The Victorian Branch Committee are delighted to announce the recipients of the 2026 Victorian Branch Meritorious Service Awards, honouring those who go above and beyond in their contribution to psychiatry and the improvement of mental health of Victorians.

The Meritorious Awards celebrate the unsung heroes of the profession – those whose dedication, often outside formal roles, strengthens our communities and the future of mental health care.

Congratulations to recipients of the two awards on this well-deserved recognition.

Professor Buist is the Chair of Women’s Mental Health at the University of Melbourne, currently honorary at Austin Health where she worked for nearly thirty years.

She has over 35 years clinical and research experience in perinatal psychiatry which she has promoted to GPs, nurses and registrars as well as the public; she was director of mother-baby units for much of this time, more recently overseeing an outreach team that works to improve attachment and long-term outcomes. She was director of the beyondblue PND initiative which resulted in Australia wide screening for perinatal depression and anxiety and has been an investigator on perinatal research projects that gained over seven million dollars in funding. Other research included childhood abuse as a risk factor for perinatal depression, drug excretion into breastmilk, childbirth trauma and fear, and e-treatments.

Professor Buist now works with protective services and in medicolegal aspects of perinatal psychiatry and writes fiction including a series set in a mental health service; The Glass House, The Oasis, and The General Hospital. In 2024 she and her writing partner visited every bookshop in Australia, doing over 100 events promoting mental health awareness, and donated proceeds to local mental health charities.

Katie Larsen is the Executive Director Lived Experience at Mind Australia. Katie works from a lived expertise and social justice perspective, drawing from her own lived experience of mental health and wellbeing challenges and LGBTIQA+ identity.

At Mind, Katie leads the delivery of Mind’s Lived Experience Strategy and provides lived expertise leadership in the development of peer led service models. Katie is a PhD Candidate at Deakin University researching intersectional leadership and decision-making in mainstream mental health services. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Journalism and Master of Social Work).