Saturday 15 August 2026 - 8:15 am - 6:00 ppm
Stronger Together
Peer Support Conference 2026
Learning • Skills • Stories
Stronger Together: Peer Support Conference 2026
Mental Health and Wellbeing Conversations
Peer Support for Emergency Services, First Responders, Health Workers & Veterans
A one-day conference on peer support, trauma, and practical ways to look after each other and ourselves.
PRACC, South Morang (City of Whittlesea, VIC)
Saturday 15 August 2026 • 8:15 am - 6:00 pm
VMHPAA Announces Its First National Conference
The VMHPAA are proud to partner with Buddy Up Australia, an event-based community supporting current and ex-serving Defence, First Responders and their families through connection, shared activity, and community belonging. Buddy Up runs hundreds of events Australia-wide, creating spaces to decompress, reconnect, and rebuild wellbeing through fitness, social connection, and purposeful volunteering.
Why Buddy Up matters to this conference
Peer support isn’t an abstract concept it’s what happens when people who’ve carried the load for others find a safe place to belong again.
That’s why we’re thrilled to be working with Buddy Up Australia. Buddy Up is a registered charity and national community that brings together veterans, first responders, and their immediate families, creating practical opportunities for connection and purpose through inclusive fitness challenges, social gatherings, outdoor adventures and volunteering events.
Their work reflects what this conference stands for: connection before crisis, belonging that is earned through shared experience, and peer support that helps people stay in the “well zone” — not just recover after things have fallen apart.
Why this conference, why now
Trauma doesn’t always show up on the day it happens.
For many people working in high-stress helping and protection roles such as veterans, first responders, healthcare workers, and those supporting others welfare, the impact of trauma can emerge later, and in unexpected ways. It can build quietly through repeated exposure, vicarious trauma, moral injury, and accumulated stress… Many don't notice until it starts showing up in our relationships, our work, our health, and our sense of self.
Stronger Together is a one-day, practical conference focused on peer support: how we notice when someone’s not okay, how we start the conversation, how we listen well, and how we connect people to the right supports, without asking peers to carry what belongs to the system.
A common theme on on the day borrows from the spirit of the R U OK? conversation model (Ask • Listen • Encourage action • Check in), and exploring what it looks like when that approach is strengthened through peer-to-peer practice and backed by institutions, clinical pathways, and qualified support.
Hosted by VMHPAA
The Vocational Mental Health Practitioners Association of Australia (VMHPAA) represents and supports vocationally trained mental health practitioners across Australia strengthening practice, advocacy, professional development, and pathways to safe, accessible care.
This conference is part of VMHPAA’s commitment to practical, community-connected mental health solutions that recognise the realities of frontline work and the importance of peer support as both a protective factor and a structured practice.
MC + early presenter announcements
We’re excited to confirm that the day will be MC’d by Richard Hill an experienced psychotherapist, educator and author known for making complex ideas about the brain, stress and wellbeing feel practical, human, and usable. Richard brings warmth, clarity and momentum to conversations that matter, with a strong focus on how people change, heal, and grow through connection.
We can also confirm the following presenters will be contributing on the day (with keynote announcements to follow):
-
Martin Taylor - Councillor and former Mayor of the City of Whittlesea and Barrister and Solicitor (Supreme Court and High Court Australia)
-
Philip Armstrong - VMHPAA CEO and Man Counsellor
-
Susan Sandy - VMHPAA Secretary and Relationship Counsellor
-
Shane Warren - VMHPAA Chair and Mental Wealth Practitioner
Further to this is a strong foundation lineup, we’ll be releasing additional speakers and keynotes as they are confirmed.
Three streams on the day
This conference is structured around three complementary streams that you can move between on the day:
1. Learning Dialogue
Grounded talks and facilitated conversations that explore what trauma is, how it accumulates, and how it often shows up later... personally, professionally, and relationally.
2. Skills You Can Use on Monday Morning
Practical tools, frameworks and skills labs designed for real-world settings such as what to say, what not to say, how to listen well, and how to support someone without becoming their only support.
3. Lived Experience Stories
Stories that build understanding, reduce stigma, and remind us what hope, recovery, and community can look like, especially when systems are stretched.
Who this conference is for
Stronger Together is for anyone working in, or supporting those working in, high exposure, high responsibility environments, including:
-
Military veterans and veteran support organisations
-
Police, paramedics, firefighters and emergency services
-
Healthcare workers and hospital/clinical teams
-
Animal welfare workers and veterinary professionals
-
Peer support workers, lived experience leaders, and community support teams
-
Counsellors, coaches, psychotherapists and allied practitioners supporting these communities
-
Leaders and supervisors responsible for staff wellbeing and safe workplaces
What we’ll explore
Topics across the day will include:
-
Trauma that emerges later, delayed impact and cumulative exposure
-
Vicarious trauma and compassion fatigue: the “slow build” effect
-
Moral injury, shame, and the hidden layers of distress
-
The ripple effects: relationships, family life, workplace conflict, isolation and withdrawal
-
Trauma as a precursor to other issues such as domestic violence, separation, friendship strain, suicide risk, and disengagement from work and society
-
What peer support can (and cannot) responsibly hold
-
How institutions can back peer support with safe pathways, supervision, and clinical escalation
-
How to build a culture where checking in is normal and follow-through is real
Safety & wellbeing on the day
Safety and wellbeing are built into the conference experience: sessions will be trauma-informed, with clear content advisories and the option to step out or opt out at any point (no explanations, no penalties). A dedicated Quiet Room will be available throughout the day, staffed by qualified clinicians, with debrief pods offered after skills labs for anyone who wants to ground, process, or reset. After the event, we’ll send a follow-up check-in email with supports, resources, and pathways to further help if needed.
Call for facilitators
We’re currently welcoming expressions of interest from speakers and facilitators who can contribute to one of the three streams: Learning Dialogue, Practical Skills, or Lived Experience Stories.
If you have a talk, workshop, panel idea or skills lab proposal aligned with peer support and trauma-informed practice, we’d love to hear from you.
We are also welcoming Poster Presentations and those who authored a book you might like to retail on the day.
If this sounds like you please connect with us today.
Partner with us
If your organisation supports veterans, first responders, healthcare workers, welfare teams, or peer support practice we’d love to explore partnership opportunities for promotion, participation, and on-the-day involvement.
Please contact us now.
Brought to by
Contact
Like what you see? Get in touch to learn more.
