We awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards to ten recipients in 2026 and one Emergling Leader Award. The awards were presented on 25 May at the Leading Reform Summit.
Dr Peggy Brown AO
In honour of your distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the mental health and wellbeing and suicide prevention sectors.
Dr Peggy Brown AO is a psychiatrist whose career has spanned clinical care and national reform at the highest levels.
She has held some of the country’s most significant mental health leadership roles, including Chief Executive Officer of the National Mental Health Commission, Director-General of ACT Health, Chief Psychiatrist in Queensland, the ACT and the Northern Territory, and Commissioner for the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide.
Today, she continues to shape the future of mental health care as Chair of Mental Health Australia and through leadership roles across clinical governance, safety and community collaboration.
Known for her integrity, compassion and unwavering commitment to better systems and better outcomes, Dr Brown has dedicated her life to advancing mental health care, safety and reform.
Prof. Marilyn Campbell
Professor Marilyn Campbell is a Professor in the School of Education at Queensland University of Technology and one of Australia’s most influential voices in child and adolescent mental health.
Across more than five decades, Marilyn has worked as a teacher, school counsellor, psychologist, researcher and mentor, dedicating her career to improving the wellbeing of young people. Her pioneering work in anxiety prevention, bullying and cyberbullying has transformed how schools and systems respond to student mental health and safety.
She has authored more than 200 publications, secured more than $10 million in research funding, advised governments and international organisations including UNESCO and UNICEF, and trained generations of psychologists, counsellors and educators.
Through both research and practice, Marilyn has helped shape safer schools, stronger systems, and better outcomes for children and young people across Australia.
Sandra Eyre
In honour of her distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the mental health and wellbeing, alcohol and other drugs and suicide prevention sectors in Queensland.
Sandra Eyre has dedicated her career to strengthening mental health and alcohol and other drug services through system planning, policy reform, lived experience leadership and collaborative service development.
Through senior leadership roles within Queensland Health and across government, Sandra has led some of the state’s most significant reform initiatives, including Connecting Care to Recovery and Better Care Together, helping secure major investment and delivering lasting improvements across Queensland’s mental health system.
Her leadership has strengthened services across areas including perinatal mental health, community-based care, alcohol and other drug treatment, peer workforce development and culturally responsive practice for First Nations communities.
Known for her integrity, compassion and commitment to practical change, Sandra’s contribution has left a lasting impact on services, systems and communities.
Fiona Harrington
In honour of her distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the alcohol and other drugs and mental health and wellbeing sectors in Queensland.
Fiona has been connected to the AOD sector since 1988 — first as a peer and carer, then as a participant in peer-led groups funded by QUIHN.
Fiona worked and studied under QUIHN for more than 20 years and has been an ordinary member of the extraordinary QuIVAA board for 15 years.
Today, she runs a weekly women’s group, works casually on QuIVAA’s Peer Connect hotline, and contributes to a range of AOD and mental health-focused groups and committees.
Driven by the urgency that comes with having 13 grandchildren, Fiona continues to advocate for compassion and common sense in conversations around AOD and mental health. While she does not believe drug use and mental illness are intrinsically linked, she knows the impacts of stigma and discrimination are well established.
For as long as she is able, Fiona will continue protecting her community’s rights, listening, supporting, educating, advocating and holding their best interests close to her heart.
Dr Jeremy Hayllar
In honour of his distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the alcohol and other drugs sector in Queensland.
Dr Jeremy Hayllar is an Addiction Medicine Specialist whose career has combined clinical excellence, public health leadership and courageous advocacy for people impacted by alcohol and other drug use.
After training in medicine and gastroenterology in London, Jeremy moved to Mount Isa, where his work in a remote mining community sparked a lifelong commitment to improving responses to substance use and addiction.
From 2004 to 2024, he served as Clinical Director of the Alcohol and Drug Service within Metro North Mental Health, leading innovative services, supporting clinicians across Queensland through ADCAS, and helping drive evidence-based reform across the sector.
Widely respected both nationally and internationally, Jeremy has also been a thoughtful public voice on issues including drug law reform, drug checking and harm reduction, always advocating for more compassionate and effective approaches to care.
Through decades of leadership, mentorship and advocacy, he has helped shape a stronger, more humane alcohol and other drugs system for Queensland communities.
Amanda Hendren
In honour of your distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the mental health and wellbeing sector.
Amanda Hendren has spent more than 30 years working across Queensland’s mental health, disability and justice sectors, advocating for people living with intellectual disability, acquired brain injury and complex mental health needs.
Through leadership roles in Queensland Health, Queensland Corrective Services, and the community sector, Amanda has helped drive major reforms in justice reintegration, dual disability practice, trauma-informed care and culturally responsive services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
She has been widely respected for strengthening collaboration between systems, improving workforce capability, and developing innovative, person-directed models of care that respond to people with complexity, dignity and compassion.
As Director of AJH Disability and Health Services and co-director of My Community Collaborative, Amanda continues to champion recovery-oriented supports and practical solutions for vulnerable members of the community.
Her work has strengthened services, improved access to care, and helped create better outcomes for countless Queenslanders over three decades of dedicated leadership.
Tanja Hirvonen
In honour of your distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the mental health and wellbeing, alcohol and other drugs and suicide prevention sectors.
Tanja Hirvonen is a proud Jaru and Bunuba woman who grew up on Kalkadoon Country, and whose career has been dedicated to supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through trauma recovery, suicide prevention, grief and loss support, and culturally informed systems reform.
A clinical psychologist, researcher and senior leader with Black Dog Institute and Thirrili, Tanja brings together cultural knowledge, lived experience and evidence-based practice to strengthen healing, connection and community-led care.
She is widely respected for her ability to lead with both intellect and humanity — creating culturally safe spaces where individuals, families and communities feel seen, heard and supported through some of life’s most difficult moments.
Through her work across community-controlled organisations, government and academia, Tanja has championed culturally responsive care, workforce development, and stronger systems that honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing.
Her leadership continues to inspire hope, healing and reform.
Larry Stapleton OAM
In honour of your distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the mental health and wellbeing sector in Queensland.
Larry Stapleton OAM has dedicated 33 years to Richmond Fellowship Queensland, helping shape the organisation from a small community service into a statewide provider supporting thousands of people across Queensland.
Following a distinguished career in the Royal Australian Air Force, Larry brought his commitment to service, social justice and community into the mental health sector, leading the development of pioneering programs including Project 300, Transition from Corrections, Court Support Services, and culturally appropriate supports for Deaf communities.
Known for his integrity, mentorship and unwavering belief in recovery-oriented practice, Larry has spent a lifetime building services, strengthening systems, and creating opportunities for people too often left on the margins.
His leadership has left a lasting impact not only on organisations and policy, but on countless lives across Queensland communities.
Dr Stephen Stathis
In honour of your distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the mental health and wellbeing sector in Queensland.
Associate Professor Stephen Stathis is a child and adolescent psychiatrist whose career has been defined by innovation, advocacy and an unwavering commitment to vulnerable young people and their families.
As former Medical Director of Child and Youth Mental Health Services at Children’s Health Queensland for more than 15 years, Stephen played a leading role in establishing many of Queensland’s most important youth mental health services.
His work has helped create specialist forensic services, outreach and consultation programs for regional and remote communities, youth residential and step-up step-down services, and innovative models of care including AMYOS and Jacaranda Place.
Stephen has consistently championed better support for young people experiencing complex mental health challenges, including children with intellectual and developmental disabilities, acquired brain injuries and gender-diverse young people.
Through decades of clinical leadership and reform, he has helped build a more responsive, compassionate and accessible mental health system for children and families across Queensland.
Karyn Walsh AM
In honour of his distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the mental health and wellbeing sector in Queensland.
Karyn Walsh AM has dedicated more than four decades to supporting people experiencing homelessness and advocating for systems that are more equitable, compassionate and inclusive.
Since 1978, Karyn has worked alongside communities to establish organisations and services supporting young people, women and children escaping domestic violence, young parents, and individuals and families experiencing homelessness in all its forms.
A passionate advocate for Housing First and supportive housing models, Karyn has consistently championed the idea that safe, secure and affordable housing is fundamental to health, wellbeing and dignity.
Her leadership has shaped services, influenced policy, and improved the lives of countless Australians through a deep commitment to social justice and community-led change.
Emerging Leader Award
Dr Timothy Piatkowski
In honour of his distinguished service, significant contribution and leadership in the alcohol and other drugs sector in Queensland.
Dr Timothy Piatkowski is an NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at The University of Queensland and a peer researcher leading internationally recognised, peer-led reform in image and performance enhancing drug research and harm reduction.
In just five years since completing his PhD, Tim has secured more than $7.8 million in funding, authored more than 180 research outputs, and pioneered world-first initiatives including ROIDCheck and Steroid QNECT — programs now supporting communities, practitioners and health services across Queensland and beyond.
Tim is widely recognised for combining research excellence with genuine community leadership, ensuring the voices and experiences of people who use drugs remain central to reform.
His leadership continues to shape national conversations around harm reduction, drug checking, stigma reduction and evidence-informed care, while mentoring the next generation of peer researchers and emerging leaders in the sector.
