Following a year of celebrating everyday heroes and collective strength, The Collab 2026 looks forward to carrying with us the wisdom earned through experience and the voices that continue to shape mental health care. This year is about legacy; the knowledge built over decades. The stories, relationships, and lived experiences that inform practice. The clinical, consumer, and community voices that deserve to be heard and respected. Together, they form the foundation for what will come next.
Our wisdom is grounded in years of practice, advocacy and learning. It lives in the lessons passed down, the relationships built and the shared knowledge that sustains mental health care.
Our voices are stronger together. Mental health nurses, lived and living experience consumers, workforce and community members stand side by side, shaping conversations, challenging systems and ensuring every story matters.
Our future is the new growth. Emerging ideas, fresh perspectives and bold possibilities take shape as we nurture innovation, inclusion and compassionate practice.
At The Collab 2026, we honour where we have come from while creating space for what is next. This is a gathering shaped by experience, strengthened by diversity and focused on a future grounded in compassion, equity and collaboration.
Join us as we continue the journey and shape what is next.
The 2026 illustration features an abstract native Australian gum tree as a symbol of collective knowledge and collaboration. Visible roots represent experience and foundational wisdom, while the trunk reflects shared strength. The canopy and branches suggest growth, renewal and a future that is co-created. Voices are expressed through simple symbolic forms and speech marks, referencing dialogue and inclusion without depicting literal figures.
A soft sunrise introduces warmth and optimism, and the suggestion of an owl in flight adds a subtle layer of insight. The palette, inspired by gum greens, wattle golds and blue skies, grounds the artwork in the Australian landscape while conveying growth, hope and possibility.
