Keynote Speakers

Pat Dudgeon is from the Bardi people in Western Australia. She is a psychologist and professor at the Poche Centre for Aboriginal Health and the School of Indigenous Studies at UWA. Her area of research includes Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing and suicide prevention.

Professor Dudgeon is the director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention at UWA. She is also the lead chief investigator of a national research project, Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing that aims to develop approaches to Indigenous mental health services that promote cultural values and strengths as well as empowering users. She is a board member of Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia, and a prominent contributor to the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association. She was a Commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission and also was the co-chair of the National Ministerial Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Group where significant policies had been developed to improve the mental health and wellbeing of Indigenous Australians. She is a current member of Advisory Group to the National Office of Suicide Prevention.

Professor Dudgeon has many publications in Indigenous mental health, in particular, the Working Together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principals and Practice 2014. Also of note, is the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project (ATSISPEP). This ground-breaking evaluation clearly identified the key elements for best practice suicide prevention programs and strategies, and the central importance of Indigenous leadership at all levels of delivery.

Professor Dudgeon was appointed a member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2023.

Matthew has published over 200 papers, mostly on how to create change in trust-sensitive, polarised environments. He has conducted cross-national and cross-cultural research on topics such as climate scepticism, vaccine hesitancy, conspiracy theorising, and misinformation about renewable energy.

Matthew is currently leading the Net Zero Observatory at the University of Queensland, a multi-disciplinary group of academics and practitioners who design strategies to accelerate industry action and community support for rapid decarbonisation globally. His most recent research focuses on the capacity of Gen-AI tools such as ChatGPT to reduce misinformation and conspiracy theories about climate mitigation efforts.