Professor Sharon Lawn

Professor

College of Medicine and Public Health

+61 8 7221 8476

sharon.lawn@flinders.edu.au

Health Sciences

GPO Box 2100, ADELAIDE, SA, 5001

Sharon has undertaken a broad range of mental health research at Flinders University including in smoking cessation, chronic condition self-management, healthcare workforce, health services research, veteran transition and suicide research, coercive practices, mental health peer workforce, and consumer and family experiences within systems of healthcare. Her research uses a broad range of qualitative and mixed methods, and focuses on examining the culture of service provision, systems of care, implementation, and service users' experiences of care. Sharon is a former lead Mental Health Commissioner for South Australia. Sharon is highly active in mental health lived experience advocacy in Australia and is Executive Director of Lived Experience Australia, a leading national lived experience advocacy peak organisation.

Qualifications

PhD, MSW, Dip Ed., BA

Honours, awards and grants

Exceptional contribution to Mental Health Services in Australia by an Individual - The Mental Health Services (TheMHS) Conference 2007.

SA Pride of Australia Medal - Community Spirit Category, 2012.

2013 Top Ten most viewed ROAR Profiles Australian PHC Research

Winner, 2015 TheMHS Conference Award Category entitled – ‘Consumer Led’. For significant and sustained consumer and carer advocacy.

BMC International Section Editor of the Year, 2016

Winner, Carers SA Carer Achievement Award, SA Community Achievement Awards, 2016

Winner, TheMHS Conference - Lived Experience Leadership Category: Making a difference with and for consumers and carers, 2021 (Lived Experience Australia)

Winner, Inaugural Equally Well Award, Partnership and Collaboration in Research, 2023 (Lived Experience Australia)

Key responsibilities

Co-Director, Open Door: Understanding and supporting service personnel and their families

Former Course Coordinator for the Post Graduate Program in Chronic Condition Management and Self-Management

Former Director, Flinders Human Behaviour and Health Research Unit, Dept of Psychiatry, Flinders University

Teaching interests

Chronic Conditions
Mental Health
Addictions / Tobacco
Person Centred Approaches

Professional engagement

Editorial Roles

Asociate Editor - Chronic Illness
Associate Editor - International Journal of Environmental & Public Health Research
Editorial Board - Australian Journal of Primary Health
Editorial Board - ISRN Psychiatry

Committees & Membership

Executive Director, Lived Experience Australia
Board Director, Mental Health Australia
Deputy Chair, Australian Self Care Alliance
Freemasons Centre for Male Health & Wellbeing
Orama Institute for Mental Health and Wellbeing
Open Door Veteran Veteran Transition Integration Wellbeing
Southgate Institute
Prideaux Centre
Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute
SA Health Human Research Ethics Committee (2007-2016)
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry, Community Collaboration Committee
Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatry, Committee of Research
Life Member Skylight (formally the Mental Illness Fellowship of South Australia (MIFSA))
Member of Carers SA
International Early Psychosis Association, South Australia
International Network on Tobacco and Mental Health
International Chronic Disease Self Management Research Network
Tobacco Cessation Leadership Network (TCLN),Institute for Healthcare Improvement Open School for Health Professionals, 2009; 2010.
Judging Panel for The Mental Health Services (TheMHS) Conference Inc of Australia and New Zealand (2008-present)