Victorian Nurse Practitioner Forum

Lisa Bubb spent years as a veterinarian across different disciplines before transitioning to the pharmaceutical industry.  She is passionate about patient outcomes, particularly in marginalised groups of people.  She has been part of the medical affairs team at Camurus since 2019

Darren Smyth is an experienced Alcohol and Other Drugs Nurse Practitioner and Director of Next Gen Nurse Practitioners. With a career spanning clinical, custodial, and community health, he is dedicated to advancing addiction care, supporting professional education, and preparing the next generation of Nurse Practitioners to lead in complex healthcare environments.

Paul is a General Practitioner and Addiction Medicine Specialist who has worked in Community Health in inner Melbourne for the past 26 years. He has particular interests in addiction medicine, homelessness and mental health and is a strong public advocate for care and treatment of people who use drugs. Paul was appointed to the role as the inaugural Chief Addiction Medicine Adviser for Victoria in October 2024.

Sarah Lord currently manages the ‘Pharmacotherapy, Advocacy, Mediation and Support’ (PAMS) Service, a Victorian, telephone service for current and potential, pharmacotherapy consumers and their direct service providers; funded to resolve treatment-related issues and concerns. Sarah has a strong focus on social justice issues, consumer advocacy and all things pharmacotherapy and has worked in this field for over 20 years.

Jo is a Mental Health and Alcohol and Other Drug (AOD) Nurse Practitioner working in a private practice in regional Victoria. She specialises in pharmacotherapy including methadone, suboxone, and long-acting injectable buprenorphine, alcohol and drug withdrawal management, and hepatitis C treatment.

With over 15 years of experience, Jo has a strong focus on harm minimisation and comprehensive mental health assessment and review. She is committed to improving the identification, management, and treatment of individuals with drug and alcohol issues and mental health concerns.

Jo is dedicated to offering support, guidance, and advocacy in a nonjudgmental and educational manner. She promotes evidence-based practice, leads by example, and works holistically and collaboratively across health care settings, embracing the diversity and challenges of her role while striving to make a positive impact.

Marie commenced her nursing career in psychiatric nursing, working across a broad range of mental health settings before moving into Alcohol and Other Drugs (AOD) in the early 2000s. After many years as an AOD withdrawal nurse, she completed her Nurse Practitioner qualification and was endorsed in 2021.

She now works in a busy nurse-led clinic in a regional centre, providing specialist AOD care and outreach services to rural communities. With additional postgraduate study in addiction and mental health, Marie is passionate about improving equitable access to treatment and ensuring people receive high-quality, person-centred care regardless of where they live or the complexity of their needs.

Dellie has worked in the area of alcohol and other drugs for over 25 years, both in the public and private sector, in Victoria and the Northern Territory. She has experience working in emergency departments, hospital consultation liaison, project management, case management, forensic treatment, both inpatient and outpatient withdrawal services, and community-based clinics. Dellie helped establish and worked in Australia’s first older adult-specific service and has provided education with VAADA in specialised older adult treatment.

Dellie currently works at the Medically Supervised Injecting Rooms with people who use and inject drugs, predominantly providing opioid pharmacotherapy within the consulting and treatment space. Dellie is passionate about supporting new AOD NPs through mentorship and supervision.

Nomusa Napier is the 2025 Colleen Blum Excellence in Nursing Award–winning Nurse Practitioner and the 2025 Afro-Aussie Trailblazer Award winner in Victoria, with extensive experience in mental health, alcohol and other drugs (AOD), primary care, and correctional health. She holds a Bachelor of Nursing, a Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Sciences (specialising in AOD), and a Postgraduate Diploma in Mental Health Nursing, and completed her Master of Nurse Practitioner in 2021. She has received national recognition from Drug and Alcohol Nurses Australasia (DANA) for her contributions to the AOD sector, as well as awards for her community development work supporting women from the African diaspora in Australia. In 2025, she returned to Zimbabwe to receive the Global Achiever Award at the ZAA Diaspora Forum. She has worked across a range of healthcare settings in Victoria, including rural community health, correctional health, and residential AOD detox services.

Nomusa is the Founder and Director of Trinity Community Services, an accredited NDIS service provider, which in 2023 expanded to offer ADHD and Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) assessments and clinical reviews. She also serves as Head of We Care Beyond at The New Clinic, supporting the delivery of integrated, holistic care and alternative therapies. A proud single mother of three adult sons, Nomusa is passionate about empowering women and advancing holistic, comprehensive mental health care, including thorough assessments, diagnostic evaluation, and complex or dual-diagnosis treatment planning.

Megan is the Senior Addictions Nurse Practitioner for Alfred Health covering Consultation and Liaison Addictions and South City Clinic.  She is also leading a pilot project with Access Health (The Salvation Army) in St Kilda to increase opioid pharmacotherapy access in the southeastern suburbs of Melbourne. Megan has experience across both acute and community services in mental health and alcohol and other drug treatment, including within emergency departments, acute psychiatric inpatient units, consultation and liaison, homeless outreach and project management.

Megan has a particular interest in improving access to acute care for patients with substance use disorders and developing systems which promote flexible models of care to meet the needs of individual patients.  This includes building harm reduction into acute care as part of core business rather than relying on AOD services to provide these interventions.