Our Local Project Officers

Heather Gant 

Local Project Officer – Rural Mental Health Partnership

Covers Western NSW and Far West Local Health Districts

Heather.Gant@theperegrinecentre.com.au

Heather has a background in nursing; she commenced working in mental health as a new graduate, in Child & Adolescent Mental Health, providing services to families in regional centres, through to rural and remote communities in Western NSW LHD.  She has also worked in crisis mental health, providing services via Telehealth across Western NSW & Far West LHD. 

She has completed her Masters in Mental Health (Child & Adolescent), a Grad Cert in D&A Nursing and a Grad Cert in Disability Inclusion.  Heather is passionate about equity of health service provision to rural and remote communities, which stems from growing up in a small farming community.   

Michelle Bonner

Local Project Officer – Rural Mental Health Partnership

Covers Southern NSW Local Health District

Michelle.Bonner@theperegrinecentre.com.au

Michelle Bonner is currently a generalist social worker in Community Health in the Eurobodalla region. Previously she was a case manager with the Eurobodalla Bushfire Recovery Support Service working with individuals impacted by the Black Summer Bushfires 2019/2020. She has also worked at the Royal Commission Into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse in their policy and community engagement teams.

In her role at Dress for Success Sydney she was a member of the CQU Regional Engagement Committee (NSW Region) and managed Success Works, a program focused on supporting women with a criminal history into employment.

Michelle is a social worker by background having worked in the government, non-government, charitable and academic sectors in NSW and Northern Territory. Michelle has worked in the complex and sensitive areas of domestic violence, grief and loss, elder abuse, sexual health, child sexual abuse and women in the criminal justice system, managing several challenging projects. She has an ongoing commitment and passion for human rights and social justice in Australia aiming to bridge the gap between the advantaged and less advantaged in society.

Laura Parrish

Local Project Officer – Rural Mental Health Partnership

Covers Illawarra Shoalhaven NSW, Upper Hunter New England (Tamworth and above) and Mid North Coast NSW Local Health Districts.

laura.parrish@theperegrinecentre.com.au

Laura holds a Bachelor of Psychology (Honours) from the University of Wollongong. Beyond her role as Local Project Officer, Laura has several years’ experience within mental health research. She has contributed to a range of projects including clinical trials, online interventions, diagnostic tool evaluations, and program evaluations.

Laura is dedicated to advancing and promoting accessible and inclusive mental health care for everyone. Recognising the challenges individuals in rural and remote areas face in accessing essential mental health services, she is passionate about enhancing service delivery in these communities.

Charlotte Finlayson

Local Project Officer – Rural Mental Health Partnership

Charlotte is a current PhD candidate at the University of Sydney School of Education and Social Work. She has a Bachelor of Social Work (First Class Honours) and Bachelor of Arts (Sociology and Socio-legal Studies) from the University of Sydney. Charlotte is an Accredited Mental Health Social Worker with experience working in community mental health, suicide prevention and counselling settings.
 

Charlotte has a special interest rural and remote mental health and in incorporating lived experience approaches into services responses to social and emotional distress. Her current research is focused on exploring experiences help-seeking for suicidal distress in rural and remote NSW.