World Mental Health Day 2026 profile: Rebecca Egan

The theme for World Mental Health Day 2026 is ‘Lived experiences heard: real voices, real change’. We invited Rebecca Egan, RANZCP Lived and Living Experience Senior Adviser (Consumer) to reflect on the theme and her involvement in various College initiatives including our Lived and Living Experience strategy. 

1. Tell us a little about yourself 

I'm Bec, the RANZCP Lived and Living Experience Senior Adviser (Consumer) at the College. Outside of work, I am an avid reader of poetry. I will often be found curled up on my lunch break with my face in a book. Where I have (a rather rare) spare moment, I write and publish too. I'm always excited to press a poem or collection into someone's hands, so you’re only one conversation away from a recommendation list! Right now, I'm devouring The Agonist by Fijian born Australian poet Shastra Deo. The poem “Good Bones” by Maggie Smith crosses my mind often when systemic advocacy work feels obsolete and exhausting. Or just when I need a good cry. 

2. Prior to this role you’ve worked predominantly in research, collaborating with people accessing community mental health supports. What first drew you to this work, and what keeps you motivated?

I was initially drawn to research because I always want to know why, and I enjoy bringing an array of perspectives together and learning about how they interact. Collaborative qualitative research appealed specifically because it treats people's knowledge of their own experience as expertise (think “epistemic justice”), not just extracted data from subjects. What keeps me motivated is on hard days is the generosity of what people have shared with me in the hope that it will make a difference. It is an honour to witness their testimonies with deep attention, and for that I will always find the energy to continue trying to co-create change. It’s also incredible to watch someone in a longer-term project go from doubting themselves to standing at a conference speaking with earned authority.

3. You're the Consumer Community Member on the New Fellowship Program Taskforce and previously served on the bi-national Faculty of Psychotherapy Committee. What's it like bringing a lived experience perspective into those spaces, and what have you learned along the way?

I applied to join the bi-national Faculty of Psychotherapy Committee out of curiosity. I'd had no involvement with the College before, and I wondered what a committee approach would look like. The Faculty in particular drew me in, because I find the intersection of biomedical expertise and psychodynamic, relational and at times archetypally influenced practice rather intriguing. I've also found those therapies meaningful in my own life. I had a wonderful time on the committee and was sad to step down when I accepted my staff role. Being on the Taskforce has been a steep learning curve to even partially understand the intricacies of the Fellowship Program. However, I also feel like it was a good starting point to know the broader College structure, which has helped when transitioning into a staff role.

4. What does World Mental Health Day mean to you, and why is it important to highlight the stories and perspectives of people with lived and living experience?

I think to me the importance of World Mental Health Day is at its most simple reminding people, communities and organisations to assess their own mental health and wellbeing and take some time to consider ways to implement changes where needed.

Personally, it's also another reminder of systemic issues in care systems, including inequitable access to mental healthcare and care models that causes unintended iatrogenic harms. It's a complex, ever-changing sector and humans are complex creatures, so I intentionally keep room for those experiences, knowing that these discussions can be isolating for those who cannot access mental healthcare, or have had experiences in the system that have caused deep pain.

5. Why is it important for psychiatrists and mental health services to learn directly from people with lived and living experience?

There is rich value in hearing perspectives from people who are not your patients, in spaces where the power imbalance is likely not eliminated but does exist differently. I think developing an understanding of the ongoing consumer movement and the philosophy of peer work more generally can help.

If you work in a community setting, you'll likely work alongside peer workers and lived experience consultants, so learn what their roles involve and when to bring them in. The learning goes both ways, improving care and hopefully your own experience at work too.

6. Can you share an example of how consumer perspectives can help shape mental health education, services or care?

You don’t know what you don’t know. You cannot be expected to know what it feels like to walk (or be dragged) into an inpatient unit and not be allowed to leave. The door may lock behind you, but you still have a key. While I hope you may never know intimately what this experience feels like in your own body and mind, it is valuable to your practice to hear from those of us who do. You notice things when you experience psychiatric care that without a space to be voiced become invisibilised to the broader sector.

Consumer perspectives can and should continue to influence how services are designed and delivered. 

As for examples, a few broad (and I admit heavily Victorian centric) ones that come to mind are the consumer testimonies that were integral to the Victorian Royal Commission into Mental Health's recommendations, and this advocacy still moves forward to this day. Consumers have continually advocated against seclusion and mechanical restraint, describing the harm and lasting trauma. Bayside Peninsula Health has managed to eliminate their use of both on its inpatient wards, a feat that we were previously told was both unsafe and unrealistic. Peer led and staffed services are beginning to develop with Mind Australia's Peer Healing Space in Geelong opening this year. In Victoria, those receiving compulsory treatment are now automatically linked in with an advocate from IMHA as part of a newly legislated “opt-opt” model.

Whether shifts are occurring at the speed we each wish, or in the exact direction we individually hope (consumers are neither a monolith nor a cult), things are continuing to change in response to our advocacy and collective expertise. The momentum appears unlikely to slow down any time soon.

7. For College members who want to engage more with consumer perspectives but aren't sure where to start, what would you suggest?

Stay curious! 

Utilise your curiosity about human experiences, diverse world views, and your skills in relational person-centered practice. Take time to reflect on what comes forward for you if someone shares a perspective that feels confronting. Try to remember the level of power you hold socially a psychiatrist in these discussions, even if you do not feel this impacts you individually.

I am pretty open to simply chatting. It doesn’t have to be formal. As long as it stays respectful and curious, you’re all good! There are no silly questions – I’d rather you feel as if you’ve taken away something to ponder or a new way to approach a situation than stay silent in fear of saying the ‘wrong thing’. I find I walk away with something new to ponder and mull over too. I’ve little interest in lecturing anyone; just learning with one another over time and improving the mental healthcare people receive over time. I imagine this is a goal we share, which is a great foundation to begin with.