Sharna Bartley is a dynamic leader with over a decade of public sector experience, specialising in community engagement, service delivery, fraud and compliance, human resources, and agency transformation. Currently, Sharna serves as the National Manager of Fraud and Identity Assurance at Services Australia, responsible for managing the agency's approach to fraud and customer identity. Her past roles include Director of Medicare Integrity Reform and Director of Debt and Integrity Projects, where she consistently demonstrated her ability to adapt, analyse data, and lead complex programs.
Sharna holds a Master of Public Policy from The Australian National University and a Graduate Certificate in Business from Queensland University of Technology, complemented by coursework in artificial intelligence from MIT. Her professional experiences are further enriched by her participation in international study tours at prestigious institutions including Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, and MIT, and selection for the U.S. Department of State International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP). Sharna continues to make significant contributions to public service and community development through her extensive expertise and commitment to continuous learning.
PhD title: Mental health help-seeking beliefs and behaviours in the Australian Defence Force: Intersections with e-mental health and self-management
Helen is currently Director, National Mental Health Surveys, Translation and Research at the Department of Health and Aged Care. Her responsibilities include the oversight of national mental health research data collections, including Young Minds: Our Future which will provide mental health prevalence rates for Australian children and adolescents - the first available in a decade. Since returning to the Australian Public Service, Helen has worked with ANU researchers on Government-funded projects with a direct policy impact (egMental health and wellbeing around the Voice to Parliament Referendum). Previously, Helen worked for the Department of Defence and managed the delivery of a number of influential research projects examining mental health prevalence, service needs and resilience in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) and veteran community.
Helen’s PhD research examined stigma and barriers to mental health care in the ADF, as well as the role e-mental health plays in treatment-seeking behaviour, early intervention, and self-management in a workplace context. Helen was co-author on a number of 2018 and 2019 Department of Veterans’ Affairs reports examining mental health in current and former ADF members and pathways to mental health care, including technology use. Her research has been presented both within Australia and internationally, was tabled at the Royal Commission into Defence and Veteran Suicide and she has contributed her knowledge in military think tanks and international forums.
Benassi H and Steele N (2011) ‘Post-Operational Mental Health Surveillance: Middle East Area of Operations 2010’. Technical Brief 13-11. Department of Defence, Canberra.
Benassi H (2012) ‘Post-Operational Mental Health: Bi-Annual Surveillance Report’. Technical Brief 04-12. Department of Defence, Canberra.
Steele N, Benassi H, Chesney C, Nicholson C, Fogarty G (2014) ‘Evaluating the Merits of Using Brief Measures of PTSD or General Mental Health Measures in Two-Stage PTSD Screening’. Military Medicine, 179(12):1497-1502.
Van Hooff M, McFarlane A, Davies C, Searle A, Fairweather-Schmidt A, Verhagen A, Benassi H, Hodson S (2014) ‘The Australian Defence Force Mental Health Prevalence and Wellbeing Study: design and methods’. European Journal of Psychotraumatology, 5(1), DOI: 10.3402/ejpt.v5.23950.
Searle A, Van Hooff M, McFarlane A, Davies C, Fairweather-Schmidt A, Hodson S, Benassi H and Steele N (2015) ‘The validity of military screening for mental health problems: Diagnostic accuracy of the PCL, K10 and AUDIT scales in an entire military population’. International Journal of Methods in Psychiatric Research, 24(1):32-45.
Searle A, Van Hooff M, McFarlane A, Davies C, Tran T, Hodson S, Benassi H, Steele N (2017) ‘Screening for Depression and Psychological Distress in a Currently Serving Military Population: The Diagnostic Accuracy of the K10 and the PHQ9’. Assessment, 26(8):1411-1426. DOI: 10.1177/1073191117745124.
Forbes D, Van Hooff M, Lawrence-Wood E, Sadler N, Hodson S, Benassi H, Hansen C, Avery J, Varker T, O’Donnell M, Phelps A, Frederickson J, Sharp M, Searle A, McFarlane A (2018) Pathways to Care, Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study, Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
Van Hooff M, Lawrence-Wood E, Hodson S, Sadler N, Benassi H, Hansen C, Grace B, Avery J, Searle A, Iannos M, Abraham M, Baur J, McFarlane A (2018) Mental Health Prevalence, Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study, Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
Kelsall H, Sim M, Van Hooff M, Lawrence-Wood E, Benassi H, Sadler N, Hodson S, Hansen C, Avery J, Searle A, Ighani H, Iannos M, Abraham M, Baur J, Saccone E and McFarlane A (2018) Physical Health Status Report, Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study. Department of Defence and the Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
Burns J, Van Hooff M, Lawrence-Wood E, Benassi H, Sadler N, Hodson S, Hansen C, Avery J, Searle A, Iannos M, Abraham M, Baur J and McFarlane A (2019) Technology Use and Wellbeing, Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study. Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
Bryant R, Lawrence-Wood E, Baur J, McFarlane A, Hodson S, Sadler N, Benassi H, Howell S, Abraham M, Iannos M, Hansen C, Searle and Van Hooff M (2019) Mental Health Changes Over Time: a Longitudinal Perspective: Mental Health and Wellbeing Transition Study. Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
Lawrence-Wood E, McFarlane A, Lawrence A, Sadler N, Hodson S, Benassi H, Bryant R, Korgaonkar M, Rosenfeld J, Sim M, Kelsall H, Abraham M, Baur J, Howell S, Hansen C, Iannos M, Searle A and Van Hooff M (2019) Impact of Combat Report, Impact of Combat Study. Department of Defence and Department of Veterans’ Affairs, Canberra.
Hansen C, McFarlane A, Iannos M, Sadler N, Benassi H, Lawrence-Wood E, Hodson S, Searly A and Van Hooff M (2020) ‘Psychosocial factors associated with psychological distress and functional difficulties in recently transitioned and current serving regular Australian Defence Force members’. Psychiatry Research, 286, DOI 10.1016/j.psyhres.2020.112860.
Gee B L, Han J, Benassi H and Batterham P J (2020) ‘Suicidal thoughts, suicidal behaviours and self-harm in daily life: A systematic review of ecological momentary assessment studies’. Digit Health, 6, DOI: 10.1177/2055207620963958.
Fikretoglu D, Sharp M, Adler A, Bélanger S, Benassi H, Bennett C, Bryant R Busuttil W, Cramm H, Fear N, Greenberg N, Heber A, Hosseiny F, Hoge C, Jetly R, McFarlane A, Morganstein J, Murphy D, O’Donnell M, Phelps A, Richardson D, Sadler N, Schnurr P, Smith P, Ursano R, Van Hooff M, Wessely S, Forbes D and Pedlar D (2022) ‘Pathways to mental health care in active military populations across the Five-Eyes nations: An integrated perspective’. Clinical Psychology Review, 91, DOI:10.1016/j.cpr.2021.102100.
Dell L, Casetta C, Benassi H, Cowlishaw S, Agathos J, O’Donnell M, Crane M, Lewis V, Pacella B, Terhaag S, Morton, D, McFarlane A, Bryant R, and Forbes D (2022) Mental health across the early years in the military. Psychological Medicine: 1–9.
Metcalf O, Lawrence-Wood E, Baur J, Van Hooff M, Forbes D, O’Donnell M, Sadler N, Hodson S, Benassi H, Varker T, Battersby M, McFarlane, A and Cowlishaw S (2022) ‘Prevalence of gambling problems, help-seeking, and relationships with trauma in veterans’. PLoS ONE, 17(5): e0268346, https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0268346.
Varker T, Cowlishaw S, Baur J, McFarlane A, Lawrence-Wood E, Metcalf O, Van Hooff M, Sadler N, O’Donnell M L, Hodson S, Benassi H and Forbes D (2022) ‘Problem anger in veterans and military personnel: Prevalence, predictors, and associated harms of suicide and violence’. Journal of Psychiatric Research, 151:57-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychires.2022.04.004.
SRW Pat Turner Scholarship
Graduated
2020
Peter J
Bligh
National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation
Australian National University
Graduate Diploma of Economics
Peter joined the APS in 2012. He has provided advice on program design, program management, strategic policy and regulatory administration for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. While doing this, Peter has embedded strategies to enhance Indigenous outcomes across the breadth of his work.
Peter is using his postgraduate study to continue to enhance Indigenous outcomes by applying economics to policy formulation and evaluation. He is also hoping to develop embedded understanding of issues involved in the coordination of economic policies, and better analyse the economic effects of policy changes and communicate them to a public, business or government audience.
PhD title: Rhetoric over reality? Assessing the success of deterrence in cyberspace: Israeli and US cybersecurity approaches between 2008-2018
Melanie has two decades of experience across the Australian Federal Government, working in the Departments of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs, Defence, Prime Minister and Cabinet, and Foreign Affairs and Trade. Melanie has worked across policy, analysis, and capability areas, including large scale legislative reform and major policy shifts. Melanie’s defence and national security experience contributed to her passion for protecting Australia’s strategic interests from non-traditional security threats.
Melanie’s doctoral research used a qualitative approach to examine the practical applications of the principles of deterrence on cyber security from 2008-2018. Her study investigated the policies and relative success of the United States of America and the State of Israel. Melanie's work identified principles that may be appropriate for the Australian strategic context and contributed to a global understanding of the efficacy of cyber deterrence policies for governments.
After completing her PhD, Melanie worked as the cyber adviser for the Minister for Home Affairs and Cyber Security. Melanie has also worked on the practical delivery of secure tech transformation for Government for global tech firm Accenture. She is a passionate advocate for advancing and promoting diverse viewpoints in national security, and offers mentoring for any women wishing to break into the cyber field.
The Sir Roland Wilson Foundation is a partnership between The Australian National University, Charles Darwin University and the Australian Public Service.
