BA, MA(Couns), MClinPsych, DipCrim, PhD, MAPS

National Drug and Alcohol Research Centre (NDARC)

John joined NDARC in 2008 as a Senior Lecturer and and works with the National Cannabis Prevention and Information Centre, as well as NDARC's international research activities and those with a focus on young people. From 2001 to end 2007 he was Director — Clinical Services, Training and Research, Ted Noffs Foundation. From 1989–2001 he was a Senior Lecturer in Psychology and Director, Social Health Programs, Department of Psychology, Macquarie University. He is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist in the Department of Adolescent Psychiatry, Prince of Wales Hospital, and from 1995 an Honorary Visiting Fellow at NDARC.

He has worked as a high school teacher, school counsellor, deputy superintendent of a residential unit and senior counsellor of a community-located unit for young offenders.

He was a member of the Technical Steering Committee of the WHO’s Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development (CAH) for 6 years, and from 1992 he consulted to CAH, UNICEF, UNODC and the Arab Council on Childhood and Development, on street youth/children in developing countries and the health of male adolescents, working at WHO/HQ in Geneva and field-work in India, Philippines, South Africa and Egypt. Since 1999 he has consulted to UNESCAP, with field-work in Lao PDR, Viet Nam, China and Thailand on capacity-building for the community treatment of young drug users.

He is a Board Member of NCETA, was a member of the Evaluation Working Group of the National Youth Suicide Prevention Strategy, and is a member of a number of National Illicit Drug Strategy working and reference groups.

His major clinical, teaching and research areas are: adolescent substance use and ‘street youth’ (in both developed and developing countries), comorbidity, depression and suicide in young people, working with marginalised youth, adolescent psychotherapy, same-sex attracted youth, HIV infection in adolescents, resilience, and treatment capacity-building.