The Stratford Lecture provides an annual platform for lived experience leadership and its ability to drive and deliver mental health system reform. Mind Australia established this annual event in 2024 to honour the late Anthony Stratford’s immense contribution to the lived experience movement.
Anthony, who passed away in March 2023, dedicated his life to advocating for a recovery and lived experience approach to supporting people with mental health challenges. Much of his journey from personal recovery to advocating for system change happened during his time working at Mind.
Each year, the Stratford Lecture invites a thought leader in lived experience to present on a critical issue related to the role of lived experience leadership in innovation and the transformation of the mental health system.
The Inaugural lecture guest speaker (in 2024) was Ellie Hodges, a nationally recognised lived experience thought leader. Ellie’s lecture explored the need for high level system transformation that is informed and led by people with lived experience at all levels. You can watch the 2024 Stratford Lecture here.
2025 Stratford Lecture
This year the Mind Stratford Lecture and One Door Mental Health’s annual Symposium will be held together, in Sydney, for the first time. Mind and One Door’s shared commitment to research and thought leadership was a key factor in their decision to merge in 2024.
Both events will explore the theme ‘From vision to action: driving meaningful change in mental health’.
This year’s speaker for the Stratford Lecture is lived experience researcher and PhD candidate Helena Roennfeldt, whose work focuses on lived experiences of mental health crisis and crisis care. Helena has researched extensively on the development of the Lived Experience workforce in Australia, and has over 20 years’ experience working in the mental health sector. This academic, practical and lived experience informs her knowledge and skills base in qualitative research.
Mind Australia CEO Gill Callister and Mind’s Executive Director Lived Experience Katie Larsen will also speak and an audience Q&A session will follow.
Anthony Stratford’s contribution to the lived experience movement is also honoured with Mind’s annual Stratford Scholarship, which provides a $10,000 contribution annually to activities that support the continued development of an emerging lived experience leader. The 2025 recipient will be announced at this year’s Stratford Lecture.
The inaugural Stratford Scholarship was awarded to Mush McLoughlan (they/them). Mush has had a long history of engagement with a variety of mental health services. Mush has used the scholarship to explore alternative peer responses to suicide and how these can be practiced through peer community building and knowledge sharing, and will present the results at the 2025 Stratford Lecture.
The 2025 Stratford Lecture will be hosted at Parliament House in Sydney to a live audience, it will also be recorded and made available on Mind’s YouTube channel after the event.
You can secure tickets for the One Door Symposium here.