Staff Profiles - Tom BridesonTom Brideson

Tom Brideson is a Kamilaroi person from Gunnedah, NSW. He has been actively involved with the Djirruwang Program since its inception in 1993.  He worked for several years as an Aboriginal Mental Health Professional in a clinical setting. He is an Assistant Director of the Social Health Section within the Commonwealth Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health in Canberra . He undertook leave from the Commonwealth between 2002 and 2004 to take up the position of Project Director for the Djirruwang Program at Charles Sturt University. He has since returned to the positon of Assistant Director in the Social Health Section.

He has completed a Diploma in Health Science (Mental Health) and a Bachelor of Arts (Welfare Studies).  He studied in the Master of Applied Epidemiology (Indigenous Health) Program at the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University . He plans to enroll into a Phd and to investigate the impact of mental health training on the Aboriginal community's capacity to deal with mental health issues - is training making a difference on the ground?

Tom has an active interest in:

While Director of the Djirruwang Program Tom was responsible for coordination of the program and some of the achievements include Coordination of the revision of all subject materials in the 23 subjects of the Bachelor of Health Science (Mental Health) course including being co-author on four subjects

The inclusion of the National Practice Standards for the Mental Health Workforce into the clinical arrangements of the course and the first university course to do so. Together with Len Kanowski wrote the Clinical Handbook and Course Competency Document incorporating the National Practrice Standards. The Handbook is designed for students undertaking clinical placements as part of the course.