth of knowledge to this space having worked in the mental health sector for over 25 years. He has worked as a support worker, community team coordinator, policy advisor, service manager, as well as sitting upon numerous boards and advisory groups both nationally and internationally. He was the first Indigenous Lived Experience Director at Te Aka Whaiora, Māori Health Authority - the first role of its kind.
Egan is an internationally published author and a highly regarded mental health trainer, advisor, and advocate. He is deeply passionate about whai ora focused care, recovery for tāngata whaiora Māori and enhancing all people's journeys towards wellbeing.
Egan has presented at national and international conferences, speaking on various lived experience issues with a particular focus on tāngata whaiora Māori and schizophrenia/psychosis from a Te Ao Māori perspective.
Links:
Out of My Mind podcast – Egan Bidois