Helen Milroy, a descendant of the Palyku people of Western Australia's Pilbara region and Australia's first Indigenous medical graduate, studied Medicine at the University of Western Australia, earning her MB BS, along with CertChildPsych (W.Aust.) and FRANZCP. She began her career as a General Practitioner and Consultant in Childhood Sexual Abuse at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, before completing specialist training in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She has held clinical positions at the Community Child & Adolescent Mental Health Clinic in Bentley Health Service, Mother and Infant Services at King Edward Memorial Hospital, and the General Clinic at Princess Margaret Hospital for Children. Additionally, she has taught Indigenous Mental Health training for psychiatric registrars since 1998 and supervised registrars in Child Psychiatry since 2000. Currently, she is the Perth Children's Hospital Foundation Professor of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry in the UWA Medical School, Psychiatry, and serves as a Commissioner with the National Mental Health Commission, Co-chair of the Million Minds Medical Research Advisory Group, and Honorary Research Fellow at the Telethon Kids Institute. Previous roles include Commissioner on the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (2013-2017) and Commissioner with the Australian Football League (since 2019).

Professor Milroy's research interests include holistic medicine, child mental health, recovery from trauma and grief, application of Indigenous knowledge, mental health leadership, trauma-informed care, workforce development, Indigenous health curriculum development, Aboriginal health, and Aboriginal mental health. She edited the influential book 'Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice' (2014). Recent publications comprise 'Application of the paediatric medical traumatic stress model to the mental health experience of young people living with type 1 diabetes: a qualitative study' (2026, BMC Psychiatry), 'Implementing Cultural Safety in Research Methodology: The Co-Design Process of a Brief Therapeutic Intervention for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Young People Who Engage in Self-Harm and/or Suicidal Behaviours' (2026, Australian Journal of Rural Health), 'The Presentation of Dissociative Symptoms in Childhood and Early Adolescence: A Systematic Review and Thematic Synthesis of 30 Case Studies' (2026, European Journal of Trauma and Dissociation), and '“I don't think either of us have really got over the diagnosis.” Caregiver perspectives on medical trauma in adolescent type 1 diabetes; a trauma-informed qualitative investigation' (2026, Journal of Pediatric Nursing). Her accolades include Member of the Order of Australia (2023), Momentum Most Inspiring Woman of the Year Award (2022), Western Australia's Australian of the Year (2021), Australian Mental Health Prize (2020), and Vice-Chancellor's Indigenous-led Research Award (2025). She contributes to boards and committees such as the NHMRC Human Ethics Committee, Headspace Board, Australian Indigenous Doctors Association Board, RANZCP Foundation, RANZCP Presidents Advisory Group, Young Lives Matter Board, Gayaa Dhuwi Australia, WA Mental Health Tribunal, and WA Care Plan Review Panel, underscoring her impact on Indigenous mental health and child psychiatry.

Professional Email: helen.milroy@uwa.edu.au