The 2026 Annual General Meeting of ANZAPPL NSW will take place at 7.00pm on Monday 2 March via Zoom. Members please click here to access relevant forms and the meeting link.

Dr Andrew Khoo now holds the Position of Medical Director of Military & Veterans Programs at Ramsay Clinic New Farm. He is the Deputy Chair of the RANZCP Committee for the Military, Veterans and Emergency Services Personnel Mental Health Network. He has represented the RANZCP at multiple government, Productivity Commission and Royal Commission inquiries. He is a member of the Department of Veteran’s Affairs Expert Advisory Group. He is Chair of the Open Arms National Advisory Committee. He holds a Deputy Chair position for the Queensland Office of Industrial Relations Medical Assessment Tribunals - Psychiatric. Dr Khoo has externally reviewed mental health policy for the Australian Federal Police and the Queensland Police Service. He is the Principle Psychiatric Advisor to the Gallipoli Medical Research (GMR) and a member of the GMR Research Advisory Committee. He has chaired, been interviewed, presented or participated on panels around Australia and across all media platforms on Post Trauma psychological reactions and Military, Veteran and Emergency Service Workers’ mental health. He holds academic title with the University of Queensland within the School of Medicine and has published and continues to publish academic papers in peer reviewed psychiatric journals. He attained his fellowship from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists in 2002, receiving a College medal for his final year dissertation on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. He has, for the last 28 years, overseen the provision of a nationally recognised CBT based group therapy program for PTSD previously at the Toowong Private Hospital and now at Ramsay Clinic New Farm. He was Director of Medical Services and Chair of the Medical Council at the Toowong Private Hospital between 2016 and 2025. This seminar will take place online from 12.30 - 1.30 AEST on Thursday 26 February. Attendance at this seminar is free for members but registration is essential. Please click here to register.

The 45th Annual General Meeting of the Association will be held at 5.00pm on Friday 5 December 2025, as part of ANZAPPL Congress at the Hotel Grand Chancellor, Hobart, and via Zoom. Further information, including Nominations and Proxy Voting forms, can be found in the Members Section.

Join ANZAPPL QLD as two expert speakers discuss autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and criminal offending, and provide insights into how to identify, interact with, and respond to people with ASD who are also offending.  About the speakers Professor Dawn Adams (La Trobe University): Dawn is an international leader in autism research, with a particular focus on anxiety, mental health and wellbeing. Dawn’s work is grounded in over 20 years’ experience in paediatric psychology, clinical psychology, and applied research. Dawn commenced at La Trobe University in 2025 when she became the Olga Tennison Endowed Chair of Autism Research. Ashley Phelan (Queensland Police Service): Ashley is Manager of Forensic Behavioural Services, Child Protection Offender Registry, Child Abuse and Sexual Crime Group. Ashley joined the Queensland Police Service after 20 years in the field of forensic, psychological and biomedical science. Ashley has extensive experience in the assessment, treatment, and management of male sexual offenders and other high harm offender cohorts. Registration is free for members but essential. Please click here to register.

"One infant death is a tragedy, two is suspicious and three is murder, until proven otherwise." The number of cases involving tragic child deaths which have led to (mostly) women being convicted of murders and serving sometimes extensive periods in custody before being exonerated has garnered a deal of scrutiny within the media, but also within the fields of psychology, psychiatry and law. This panel discussion explores several of these infamous cases and seeks to open a forum for those with an interest in justice to unpack what it means for an innocent person to be found guilty.   Hear from eminent experts in this nuanced field, including barrister Dr Robert Cavanagh (The Injustice Project) and Associate Professor of Psychology Celine Van Golde (Not Guilty Project), alongside Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist Psychotherapist & Group Analyst Dr Daniel Riordan. This is an in-person event at the Justice and Police Museum in Sydney, from 5.00 - 8.00pm on Wednesday 12 November. This is a FREE event for ANZAPPL members, and only $25 for non-members. Please click here to book your ticket.

The SA Branch of the Australian and New Zealand Association of Psychiatry, Psychology and Law (ANZAPPL) warmly invite you to a dinner seminar and panel discussion with special guests: Her Honour Judge Michelle Sutcliffe, Youth Court Steven Millsteed KC, Barry Jennings Chambers His Honour Magistrate Michael Jandy, Youth Court Ellie Minney, psychologist at EM Psychology and Forensic Mental Health Service (formerly at Youth Justice Assessment and Intervention Service) How should the justice system tackle youth gang crime? Are harsher penalties necessary and appropriate? Is there room for a rehabilitative approach? Drawing on their expertise in law and psychology, our panel will explore the factors that lead young people towards gang involvement and offending, and discuss the justice system’s response to youth gang crime. Please click here to purchase tickets. Tickets on sale until 28 October 2025.

ANZAPPL Victoria’s Annual General Meeting will be held at 5 pm (AEDT) on Wednesday 5 November 2025 at Zinc (Federation Square), Cnr Princes Walk and Russell St Ext, Melbourne VIC 3000. All active members of ANZAPPL Victoria are welcome to attend. You may attend the AGM online if you cannot do so in person. A Zoom link will be circulated to all members on the day of the meeting. Alternatively, you may appoint another member as a proxy if you are unable to attend. Please access all relevant forms here. The meeting will be followed by the branch’s Annual Lecture, which will be delivered by Associate Professor Susan Baidawi. Additional information about the Annual Lecture can be found here.

The dual role of the forensic practitioner, whether psychiatrist or psychologist, raises a spectrum of ethical issue and has been the subject of debate for decades. The differences in the roles and responsibilities of treating practitioners compared to expert witnesses can be challenging for practitioners to navigate, particularly in complex legal and clinical situations. The ethical dilemmas for expert witnesses also appear to have increased with the emergence of broad preventative detention regimes, raising the ethically challenging issues involving playing a role in detaining those convicted of serious offences at the end of their sentence, reliance on new and emerging risk assessment tools and the impact of the highly emotive political landscape on impartiality. Treatment within this context can also raise ethical conflicts, when treatment notes can be subject to orders for production that have less than the usual legal safeguards, and patients are under orders to comply with various treatments (thus bypassing the usual ethical requirement of informed consent). We will discuss the theoretical basis for some of the core ethical principles relevant to these issues in the context of practical clinical scenarios. Presenters Kerri Eagle is a Forensic Psychiatrist and Clinical Director for Justice Health Community Forensic Mental Health Service. She is a Conjoint Associate Professor at UNSW. She has dual qualifications in law and medicine. Kate Harle is a Forensic Psychologist. She is Manager of the Treatment and Rehabilitation Clinic for the JH Community Forensic Mental Health Service. She has extensive experience working with forensic populations and specialises in the assessment and treatment of people with problem sexual behaviours including offending. Tickets Attendance is free for ANZAPPL members, and non-members can register for a small fee. Please click here to register.

Dr. Sharelle Smith is a Clinical Psychologist with a PhD in Trauma Recovery and extensive experience in the treatment of trauma and complex mental health conditions. Her career has spanned acute mental health settings, including crisis stabilisation units and emergency departments, as well as leadership roles with Open Arms and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Sharelle is the Principal Clinical Psychologist and Director of the Lightner Centre, a specialist service providing targeted interventions for trauma recovery, with a large cohort of both current and former ADF personnel. Her clinical and research interests focus on trauma recovery, PTSD, and veteran mental health, and she is the developer of the Trauma Recovery Measure, a strengths-based tool assessing psychological recovery. This event is free for members. Please click here to register.

Dr. David Junior Gilbert is a chartered psychologist, interdisciplinary researcher and University Fellow in the School of Health and Society at the University of Salford, Manchester, England. Gilbert is a member of the academic network of Her Majesty’s Prisons and Probation Service (HMPPS), Society for Evidence-Based policing, Neurodivergence in the Criminal Justice Network, and SalfordFASD research group. This presentation will be preceded by the Annual General Meeting of ANZAPPL WA. Price: ANZAPPL members - $25; Non-members - $35, includes light refreshments. Cash bar will be available. Registration is essential. Please click here to register.

The Annual General Meeting of ANZAPPL will take place on 27 August 2025. The Meeting will be followed by a presentation from Dr David Junior Gilbert titled 'Beyond Words: The Impact of Prentatal Alcoholic Exposure in Forensic Interviewing'.  Registration for this event is essential. Please click here to register.

People with dementia can experience behavioural changes such as disinhibition, loss of empathy and agitation, as well as cognitive impairment leading to impaired judgement and poor decision-making. In a proportion of cases these can lead to behavioural aberrations that may be perceived as criminal offending, despite lacking criminal intent. Examples include dangerous driving, verbal and physical abuse, socially inappropriate behaviour and sexual transgressions. Our research suggests that such behaviours may occur in as many as 40% of people with dementia, creating risks of interactions with law enforcement and the legal system. This session will outline the nature and prevalence of criminal risk behaviours in dementia syndromes. The clinical phenotype and underlying mechanisms will be discussed. These will be integrated with illustrative case examples. The second half of the session will focus on appropriate management from a clinical perspective, as well as highlighting relevant legal issues for clinicians to be aware of. These issues will be considered across the disease trajectory, from pre-diagnosis when alleged criminal behaviours may be a red flag for considering dementia diagnosis, through to strategies to enable people with dementia to avoid inappropriate interactions with the criminal legal system. Fiona Kumfor is an Associate Professor and Clinical Neuropsychologist in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney. She has received >$5.2 million in competitive funding and has published >100 peer reviewed publications in leading journals such as Lancet Neurology, Brain, Cortex and Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry. Her research has been instrumental in delineating social cognition and behavioural profiles across frontotemporal dementia syndromes, and developing psychosocial interventions to improve quality of life in patients and their carers. In 2023 she co-founded the Dementia Law Network, which is a multidisciplinary group focused on issues at the intersection of dementia and the law. Registration for this event is essential. Please click here to register.

On 26 June 2025, 1-2pm, ANZAPPL will host an online lunchtime seminar presented by Mara Lejins, following the recent publish of her article in Bond Law Review titled “Come and Live Like This’: An Examination of Australian Legal Perspectives on Child Sex Tourism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific". Mara has worked as a prosecutor with a number of agencies and has impressive qualifications including a LLM (Highest Honors) from Columbia University. Mara critically examines Australia's legal strategies for addressing child sex tourism in Southeast Asia and the Pacific, and suggests ways to enhance and refine Australia's enforcement approach. Participants may be surprised to learn of the overrepresentation of Australians in the profile of the perpetrator. Please join us for what will be a thought-provoking and fascinating presentation. This will be free for ANZAPPL members but registration is essential. Non-members may attend for a small fee.

The Annual General Meeting of ANZAPPL Queensland will take place on Monday 23 June at 6.00pm. It will take place on Microsoft Teams. Members should refer to the notice for a link to join this meeting. AGENDA Note attendees Welcome by ANZAPPL Queensland President, Mark Kebbell Apologies and proxies Confirmation of previous minutes President’s report Secretary’s Report Treasurer’s report Election of officers Nominations for and election of President Nominations for and election of Treasurer. Nominations for and election of Secretary. Nominations for and election of Ordinary Members.​

Lone actor violence presents as an increasing problem across society and for those working in frontline roles to prevent these attacks. Over the past two decades, many different causes and factors have been attributed to explain offending, however, amongst these efforts to classify behaviour, motivation is often lost or misunderstood. The training outlines the challenges that arise from seeking to explain motivation through ideology or terrorism and identifies the importance of understanding the person and their circumstances through questioning and hypothesis formulation. The training will scrutinise the role of motivation in lone actor violence, and demonstrate that through guided questioning and formulation improved responses, assessment, and prevention efforts can occur.   Dr Nathan Brooks is a Consultant Forensic Psychologist and has broad experience pertaining to risk and threat assessment, along with having worked in both the private and public sectors. As a member of the Behavioural Science Unit within New Zealand Police, Nathan has provided consultancy on security matters and a variety of threat situations and events and advised on numerous serious and major crime investigations. Across his career, he focused primarily on high-risk and high-harm matters, particularly in respect to personality and behavioural risk indicators. Nathan has conducted lectures and workshops on leading matters in the field, delivering these services nationally and internationally. He has produced a variety of peer-reviewed articles and publications on a range of topics, including lone actor violence, psychopathic personality, personality disorders, criminal profiling, sexual offending, cold case investigations, targeted violence, investigative practices, grievance-fuelled violence, and stalking. He is also the joint editor of a book focusing on psychopathic personality within the workplace and he is about to publish a new book on Mass Casualty Violence.