Mental Health Commissioner for South Australia

06/03/2026

Weekend reflections #29 Stop it with all the obvious ChatGPT written stuff!!!

I’m going to be a bit cranky for a minute, partly because I’m on my third bad coffee this morning, but mostly because I keep reading posts and hearing speeches that are so obviously written by ChatGPT that I start looking around the room like, ‘are we all pretending we can’t hear this?‘ It’s not even subtle anymore, it’s like the same voice has moved into everyone’s mouth, and it’s always very confident, very smooth, very pleased with itself, and it says a lot while also saying absolutely nothing, like a warm bowl if beige.

As you know, I’m not anti-AI, I use it daily, I genuinely do, it’s great for getting a messy brain dump into an order that doesn’t make me want to lie down on the carpet, it’s great for getting stuff done faster, without the procrastination for “make this shorter” or “stop me repeating myself” or “what am I missing”, but what I’m seeing isn’t people using AI as a productivity tool, it’s totally replacing their personality! It’s like we’ve collectively decided having a point is optional as long as the words are in the right order and there’s a nice little finish that goes “because it matters”.

It’s got so bad that we’ve started a thing in the office, and I’m only admitting this because it’s funny, we’ve been to two events recently where the speeches were basically the same speech with different nouns swapped in, you know the ones, full of “pivotal moments” and “moving forward” and “let’s unpack this” and “a holistic approach” . Every time we hear “it’s not just blah.. it’s blah…”, or the classic banger “it matters” we elbow each other. It feels a bit like we’re watching tennis, except the tennis ball is a cliché and the prize is mild despair. If we were less appropriate it would become a drinking game, and if we were actually doing that we’d be under the table before the acknowledgements were finished.

To make sure I’m not imagining it, here’s a fake example of the exact flavour I mean, it’s nonsense but it will still feel familiar, which is the problem (and yes I got AI to write it because it nails fluff without substance):

“In a world where uncertainty is the new normal, we are at a pivotal moment. It’s not just about challenges, it’s about opportunities. Let’s unpack that. Now more than ever, we must come together to drive meaningful change, because the reality is there’s no silver bullet, but there is a path forward. It’s not just important, it’s vital. On the one hand, progress is complex. On the other hand, progress is essential. We need a holistic, people-centred approach that amplifies voices and meets the moment. This journey has reminded me that when we lean into innovation and show up with purpose, we can build a brighter tomorrow. Moving forward, I’m humbled and honoured to announce a bold new chapter with measurable outcomes. Because it matters.”

If you felt your brain slide off your skull halfway through, same.

And before anyone says it, yes, maybe I’m wrong and people aren’t using AI to craft their posts and speeches, and if that’s true I will eat my hat, brim first, but if I’m wrong then that’s even scarier because it means AI isn’t copying us anymore, we’re copying it, we’re training ourselves into this smooth, frictionless, nothing-specific way of speaking, and that’s grim, we keep saying we want more human connection for our mental health and at the same time we’re sanding off the human bits, the awkward bits, the specific bits, the bits where you can tell a real person wrote it and might actually have to stand behind it.

Anyway, I’ve made Spot The AI Wrote It Bingo, because if I have to sit through another “now more than ever” I want at least a small prize at the end, even if it’s just the satisfaction of whispering “tick” into my terrible coffee.

And yes, AI created the image ‘cause it’s better at it than me although it did take a few goes to get it right

So here’s the fun bit, what would you put in the”free space” square? what other obvious give aways can you spot? If you want to tag an obvious post, (or add the link to this post on the bottom of theirs as a subtle reminder) be kind. But also, come on.

06/03/2026

We were out under the awning on the Government House lawns this morning, on International Women's Day, and it's one of those Adelaide days where the sky looks almost staged.

Sun on the grass, people doing the polite thing of gently placing one’s cup on one’s saucer quietly so as not to disturb the little pockets of serious conversation sitting inside a very beautiful setting.

Thank you to Her Excellency, the Honourable Frances Adamson AC, and Mr Rod Bunton for the invitation. I don’t take it lightly, being welcomed into that space. It was also a privilege to share the morning with women who are doing hard, practical work across South Australia, and with the women-enabling men who turn up properly, listen, and use their positions to make things safer and fairer.

Sally Sara a veteran ABC foreign correspondent spoke, and she didn’t make it abstract, in fact there were openly wet cheeks as she told stories you could picture. Grandmothers in South Africa stepping in for children during the AIDS pandemic, because the system didn’t. Women in Liberia dressed in white, locking arms, refusing to let men walk away from peace talks.

An Afghan pilot taking her baby with her because there was no childcare, and she still had a job to do. Not heroic in a glossy way, just real women trying to keep people alive and keep some dignity intact.

During questions I asked about my daughter. She told me recently she’s glad she’s working towards her black belt this year, because she’s scared for young women and girls in other places right now. She’s 13. I’m proud of her strength, and I’m angry that safety is already part of her mental load.

The theme was Balance the Scales, and I kept thinking about what that means when you’re trying to foster peace and safety at a time when it all feels a bit fragile.

For a lot of women, peace isn’t a big concept. It’s getting home without doing the risk maths. It’s being able to say no without managing someone’s reaction. It’s knowing the rules will actually protect you, and that the people around you will back you when something isn’t right.

I don’t have a neat answer for how we fix that. I do know what helps, and it’s often small and unglamorous. Men pulling other men into line. People taking women seriously the first time. Making it normal to check in, to walk someone out, to step in when a situation turns. Not waiting for a crisis so we can act surprised.

Sharing a few photos from the morning. I left feeling grateful, a bit heavy, and very clear on one thing: women shouldn’t need a black belt to feel like they belong in the world.

Photos: 1. With Auntie Merle Simpson and 2. With Commander Rebecca Wilson and Fiona Harris

05/03/2026

Few tickets left!

NDIS Business Networking Event

Psychosocial Pathways is a networking and learning event for anyone supporting NDIS participants with psychosocial disability, and people living with mental health challenges alongside disability.

Lived experience interviews, guest speakers, morning tea, then plenty of time to connect.

Wed 11 March | 9.00 am to 12.30 pm
St Clair Recreation Centre YMCA, Woodville South

Tickets can be purchased here. If this is relevant to your team or networks, please share.

28/02/2026

Starting soon, pop in out of the drizzle and racing car noise between shows for a chat with performers about what it means to look after eachother during Fringe, the pros and cons of bringing your own mental and physical health challenges to the stage and what it takes to survive party season without burning out.

FREE in the Ukiyo within Gluttony at 4pm!

What does it really mean to make art and stay well? Join a free, open conversation with working artists as they speak honestly about mental health, creativity, burnout, resilience and care. Moderated by the South Australian Mental Health Commissioner, this panel and Q&A explores how artist...

26/02/2026

i am really looking forward to hosting this important discussion with performers about everything both wonderful and messy about the intersections between creativity and mental health.

Before you head to some shows, come and be a part of this FREE event 4pm at Gluttony THIS SATURDAY

I look forward to seeing you there!

What does it really mean to make art and stay well? Join a free, open conversation with working artists as they speak honestly about mental health, creativity, burnout, resilience and care. Moderated by the South Australian Mental Health Commissioner, this panel and Q&A explores how artist...

25/02/2026

Today was our turn in a three-day series bringing together a very mixed bunch from across SA's public sector to road-test and refine the government’s AI strategy.

Different roles, different agencies, different levels of enthusiasm, healthy levels of scepticism, and a shared talent for moving Post-it notes around until they made sense.

In the mental health space, this stuff gets personal quickly. The way these tools are set up will shape how people find support, how much of their story they have to repeat, and whether the system feels human or transactional on a bad day.

I left quietly reassured that the room wasn’t full of starry-eyed tech hypes. Mostly thoughtful people asking awkward, practical questions and imagining real scenarios, not brochure ones.

Also confirmed that public servants will debate wording with Olympic intensity if given the chance!

24/02/2026

Marc Ryan (aka The Beautiful Bogan) is performing at this year’s Adelaide Fringe, and he’s generously offering people with lived experience a 2-for-1 ticket deal to The Blind and The Beautiful for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday performances, a show created with lived experience at its heart.

The show is co-created and performed by Marc and Joshua Warrior, who is visionally impaired. Together, they share stories of disability, mental distress, family, and finding beauty in the chaos, with warmth, honesty, and plenty of laughs.

This is comedy about real life. It’s designed to be welcoming for people living with disability, people with lived experience of mental distress, carers, families, and allies.

Fringe is stronger when shows are built from lived experience, with access and inclusion considered from the start.

2-for-1 tickets: Code: UNCLE

Tickets:https://adelaidefringe.pulse.ly/n2armduk6s
For more information, group bookings, or to discuss access needs:
Email: marcryan06@gmail.com Phone: 0425 256 177

If this sounds like your kind of night get along or share it with someone who might. Thanks for supporting stories that matter.

24/02/2026

Today the Commissioner attended International Family Drug Support Day at Parliament House, with this year’s theme: See the Person, Not the Drug.

Family Drug Support brings people together each February to talk about the impact of alcohol and other drug use on families and communities, and what needs to change. It is also a day to recognise families and loved ones who often carry a heavy load in private, and too often face judgement when they reach out.

Mental health and substance use overlap for many people, and both are still surrounded by stigma. When stigma shows up, it does not only land on the person using substances. It lands on families too, through isolation, blame, and a lack of support when things are already hard.

“See the person” means responding with care and seeing the families, the worry, the practical load, the love, and the exhaustion, and recognising their right to dignity and inclusion.

This event recognises the work families do to help keep their loved ones safe. Too often that work is invisible.

Thanks to Family Drug Support for creating space for families to be seen, and for keeping this conversation going. Families deserve support and respect, not judgement.

22/02/2026

Weekend Reflections #28: Too Much To Reflect On

I sat down to write a Weekend Reflections post and realised I’ve got a very specific problem.

Not “nothing to say”. More “my brain is a room full of open browser tabs, and one of them is playing music I can’t find”.

The last fortnight has been full on. Our new team was in Port Lincoln for the Mentally Fit EP conference, and I’m still carrying around pages of notes and the feeling that I owe people more than a quick summary and a polite nod.

Since then it’s been the serious, slightly invisible work: taking the final round of feedback and evidence and distilling it into my recommendations for the new mental health legislation. It’s the kind of writing where every sentence tries to become a small committee. You have to keep asking, “Is this true, is it clear, and have we actually listened properly?”

At the same time, we’ve been figuring out how to become a team. Strengths, working styles, how we make calls, how we disagree without anyone storming off to reheat their coffee in silence. All of that, plus the usual mix of meetings across new services, advocacy, advice and support, research and strategy, and then Fringe opening week, because Adelaide likes to keep everyone humble.

Somewhere in there I’ve also been giving advice into the UK conversations about social media legislation, and keeping up with AI ethics. I saw that AI agents recently set up their own social network so turns out AI too has existential dread. Anyway, solidarity to the robots, and please keep them away from comment sections.

This weekend, thankfully, came with a reset. Grandparents stepped in, so we got a couple of nights to ourselves and went wandering through a part of Adelaide we haven’t properly explored in years. Good weather, nature, a few historic sites, and the kind of quiet that makes you remember your shoulders can, in fact, drop.

Photo courtesy of enjoying one of those historic sites with my feet up for a blessed few hours, pressing pause before another busy week.

Now I’m back where I started. I’ve got about twelve reflections competing for airtime.

So I’m asking you, what do you actually want me to reflect on next?

20/02/2026

Loved being at the Adelaide Fringe Opening Night on 20 February.

Uncle Mickey O’Brien’s Acknowledgement of Country, Tara MacLeod’s welcome, and then a stream of brilliant artists giving us little sneak peeks of what’s coming. So much imagination in one room.

Fringe matters for mental health. Laughing with strangers. Being surprised. Sitting in colour and light for an hour and feeling your shoulders drop. Feeling connected to this place and the people in it.

As Mental Health Commissioner, and as an artist, I’m a big believer in what the arts can offer, for individuals and for community.

Wishing all the artists and crews a strong season. I hope to see you out there.

18/02/2026

As Mental Health Commissioner, I’m committed to championing and supporting the women who strengthen South Australia’s mental health system.

I’m looking forward to being the keynote speaker at the 2026 International Women’s Day Luncheon, Championing Women in Care, at Morphettville Racecourse on Friday 27 February.

This event brings together women working and leading across South Australia’s care sectors, with recognition of the contribution of women in mental health. It is an opportunity to acknowledge the leadership of women strengthening mental health care in South Australia.

It is also about the women who keep our care sectors going, and the changemakers who are reshaping how care looks and feels across the state.

If you work in disability, health, mental health, aged care, early childhood education, or the broader care sector, you will be in good company. It is a rare chance to step out of the day-to-day, connect across sectors, and be recognised for the work you do.

I’m glad to be part of a program alongside Dr Gill Hicks AM MBE, with Cassie Day opening the event and Kate Burr as emcee.

For more information and to book tickets visit:

11:30 AM Fri 27 Feb at Morphettville Race Course, Morphettville, . 2026 International Women's Day Luncheon - "Championing Women in Care". Elevating women working and leading within the SA Care Economy.