Mental Health Social Work

Jennifer Martin is an accredited mental health social worker and Associate Professor of Social Work at RMIT University in Melbourne Australia. Her practice, advocacy, policy, research and teaching centres on human rights, social justice and access and equity in relation to mental health and well-being. Recent research and publications are on the topics of stigma, youth mental health, education and employment, safety and carers in the LGBTI community. Jennifer challenges the harm done through discriminatory and inhumane policies and practices that social workers can be complicit with. She is a keen advocate for mental health literacy locally and internationally and has a close association with the Sarawak Mental Health Association. As a social work practitioner, Jennifer has worked in both the old stand-alone psychiatric hospitals and the integrated psychiatric units and emergency departments in the general hospitals and in community settings. She was a founding member of one of the first 24-hour Community Assessment and Treatment Teams in the state of Victoria and also has experience as a social worker in community mental health, intellectual disability services and child, youth and family services. She is currently a community visitor in the mental health stream with the Office of the Public Advocate.