Top Mental Health Speakers in Australia and New Zealand for 2026 Events
Mental health has stopped being the session that gets slotted in around lunch. It now sits inside leadership conferences, sales kick-offs and whole-of-organisation strategy days, because the audiences asking for it are the same ones setting the budget.
The harder part isn't deciding to include a mental health Speaker. It's choosing the right one. A room full of frontline staff needs something different from a leadership offsite, and a school assembly needs something different again. Saxton works with event organisers across Australia and New Zealand every week to match the voice to the room, and this guide breaks down 16 Speakers worth having on your shortlist, along with how to tell which one fits.
For a broader view of adjacent categories, explore Saxton's Mental Health Speakers, Resilience Speakers and Lifestyle and Wellbeing Speakers collections.
What Makes a Mental Health Speaker the Right Fit for Your Event?
Before shortlisting names, get clear on the outcome you want. Are you opening a conversation about burnout and psychological safety, or do you need a Speaker who can hold a room through something heavier, like suicide prevention or grief? Do you need clinical grounding, lived experience, or genuinely both? The sharper the brief, the better the match, and the less time everyone spends second-guessing the shortlist afterwards.
Lived Experience and Men's Mental Health
Some of the most effective mental health content in this category doesn't come from a textbook. It comes from someone who has been through the exact pressure the audience is under and can name it without flinching.
Suggested Speakers:
- Hugo Toovey — Army Major, two-time cancer survivor and founder of 25 STAY ALIVE, and the 2025 Australian Mental Health Prize winner in the Lived Experience category. Direct and practical for events opening up hard conversations about men's health.
- Joe Williams — Former NRL player and professional boxer whose keynotes draw on his own experience of suicidal ideation and bipolar disorder. A powerful fit for schools, sport and frontline audiences.
- Luke Bateman — Former rugby league player and media personality speaking on men's mental health, addiction and the pressure of public identity.
- Lachlan Stuart — Endurance athlete and high-performance coach whose Resilience Loop framework connects the mental cost of extreme achievement to everyday leadership under pressure.
Clinical Expertise and Psychological Insight
For audiences that need the science alongside the story, these Speakers bring qualified psychological practice into the room, translated for a corporate or community setting rather than a clinic.
Suggested Speakers:
- Sabina Read — Psychologist and long-running resident commentator on Melbourne's 3AW, covering stress, relationships and workplace mental health with a style built for wide audiences.
- Dr Emily Musgrove — Clinical psychologist and resident psychologist on The Imperfects podcast, speaking on stress, burnout, values and belonging at work.
- Himal Pillay — Postgraduate-trained in psychology and an R U OK? Ambassador, turning research-backed tools into practical strategies for workplaces and schools. (Profile link to be confirmed before publishing.)
- Mitch Wallis — Holds a Master's in Clinical Psychology from Columbia and founded Heart On My Sleeve, delivering his Real Conversations framework to move audiences beyond stigma into real behaviour change.
Resilience, Grief and High Performance
This group sits at the point where mental health, sustained performance and life's harder moments meet. They suit leadership teams and wellbeing programs where the goal is depth, not just a feel-good hour.
Suggested Speakers:
- Dr Lucy Hone — Resilience researcher and academic whose TED talk has passed 9 million views. Grounded, evidence-based content on grief, change and coping with disruption.
- Tess Brouwer — Rebuilt her life and career after a serious spinal cord injury, now Chief Energy Officer of Awake Academy, pairing lived experience with practical burnout and energy tools.
- Tawera Nikau — Former rugby league international speaking on grief, depression and recovery with the steadiness of someone who has lived through all three.
- Nedd Brockmann — 2026 Young Australian of the Year, whose 3,953-kilometre run across the country reframes what audiences will accept as "too uncomfortable" to push through.
Public Voices and Advocacy
These Speakers bring public recognition into a mental health conversation, which matters when the goal is to reach as much as depth, particularly for events where the audience needs to see the topic modelled by someone they already know.
Suggested Speakers:
- Osher Gunsberg — One of Australia's most recognisable broadcasters, speaking candidly on addiction, psychosis and sobriety, with a director role at SANE Australia behind the advocacy.
- Faustina 'Fuzzy' Agolley — Broadcaster and host who writes and speaks openly on queer identity, belonging and her own mental health experience.
- Layne Beachley AO — Seven-time world champion surfer and co-founder of Awake Academy, and an ambassador for the Black Dog Institute, R U OK? Day and Gotcha4Life.
- Sam Docherty — Former Carlton co-captain and two-time testicular cancer survivor whose advocacy was recognised with the 2023 Jim Stynes Community Leadership Award.
How to Choose Between a Clinician and a Lived Experience Speaker
If your audience needs frameworks and evidence, a clinician is usually the stronger fit. If the room needs to feel something before it will act, lived experience tends to land harder. Many of the strongest event programs use both, one to open the room emotionally and one to give people something to do with it afterwards.
Plan Your Mental Health Event with Saxton
Sixteen Speakers is a strong starting shortlist, not a final answer. The right fit depends on your audience, your outcome and how much weight the room can hold on the day. Enquire with Saxton, and our team will help match the brief to the voice, drawing on Speakers across Mental Health, Men's Mental Health and Resilience.
