Event details
Please note that in-person allocation for this event has reached capacity, but you can still join us online. Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive a confirmation email with the livestream link.
You’re welcome to join the waitlist for in-person tickets. We’ll contact you if a spot becomes available.
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Join John Curtin Distinguished Professor Penelope Hasking from the Curtin enAble Institute for a conversation on new approaches to youth mental health. Learn about Checking on Mental Health Providing Alternatives to Suicide (COMPAS), a program that’s transforming how universities are better supporting students.
Professor Hasking will be joined by international collaborators Professor Stephen Lewis (University of Guelph, Canada) and Professor Jennifer Muehlenkamp (University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire, USA), alongside COMPAS Lived Experience Director Amanda Aiyana, for a panel discussion. Drawing on research and lived experience, they will explore how to identify young people at heightened suicide risk and respond effectively to reduce the risk of harm.
Together, they’ll share how this research is being translated into practical action to improve youth mental health outcomes across the country.
Whether you’re a student, parent, or working in youth support, this session offers practical insight into how we can better support young people before crisis strikes – and save lives.
Light refreshments will be provided.
If you can’t make it in person, you can join us online. Once you’ve registered, you’ll receive a confirmation email with the livestream link.
Date
Wednesday 6 May 2026
Time
5.00pm – 5.30pm: Registration, light refreshments and activation booths
5.30pm – 7.00pm: Formal proceedings
7.00pm – 7.30pm: Networking, light refreshments and activation booths
Location
The Lantern, Level 7
T.L. Robertson Library, Building 105
Curtin University
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Or online
Presenters & Panelists
Professor Penelope Hasking
John Curtin Distinguished Professor Penelope Hasking’s work focuses on mental health in adolescents and young adults. She is particularly interested in the experience of self-injury, and is Past President of the International Society for the Study of Self-Injury.
In related work, Professor Hasking is leading the Australian arm of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) World Mental Health Surveys – International College Student Initiative, which seeks to collect cross-national data on mental health of university students, identifying unmet needs and linking students with appropriate mental health services.
She is the Founder and Managing Director of COMPAS, a not-for-profit company that provides services, training, and research related to suicide prevention.
Professor Stephen Lewis
Dr. Lewis is a Research Leadership Chair and Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Guelph. He is Past President and Invited Fellow of the International Society for the Study of Self-injury as well as an elected College Member of the Royal Society of Canada. Dr. Lewis’ research centres people’s lived experience of self-injury and mental health adversity to tackle stigma and promote recovery and resilience. His own lived experience with self-injury and mental illness bridges advocacy with academia as reflected in a TEDx Talk, published narratives and media interviews, a documentary film, and research impacts that have shaped social media policy, created practical guidelines and trainings, and empowered individuals to work toward recovery.
Dr. Lewis is Co-Founder and Director of Self-injury Outreach & Support, a non-profit initiative accessed in over 180 countries globally. Learn more at www.sioutreach.org
Professor Jennifer Muehlenkamp
Professor Jennifer J. Muehlenkamp, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist and Professor of psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Dr. Muehlenkamp is an internationally recognized expert on non-suicidal self-injury and suicide prevention in adolescents and young adults and is trained in a variety of evidence-based therapies for these behaviors. She is a co-author of two books on the assessment and treatment of NSSI, is a regular trainer and consultant to schools and behavioral/ mental health professionals in her region, and is a member of her state’s suicide prevention coalition.
Dr. Muehlenkamp’s work has been honored with awards from the American Association of Suicidology, Self-Injury Awareness Network, International Society for the Study of Self-Injury, over $3 million in research grants, and she is past president of the International Society for the Study of Self-injury.
Amanda Aiyana
Amanda Aiyana is a Lived Experience Educator and Researcher at Curtin University, involved with the School of Allied Health & Population Health, the Curtin CREST Program, and as a Consumer Representative with Curtin Involve. She also serves as an Independent Consultant, LE Peer Supervisor, Executive Board Member of ISPS Australia, and Community Advisor at Telethon Kids Institute.
With over 30 years of navigating the mental health system, Amanda delivers recovery-oriented, trauma-informed education and training. She is a member of the Consumer/Survivor/Ex-Patient Movement and has expertise in trauma, suicide, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), hearing voices, altered states, engagement, and participation in LE peer work.
Professor Gretchen Benedix
Professor Gretchen Benedix is the Associate Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research at Curtin University. She is a cosmic mineralogist and astro-geologist using the chemistry, mineralogy, spectroscopy, and petrology of meteorites to understand the formation and evolution of asteroids and other planets.
She joined Curtin in 2012 and has held a number of research fellowships. She was awarded a Senior Curtin Research Fellowship in 2014. She held an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship from 2018 to 2021.
She is a member of the Space Science and Technology Centre in the School of Earth and Planetary Sciences.
Activation Booth
Kassandra Hon
Kassandra Hon is a PhD Candidate in Psychology at Curtin University. Her research is focused on co-designing and evaluating an intervention to support people at risk of suicide.
Kassandra’s primary interests are in advancing early intervention and suicide prevention efforts for young people. She is actively involved in various roles at headspace, Youth Focus, and Lifeline. Kassandra is also a sessional academic in the field of psychology and mental health nursing.
Katrina Hon
Katrina Hon is a PhD candidate in psychology at Curtin University. Her research is focused on understanding the disclosure of self-injury across different cultural contexts. Katrina is also affiliated with headspace Midland and Lifeline through her role as a youth advisor.
Dr Lexy Staniland
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Access
We are committed to making our events as accessible and inclusive as possible. Refer to our Access and Inclusion Guide for more information.
Contact us
To find out more about Research Rumble, contact the Research Engagement and Impact (EI) team.