Depression (D) and anxiety (A) in the postnatal (PN) period can significantly impact family functioning and infant development. Effective, accessible interventions during this period are needed to support maternal mental health and promote positive family outcomes for families. Group psychotherapy is one such intervention, but its efficacy requires further evaluation. This presentation will showcase findings from an evaluation of an eight-week group psychotherapy program – Tresillian PNDA group - and will consider evidence for postnatal group psychotherapy as both treatment and prevention.

Tresillian is Australia’s largest early parenting support service, offering a range of programs for families with children under five. Tresillian’s therapeutic PNDA group has been developed in practice, takes a strengths-based approach, and is informed by attachment and cognitive theories. The program is currently offered at selections of Tresillian’s metropolitan and regional centres and online.

In this pre- post- evaluation, the group intervention was associated with reductions in both depression and anxiety symptoms for participants. Mean EPDS scores decreased from 14.11 to 9.99, and EPDS-3a scores from 5.68 to 4.37 (both p < .001). These improvements were sustained at a four-week follow-up session. Participants who had sub-clinical depression symptoms at baseline had a smaller degree of improvement compared to those with symptoms in the clinical range. It may be that participation in the group program could prevent more severe symptoms for these participants. However, as the current study does not include a comparison group this cannot be proven.

Evidence for group psychotherapy in the postnatal period as a prevention rather than treatment of postnatal depression and anxiety is limited with most preventive interventions commenced in the prenatal period. Therefore, further evidence is needed regarding the prevention potential of group-based interventions commencing in the postnatal period.

Couple conflict is one of the most powerful predictors of children’s emotional and behavioural difficulties. When parents are misaligned, children are either drawn into their conflict or left emotionally unattended — both of which compromise family wellbeing. The Parenting as a Team model offers a preventative framework designed to reduce relational distress and promote cohesive co-parenting partnerships.

Grounded in decades of clinical practice and research integration, this model draws on Gottman Method Couples Therapy, contemporary attachment theory, and triadic family alliance research (Lausanne Trilogue Play). It identifies three patterns of dysfunctional triadic alliances — competitive, collusive, and disengaged — which each represent a breakdown in the couple’s ability to work together in the presence of the child. These alliances are contrasted with cohesive co-parenting, in which parents maintain solidarity and shared leadership even when emotionally provoked.

This keynote presentation introduces a roadmap for strengthening co-parenting partnerships through early relational prevention. By addressing how parents can shift from adversarial or avoidant stances to supportive teamwork, clinicians and practitioners can intervene before relational distress becomes entrenched. The Parenting as a Team framework offers practical assessment tools, clinical language to describe alliance types, and structured interventions that promote repair, shared compassion, and team-based parenting.

Ultimately, when couples learn to stay connected under stress, children thrive in the secure and predictable environment that cohesive co-parenting creates. This presentation bridges the gap between relationship therapy and family prevention, demonstrating how strengthening the parental alliance is one of the most effective mental health interventions available.

Motherhood is often idealised, yet the profound identity shift known as matrescence is rarely named or normalised. Without awareness, mothers may interpret these changes as personal failure, which can contribute to perinatal anxiety, depression, or long-term disengagement from supports. The problem is not only the under-recognition of matrescence, but also the missed opportunity for prevention. This presentation aims to reframe identity shifts in motherhood as a key preventive mental health issue, explored through lived experience.

Drawing from my lived experience of postpartum mental health challenges, PMDD, and ADHD, alongside my work as a peer support worker and founder of This Mum Thing, I combine storytelling with reflective tools and group-based education. These approaches are grounded in peer practice, community engagement, and emerging research into perinatal mental health and identity transitions.

When mothers are introduced to the concept of matrescence, they often describe feelings of validation, relief, and increased confidence in seeking support earlier. Peer-led education normalises emotional and psychological shifts, reduces shame, and provides a common language for conversations between mothers, families, and health professionals. In practice, these interventions have supported women to identify early signs of distress, access peer and clinical supports, and remain more connected to their communities. This aligns directly with creating mentally healthy community settings and driving population-wide awareness.

Embedding matrescence education into routine perinatal care, health promotion programs, and peer-led initiatives offers a low-cost, high-impact preventive strategy. Future policy and practice must prioritise lived experience voices, integrate identity-shift education across maternal health settings, and invest in community-led awareness initiatives that strengthen maternal wellbeing across the lifespan.

Despite increasing attention to mental wellbeing, most responses continue to focus on individual resilience rather than the interacting systems that shape people’s experiences. The Victorian Legal Services Board + Commissioner identified poor lawyer wellbeing as a complex, multi-level problem influenced by structural, cultural, and interpersonal determinants. This presentation demonstrates how systems methodologies - specifically the System Effects approach - can make these determinants visible and actionable, revealing the interconnections that sustain poor wellbeing and the opportunities for more equitable interventions.

Methods
Using System Effects, over 1,100 members of the Victorian legal sector mapped the causal factors contributing to poor wellbeing, generating more than 8,800 unique connections. The resulting network visualised 45 interrelated determinants spanning individual, interpersonal, organisational, and sectoral levels. Network-analysis metrics such as betweenness centrality identified leverage points most capable of influencing the broader system. Importantly, each participant’s data were tagged by demographic characteristics, enabling future filtering of the maps by age, gender, or professional role. This capacity allows the same systemic map to be viewed through multiple population lenses, showing how determinants manifest differently for distinct groups.

Translational outcomes
Findings informed the Lawyer Wellbeing Systems Theory of Change, now guiding VLSB+C’s sector-wide initiatives, including leadership capability programs, mentoring pilots, and regulatory reforms. The approach has provided a replicable, evidence-based foundation for designing interventions and innovative evaluative approaches that target system drivers rather than individual symptoms.

Future actions
More opportunities present themselves, including the ability to filter the analysis by a range of specific demographic features to understand how sytemic determinants differ. This session highlights the role and value that systems methods can play to understand the complexity of individual experiences and translate them into genuine, novel insights.

Abstract
Context and Aim:
Stressful life events are well-established predictors of mental health decline, yet their long-term effects in later life remain underexplored. This study examined associations between major personal and work-related stressors and mental health outcomes among Australians aged 50 years and older, addressing critical gaps in age-specific mental health research.
Methods and Analysis:
Data were drawn from 95,603 person-year observations of 11,187 individuals across 16 waves (2006–2021) of the nationally representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. Key personal (e.g. separation, physical violence, serious illness/injury, detention in jail) and work-related (e.g. retirement, fired or being made redundant, major worsening in finance) stressors were included. Mental health was assessed using Mental Health Inventory (MHI-5: 0–100) and Mental Component Summary (MCS: –1.21–76.19), where lower scores reflect poorer outcomes. Longitudinal fixed-effects generalised least squares models were employed to examine within-individual changes in mental health, stratified by gender and age.
Outcomes:
Mean MHI-5 and MCS scores were stable over time but declined significantly during exposure to stressors. Separation from partner (MHI-5: β = –3.79, SE = 0.74; MCS: β = –2.26, SE = 0.46), physical violence (MHI-5: β = –4.60, SE = 0.84; MCS: β = –2.56, SE = 0.53), serious injury/illness (MHI-5: β = –3.62, SE = 0.66; MCS: β = –2.46, SE = 0.41), and major worsening in finances (MHI-5: β = –4.19, SE = 0.70; MCS: β = –2.71, SE = 0.43) were consistently linked with poorer mental health. Effect sizes varied by gender and age group.
Future Actions:
Stressful life events undermine mental health, requiring tailored interventions and policies. Future research should assess cultural differences and economic impacts, including healthcare costs, to guide policy and investment in mental health services.
Keywords: Stressful life events, Mental health, Middle-aged and older Adults, HILDA, Australia.

Abstract
Context and Aim:
As Australia’s population ages, a growing proportion of retirees will rely on government support. Extending working lives beyond the traditional retirement age may provide not only financial security but also benefits for health and well-being. This study examined the association between continued employment and health outcomes among older Australians.
Methods and Analysis:
Data were drawn from 45,653 person-year observations of 5,970 Australians aged 65+ across 18 waves (2006–2023) of the nationally representative Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey. Health outcomes included health-related quality of life (HRQoL), mental health (0-100), health satisfaction (0-10), and self-assessed health (1-5), where HROoL is measured using physical component summary (PCS: 4.54-76.09), mental component summary (MCS: -1.21-76.19), and short-form six-dimension (SF-6D: 0.29-1) with lower scores reflecting poorer health. Current labour force status was self-reported and categorised as employed, retired, or non-employed. Random-effects generalised least squares models were fitted to estimate the associations between labour force status and health outcomes, stratified by gender and age.
Outcomes:
Approximately 11% of Australians remain in the workforce after the age of 65. Compared to retirees, employed older Australians had significantly higher scores on PCS (β = 1.50, SE = 0.17), MCS (β = 0.60, SE = 0.17), SF-6D utility value (β = 0.02, SE = 0.00), mental health (β = 0.93, SE = 0.25), health satisfaction (β = 0.26, SE = 0.05), and self-assessed health (β = 0.45; SE = 0.06). Subgroup analyses confirmed benefits across gender and age groups.
Future Actions:
Findings highlight that working beyond 65 benefits health, underscoring the need for preventive strategies. Flexible, age-friendly employment can mitigate health risks and ease fiscal pressures. Future research should examine workplace adaptations, community initiatives, and cross-sector collaborations to support older Australians’ sustained health and well-being.
Keywords: Working past retirement age, Health, Older adults, HILDA, Australia.

Mental health conditions such as depression, anxiety, and chronic loneliness are prevalent among older Australians, particularly those living in residential aged care or isolated in their own homes. These experiences are often exacerbated by a lack of social connection, meaningful activity, and opportunities for expression. Despite growing awareness, the mental health of older adults remains under-prioritised in both policy and practice.

Drawing on over a decade of practical experience and a review of relevant scientific literature, Dance Health Alliance has developed an integrated, evidence-informed approach to support older adults' mental health through movement. Combining principles from physiotherapy, psychology, dance therapy, music therapy, and art therapy, our methodology supports emotional well-being, connection, and cognitive engagement.

DHA has created two core programs — DanceWise and DanceMoves — designed to be accessible, affordable, and adaptable. These fully seated, seated-to-standing therapeutic dance sessions are delivered by trained aged care and allied health professionals, with over 600 practitioners trained across Australia and over 90% from rural and remote communities. The programs foster connection, laughter, memory recall, and a sense of purpose — significantly improving mental health outcomes in seniors. Practitioners create programs tailored to their community’s needs, supported by ongoing professional development from DHA.

We must formally recognise the power of creative, movement-based interventions to promote mental health in ageing populations. Government-backed funding and policy will ensure therapeutic dance programs are embedded across all aged care and community health settings. This will ensure all seniors have access to both the physical and mental health benefits of dancing in the community, increasing mood-boosting hormones and addressing loneliness and isolation.

Join us for an interactive workshop run by Dance Health Alliance CEO, Gwen Korebrits, where you will experience the benefits of DanceWise and DanceMoves for yourself. Discover more about our novel, effective, and scientific approach to cultivating holistic well-being for seniors.