Mr Len Kanowski

Biography

Mr Len Kanowski graduated with a certificate in Psychiatric Nursing at Kenmore Psychiatric Hospital Goulburn NSW in 1979. He completed a Master of Science (Mental Health) at the University of Wollongong in 1996 and a Master of International Mental Health at the University of Melbourne in 2004.

He was a 2003 Harvard/University of Melbourne International Mental Health Leadership Fellow. Mr. Kanowski is a senior mental health clinician currently seconded to the position of Deputy Program Director, Mental Health First Aid at the ORYGEN Research Centre at the University of Melbourne. He has extensive clinical and educational experience in urban and rural mental health services with extensive experience in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health education.

He is the mental health course coordinator for the ACT Ambulance Service, is a member of the Charles Sturt University Bachelor of Health Science (Mental Health) Course External Advisory Committee and an accredited Mental Health First Aid instructor. He was a member of the National Health and Medical Research Council Working Party to develop best practice guidelines for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health education and service delivery models.

He recently completed an adaptation of the Mental Health First Aid Course for Vietnamese, Italian and Croatian communities in Australia and is currently working on adapting the Mental Health First Aid course for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.