Associate Professor Beth Kotze

Thank you. Deputy Chancellor, Mr Brian Wilson; Vice Chancellor and President, Professor Attila Brungs; Acting Deputy Vice Chancellor Research, Professor Charles Rice; Acting Dean of the Faculty of Health, Professor Fiona Brookes; the Director, Student Administration Unit, Ms Jackie Wise; members of the University Council and Academic Board; staff, family friends, and graduates. I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of the lands we meet upon, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I would also like to knowledge the lived experience of those with mental illness. Your preferences, needs and aspirations are at the heart of our work in mental health. Your perspective is essential to defining and achieving our goals, and your courage continues to inspire and drive our work. 

To the graduates today, congratulations. This is your day, when we celebrate your achievements and study at UTS, and delight that you are our future leaders. You’re well equipped for the journey ahead. As Nelson Mandela said, the most powerful weapon of all is education. And your education at UTS gives you independence of mind, commitment to knowing and commitment to doing. I do remember my graduation. I actually thought that the instruction for women to wear white was a suggestion, and I was the only woman in my year that turned up wearing a black dress, because that was my favourite colour at the time, and after all, it was my celebration. And that’s exactly what my career has been like – rather unconventional and strongly mine. I’ll try to share with you some of the lessons from my journey. 

Firstly, passionately dedicate yourself to a goal and be ready to move to the next goal when the time comes. Peter Brookes, the British theatre director, said, ‘I’ve never believed in a single truth, neither my own nor those of others, but I have discovered that one can only live by a passionate and absolute identification with a point of view. However, as time goes by, as we change, as the world changes, targets alter and the viewpoint shifts. For a point of view to be any use at all, one must commit oneself totally to it, one must defend it to the very death, yet at the same time, there is an inner voice that murmurs, don’t take it too seriously; hold on tightly, let go lightly.’ At the outset, I would never have imagined the journey of my career. I had no plan for a single destination, no strategy for a career, and really no specific dream. But I was passionate about making a difference and I’ve always had a strong sense of responsibility towards others. 

I’ve taken risks, reinvented myself professionally, taken opportunities or created them where possible, often for the sake of learning something new or different. I’ve learned from the inevitable, unexpected curved balls and disappointments. Life is really static, and twists and turns are inevitable, but it’s your journey and your pathway, and you don’t know where you’ll end up. Focus on what you’re passionate about and what you can achieve in the present whilst wondering still what opportunities there are ahead of you and around you. 

Most of the opportunities I’ve really valued have been just brief glimpses somewhere in the periphery of my vision, not straight ahead. Don’t gaze at your feet or look too far ahead, but notice what is around you. Secondly, celebrate the privilege of the career you have chosen. Health opens up so many opportunities to find where you fit and can make the best contribution. You can provide direct care to patients and their families, you can work in multidisciplinary teams, influence policy and practice, educate the next generation, translate evidence into improved clinical practice, or indeed, find the evidence that improves the lives of patients or the standard of health in a community. You can design, create and reform systems – it’s a smorgasbord of opportunity. Don’t be in a rush, take time to have different experiences and develop different skills. I had discovered psychiatry as a medical student and was intellectually attracted to the field, but also inspired by the privilege of listening to the stories of people who are facing the toughest of battles in the grip of mental illness.

I eventually realised that I wanted to try to make a difference to the care that people received, and their experience of that care, by changing systems and the culture within mental health systems. I realised I needed quite different skill to my clinical skills, and some of the skills I needed were not inherently appealing, I can assure you, like hospital finance, but they earned me a seat at the table to enable me to participate in processes that made a difference. Thirdly, keep learning and developing professionally and personally. Being the best you can be in whatever situation you choose to be in means working hard with courage and integrity and making a lifelong commitment to learning. It also means looking after your own health and personal development. Some professions are inherently more stressful than others. Professions that involve human contact and rapid decision-making skills, especially if those decisions can have a serious impact, are amongst the most stressful ones. 
Health care is also fundamentally changing, with rapid technological development creating new and different requirements of clinicians. The emotional work of working in health is often under recognised and undervalued. Don’t forget that your patients and your family will appreciate a physically and mentally healthy you. It gives your patients confidence in you, makes errors less likely, and increases your competence. And your partners and family will definitely enjoy you more. Work out your unique way of dealing with stress and have a plan for managing it. Know that exercise and diet are effective in maintaining and improving mental health. Develop the other parts of yourself through hobbies and interests, and be present for your patients and loved ones. Fourth, remember in the words of John Lennon, life is what happens while you’re busy making other plans. Choosing growth in life and a career is the journey. 

Relationships have shaped my thinking and my development. Many of my moments of true growth and inspiration have come from unexpected connections with young people grappling with mental illness and the impact on their lives, who have found a sense of optimism and dignity for their lives and their future. Be generous with your knowledge and experience with others – you will learn wonderful things about the people you work with, and they will benefit from your unique perspective and knowledge. Look for mentors who will support you and challenge you and remind you when you’re taking yourself too seriously. This is a great time to work in the field of mental health. It’s true that mental illnesses are common and highly disabling. One in three of us will have a mental illness in our lifetime. 
Mental illness impacts severely on our capacity to work, to earn a living and maintain close relationships. The numbers are large, with over 300 million people globally affected by depression, and the issues are confronting, with people with severe mental illness dying from physical disorders over 15 years earlier than the general population. Suicide rates are still unacceptably high, with over 2000 Australians taking their own life each year. Nevertheless, there is cause for optimism. Stigma continues to erode, young people are becoming increasingly interested in developing and maintaining their mental health, treatments continue to improve. 

Technology holds promise in helping people manage their own mental health and improving the services that clinicians provide. So, I would say that life is short and the opportunity to contribute is very precious. Passionate dedication to goals, practising courage and being open to taking risks, not missing the real opportunity that can be seen when you look up from what you’re doing, practising stewardship and that sense of responsibility to others, and being ambitious for the patients you care for, that they will receive the best care and have the best experience of care, being open to the unexpected and surprising ways in which it is possible to make a contribution. These are some of the qualities and values I suggest to you are needed for the journey. Hubert Humphrey said that the moral test of government is how that government treats those who are in the dawn of life – the children; those in the twilight of life – the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life – the sick, the needy and the handicapped. Today we are celebrating your achievement in graduation, and celebrating the start of another journey in engaging with those in the shadows of life, where you can bring compassion, empathy, skilled care, perhaps ambition for a better system, and light. Thank you.