14 Influential Leaders in Psychology in Brisbane

Last updated: August 2026

Introduction

Brisbane is home to a genuine concentration of psychology talent, spanning university research schools, hospitals and research institutes, professional bodies and private practice. This list brings together 14 leaders currently working in and around Brisbane's psychology sector, from senior academics to practice directors and a national regulator.

As of August 2026, Brisbane's psychology sector includes people leading major university schools, directing growing private practices, chairing professional body branches and sitting on the national board that regulates the entire profession. The 14 people featured here are presented alphabetically by surname for easy navigation, not in any order of merit.

The people on this list work across quite different corners of the profession. Some lead university schools of psychology or run major research programmes. Others direct private practices, chair a professional body branch, or sit on the national board that regulates the entire profession. What connects them is a current, active leadership role in or around Brisbane's psychology sector.

If you are a Brisbane leader, HR professional, school principal or board member trying to understand where to find credible psychology expertise locally, this list is a starting point. It is not a referral service and it does not compare anyone against anyone else. It simply puts names, roles and organisations in one place so you can do your own follow-up research with confidence.

The rest of this article looks at why psychology leadership matters for Brisbane specifically, introduces each of the 14 people in turn, and closes with some practical, non-salesy ways to learn from or connect with the people featured.

Why Psychology Leadership in Brisbane Matters

Brisbane's population and its demand for mental health, educational and workplace psychology support have both grown substantially through the 2020s, alongside the city's broader growth ahead of the 2032 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Strong psychology leadership shapes how well that demand is met, from the standard of university training through to the availability of clinical care.

University schools of psychology at the University of Queensland, Queensland University of Technology and Griffith University train the next generation of Brisbane psychologists and produce research that shapes national practice guidelines. The leaders of these schools influence curriculum, research priorities and the standards new practitioners are held to before they ever see a client.

Outside the universities, leadership matters just as much. Practice directors decide how many Brisbane families can access timely clinical care. Research institute leaders decide which questions about mental health and the brain get studied first. Professional body leaders and the national regulator set the standards, ethics requirements and continuing education that every registered psychologist in the city must meet.

Understanding who holds these roles gives Brisbane's business, education and health sectors a clearer picture of where credible psychology expertise sits locally, and who is shaping the profession's direction across the city and the wider region.

1. Darrin Brandis

Co-founder and Executive General Manager, PeopleSense by Altius

Darrin Brandis is a registered psychologist and co-founder of PeopleSense by Altius, a workplace psychology and wellbeing provider headquartered in Brisbane City. He leads the organisation as Executive General Manager, overseeing one of Australia's larger employee assistance program services from its Brisbane base.

Brandis brings more than 30 years of experience delivering counselling, trauma treatment, coaching and organisational wellbeing solutions. That depth of experience sits behind PeopleSense's work helping organisations build psychologically safer workplaces at scale.

2. Caroline Donovan

Deputy Head of School (Research), Griffith University School of Applied Psychology

Professor Caroline Donovan is Deputy Head of School (Research) at Griffith University's School of Applied Psychology, based at the Brisbane South campus at Nathan. In this role she helps guide the research direction of one of Queensland's larger applied psychology schools, which trains practitioners across psychology, counselling and suicidology.

Griffith's School of Applied Psychology offers accredited training across the disciplines of psychology, counselling and suicidology, and its staff have received national awards for excellence in teaching. As Deputy Head of School (Research), Donovan is among the academics guiding that school's direction from its Brisbane South base.

3. Alex Haslam

Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology, University of Queensland

Professor Alex Haslam is a Professor of Social and Organisational Psychology at the University of Queensland's School of Psychology and holds an Australian Research Council Laureate Fellowship, one of the country's most competitive research awards. His work examines how group and identity processes shape leadership, motivation and wellbeing inside organisations.

In 2005 Haslam received the European Association of Social Psychology's Lewin medal for outstanding scientific contribution to social psychology, one of the field's most respected honours. He holds his Laureate Fellowship at the University of Queensland, where he continues to research the psychology of leadership and group identity.

4. Narelle Haworth AM

Professor, QUT School of Psychology and Counselling

Professor Narelle Haworth AM is a professor in QUT's School of Psychology and Counselling, where her research addresses road safety, injury prevention and the behaviour of vulnerable road users such as cyclists and motorcyclists.

In 2021 Haworth was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for significant service to the road transport industry and to accident research, recognising a career spent researching how to make roads safer for the people who use them.

5. Carolyn Ireland

Clinical and Organisational Psychologist, Brisbane Centre for Psychology

Carolyn Ireland is a Clinical and Organisational Psychologist at Brisbane Centre for Psychology. Her dual registration lets her move between individual therapy and workplace-focused psychology work, a combination relatively few Brisbane practitioners hold.

That combination reflects growing Brisbane demand for psychologists who can work with both personal wellbeing and workplace performance, supporting the practice's wider team of psychologists delivering evidence-based therapy and organisational psychology services.

6. Debbie Jeffries

Director and Clinical Psychologist, Redlands Psychologists

Debbie Jeffries is the Director of Redlands Psychologists, a clinical psychology practice serving Brisbane's Redlands area. A Clinical Psychologist with more than 20 years of experience, she leads a team of more than 20 psychologists.

Under Jeffries's leadership the practice has grown into one of the larger dedicated psychology teams in Brisbane's south east, working with children, adolescents, adults, couples and families. Her focus has remained on building a practice large enough to reduce local wait times for evidence-based care.

7. Jannette McDonald

Chair, APS Brisbane Branch

Jannette McDonald chairs the Australian Psychological Society's Brisbane Branch committee, supporting the profession's members across the city. Her leadership follows more than 20 years as a public sector psychologist spanning rural, remote and regional Queensland.

That long public sector career now informs her work as Branch Chair, where she supports Brisbane psychologists at every career stage through networking and professional development.

8. Sue Miller

General Manager of Client Services, Relationships Australia Queensland

Sue Miller is General Manager of Client Services at Relationships Australia Queensland, a registered psychologist with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency. In her current role she oversees the organisation's national and state-wide service delivery from its Brisbane base.

Miller joined Relationships Australia Queensland in 2008 and was appointed to her current General Manager role in December 2023, bringing more than a decade and a half at the organisation to her current leadership position.

9. Rosemary Patton

Director and Clinical Psychologist, Brisbane Centre for Psychology

Dr Rosemary Patton is the founding Director of Brisbane Centre for Psychology and a Clinical Psychologist. She founded the practice in 2018, drawing on her own background as a local veteran, with an initial focus on supporting veterans, defence personnel and their families.

What began as a focused veteran support service has grown into a broader psychology practice across two Brisbane locations, now supporting a diverse client base while retaining its founding commitment to care, integrity and understanding. Patton continues to lead a team of specialist psychologists offering evidence-based, person-centred therapy.

10. Rachel Phillips

Chair, Psychology Board of Australia

Rachel Phillips is a Clinical Psychologist who chairs the Psychology Board of Australia, the national body responsible for registering psychologists and setting the standards the profession works under. She has held the chair role since 2018 and is listed in Queensland's Metro South Health referral directory.

Phillips is a Clinical Psychologist by training, with experience spanning health practitioner regulation, clinical education, implementation science and professional ethics. From a Brisbane base, she brings that background to her national responsibilities regulating every psychologist in the country.

11. Matthew Sanders AO

Emeritus Professor and Founder of Triple P, University of Queensland

Emeritus Professor Matthew Sanders AO is the founder of the Triple P Positive Parenting Program, developed at the University of Queensland's School of Psychology. As of 2026, Triple P is used in dozens of countries worldwide, with well over 100,000 practitioners trained to deliver it to families.

Sanders was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his work improving the lives of families and children as a researcher, clinician, teacher and international positive parenting advocate. He remains an active UQ researcher, publishing new parenting intervention studies from Brisbane while continuing to guide Triple P's global rollout.

12. Ian Shochet

Professor, QUT School of Psychology and Counselling

Professor Ian Shochet is a professor in QUT's School of Psychology and Counselling, registered as a psychologist in Queensland since 1992 and a member of the College of Clinical Psychologists of the Australian Psychological Society since 1993. His research established school connectedness as a significant, previously underemphasised factor in protecting adolescents against depression.

Shochet co-developed a universal school-based programme shown to reduce adolescent depression symptoms, published in the Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, building on his earlier research identifying school connectedness as an underemphasised protective factor for adolescent mental health.

13. Allison Waters

Professor and Head of School, Griffith University School of Applied Psychology

Professor Allison Waters is Head of School at Griffith University's School of Applied Psychology, based at the Brisbane South campus at Nathan. She leads a school that trains psychologists, counsellors and suicide prevention specialists across undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

That school's accredited programmes span the disciplines of psychology, counselling and suicidology, and its academic staff have received national awards for excellence in teaching. Waters leads that work as Head of School, continuing a Griffith tradition of practical, industry-connected psychology training.

14. Murat Yücel

Professor and Program Director, Brain and Mental Health, QIMR Berghofer

Professor Murat Yücel is an AHPRA-registered clinical neuropsychologist who directs the Brain and Mental Health research program at QIMR Berghofer in Herston, Brisbane. He has held multiple prestigious National Health and Medical Research Council fellowships across his career.

Yücel has pioneered studies blending neuroscience with digital, lifestyle and psychedelic medicine approaches, work that has led to the creation of novel assessments and interventions for brain and mental health.

What These Leaders Show Us About Psychology in Brisbane

Looking across these 14 profiles, a few patterns stand out about how psychology leadership actually works in a city like Brisbane.

The first is that university and clinical leadership sit side by side rather than in separate worlds. Several of the people on this list hold senior roles inside Brisbane's three major psychology schools, while others lead private practices or a community organisation's client services. Between them, they show that influence in psychology is not confined to academia. It shows up equally in the practice down the road and the research institute across town.

The second pattern is longevity. Many of these leaders have spent two decades or more in the profession before stepping into their current leadership role, whether that is chairing a professional body branch, directing a growing practice, or leading a university school. Psychology leadership in Brisbane appears to reward depth of clinical or research experience over rapid career acceleration.

The third pattern is specialisation within a shared profession. Road safety, adolescent depression prevention, parenting interventions, workplace wellbeing, clinical neuropsychology and regulatory governance all appear on this list under the single banner of psychology. The profession in Brisbane is broader than the therapy room, even though therapy remains central to what most registered psychologists do day to day.

Finally, several of these leaders operate at the intersection of Brisbane and the wider region or nation, whether through a national regulatory role, research collaborations that reach well beyond Queensland, or programmes now used far outside Australia. Brisbane's psychology leadership is locally based but rarely locally limited in its reach or influence.

How to Use This List

This list is designed as a starting point, not a directory of endorsements. If you want to learn from any of the people featured, the most useful first step is usually to look at their employer's own page for their current role and contact details.

If you work in HR, education or health and are trying to find credible psychology expertise for a project, a research partnership or a speaking engagement, start with the organisation rather than the individual. University schools of psychology, research institutes and larger practices generally have a formal process for external enquiries, media requests and research collaboration.

If you are a psychologist or psychology student in Brisbane looking for mentors or role models, notice the range of paths represented here. Some of these leaders built a single practice from scratch. Others moved through public sector roles for decades before stepping into a leadership position. Others built an academic career around one research question pursued over 20 or more years. There is no single route into psychology leadership.

If you are a journalist, event organiser or policy professional, the organisations listed here are a reasonable starting point for finding a credible, currently practising source on a psychology-related question, though you should always confirm current availability and scope of expertise directly with the organisation before an event or publication deadline.

Whatever your reason for reading, treat this list as a map of where Brisbane's psychology leadership currently sits, not a statement about who matters most.

Frequently Asked Questions

What qualifications does a registered psychologist in Brisbane need?

Registered psychologists in Australia, including in Brisbane, must complete an accredited psychology qualification and supervised practice before registering with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency under standards set by the Psychology Board of Australia. Many also complete postgraduate specialisations in areas such as clinical, organisational, health or educational psychology.

Where do most of Brisbane's senior psychologists work?

Senior Brisbane psychologists work across university schools of psychology, hospitals and medical research institutes, government and community health services, private clinical practices, and workplace or organisational psychology consultancies. Leadership roles exist in each setting, from heading a university school to directing a private practice or chairing a professional body branch.

Is a psychologist the same as a psychiatrist?

No. A psychologist typically holds a psychology degree and provides talk-based therapy, assessment and behavioural interventions, while a psychiatrist is a medical doctor who can also prescribe medication. Both professions work in Brisbane's mental health system, often together, but this list focuses specifically on registered psychologists and psychology leaders.

How is a research psychologist different from a clinical psychologist?

A research psychologist mainly studies how people think, feel and behave, often within a university or research institute, publishing findings that shape practice guidelines. A clinical psychologist mainly works directly with clients on assessment and treatment. Some Brisbane leaders, including several featured here, combine both research and clinical practice.

Can I contact the psychologists featured in this list directly?

Some of the people featured work in private practice and can be contacted through their practice's usual booking or enquiry channels. Others hold university, research institute or regulatory roles and are best approached through their organisation's official media, research partnership or professional enquiry channels rather than a personal request.

Does this list include every notable psychologist in Brisbane?

No. Brisbane has many more skilled psychologists than any single article could cover. This list highlights 14 people working across different parts of the profession, from university research to private practice, to give readers a useful, honest starting point rather than a complete directory.

Conclusion

Brisbane's psychology sector runs on more than individual talent. It runs on the people willing to lead university schools, direct growing practices, chair professional bodies and sit on the boards that hold the whole profession accountable. The 14 people featured in this list represent a genuine cross-section of that leadership, from long-serving academics to practice founders who started with a single focus and built something larger.

What stands out most is the range. Road safety research sits alongside parenting programmes. A national regulatory chair sits alongside practice directors serving individual Brisbane suburbs. Clinical neuropsychology sits alongside workplace wellbeing consulting. Psychology in Brisbane is not one thing, and its leadership reflects that variety.

If you take one action after reading this list, make it a simple one. Pick one or two people whose work is closest to a challenge you are currently facing, whether that is a mental health question, a research partnership, or a workplace wellbeing problem, and look up their current organisation to learn more about how they work.

Brisbane's psychology leaders will keep changing roles, starting new research programmes and building new practices in the years ahead. This list reflects a moment in time, but the underlying strength of Brisbane's psychology sector is likely to keep growing alongside the city itself.

Related Reading

- 25 Best Executive Coaches in Brisbane (2026) - 25 Working Genius Facilitators Brisbane Leaders Trust - Jonno White: Certified Working Genius Facilitator (Australia)

Bring this kind of clarity to your own team

Strong psychology leadership and strong organisational leadership draw on many of the same foundations: clear roles, honest conversations and a shared sense of what good looks like. If your school, business or organisation is working through those same challenges on the team-dynamics and workplace culture side, rather than the clinical side covered by the people in this list, I would be glad to help through a keynote, workshop or facilitated leadership session. Get in touch at jonno@consultclarity.org.

About the Author

Jonno White is a Brisbane-based leadership consultant, keynote speaker and Certified Working Genius Facilitator, and the author of Step Up or Step Out. He works with schools, corporates and nonprofits around the world. To enquire about a keynote, workshop or facilitated leadership session, email jonno@consultclarity.org.