Professor Sharon Lawn

Professor

College of Medicine and Public Health

+61 8 72218476

sharon.lawn@flinders.edu.au

Health Sciences (2.06)

GPO Box 2100, Adelaide 5001, South Australia

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 Chair and 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

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

Supervisory interests

Chronic condition self-managment support

Consumer and carer perspectives

Mental health

Tobacco control

Higher degree by research supervision

Current

Principal supervisor: Gambling (1), Physical health and mental health (1), NDIS and Palliative Care (1), Seclusion and Restraint in Mental Health (2)

Associate supervisor: Chronic condition management in children (University of Sydney) (1), Gambling in Vietnamese population (1), Complex Community Needs and Mental Health (1), Borderline Personality and Suicidality Disorder (1), Veterans Transition (1)

Completion

Principal supervisor: Youth, Mental Health, Technology (1), Mental Health Carers (1), Paramedicine (1), Chronic Conditions in Children and Youth (1), Dental Care in Children in Indonesia (1)

Associate supervisor: Acquired Brain Injury - family carers (1), Gambling (1), Mental Health and Physical Health (1), Mental Health and Coercion in Care (CTOs) (1), Smoking and Mental Health (2), Interprofessional Practice (1)

Higher degree by research student achievements

Teresa Kelly

Heart Foundation Scholarship 2014 -

Nicole Micallef

Nursing and Allied Health Scholarship and Support Scheme: NAHSSS Scholarship 2014 -

Simone Orlowski

RHD Student Publication Award - AUG 2015

Eleanor Watson

Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship - MAR 2019

Pauline Klein

Suicide Prevention Australia Scholarship - JUN 2019

Sara Zabeen

Australian Government Research Training Program Scholarship - DEC 2017

Suzanne Dawson

Australian Federation of University Women SA Inc Trust Fund -

Dini Setyowati

Directorate General of Resources for Science, Technology and Higher Education (DG-RSTHE) of the Republic of Indonesia Scholarship - DEC 2014

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

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
Private Mental Health Consumer and Carer Network (Australia) SA State Coordinator and National Executive member
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