2026 Barton Pope Lecture

Chris Burns CSC is CEO of Hutt St Centre, a leading homelessness service in Adelaide providing essential support, care and pathways to rebuild lives. A former military leader with more than 30 years’ service, he has held senior advisory roles across government and private sectors and served as South Australia’s inaugural Mental Health Commissioner. Chris is deeply committed to ensuring that every person impacted by homelessness is treated with dignity and respect and has access to the support needed to find safety, stability, and independence. His leadership at Hutt St Centre focuses on strengthening partnerships, improving service delivery, and advocating for systemic change to end homelessness in South Australia

Professor Olav Nielssen is a psychiatrist with appointments to Macquarie University and Macquarie Health. He has performed a weekly walk-up psychiatric clinic at Matthew Talbot Hostel for the homeless in Sydney for the last twenty years, and is the founder and chair of Habilis Housing, providing supported housing for people with disabling forms of mental illness who have been homeless or at risk of homelessness. He worked for fifteen years as a psychiatrist in NSW prisons, was a member of the forensic division of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal and is often called upon for expert evidence in criminal and coronial matters. He has extensive research interests and is an author on more than 200 peer reviewed publications, including on internet delivered psychological treatments, first episode psychosis, homicide, suicide, risk assessment, substance related psychosis and more recently pathways in and out of homelessness.

Dr Damian Mead graduated from Flinders University in 1983. In 1995 he founded the Brian Burdekin Clinic, a general practice clinic in inner-city Adelaide which provides comprehensive medical and psychosocial support to homeless and marginalised people living in and around the city of Adelaide.

Amira is a dedicated Senior Peer Practitioner and Lived Experience Leader currently serving as a Peer Support Worker at Kurlana Padnipadninya with The Salvation Army. With over six years of formal experience across diverse sector roles, Amira brings a profound and comprehensive wealth of both lived and living expertise to her advocacy. Her personal journey encompasses navigating complex mental health challenges, surviving homelessness, and serving as a dedicated carer for an individual facing co-occurring mental health and alcohol and other drug (AOD) dependencies.

Driven by a deep passion for human connection, Amira specialises in engaging with individuals experiencing homelessness. She works collaboratively alongside them to foster identity reclamation, empowerment, and holistic recovery. Amira is a fierce advocate for systemic equity, championing the right of every individual to receive high-quality, dignified care irrespective of their life choices. One of Amira’s life goals is to bridge the gap between clinical practice and frontline reality, reinforcing the vital message that no one must walk their path alone.

Dr Lauren Moulds is a psychologist, researcher and system leader working where beautiful, messy humans meet systems. As Director, Homelessness Systems and Partnerships, Lauren leads reform across South Australia’s homelessness system, shaping policy, partnerships and practice to better respond to complexity. With a PhD in psychology and experience across clinical practice, research and public sector leadership, she brings a deeply human lens to system change. Lauren’s work is grounded in connection, evidence and the belief that relationships are one of our greatest levers for change. She is passionate about growing people, strengthening systems and creating the conditions for both to thrive. At her core, Lauren is driven by connection, bringing people together, strengthening systems, and creating the conditions for meaningful, human-centred change.