Zachary Steel

Zachary has worked for more than 40 years with populations affected by trauma, including refugees, asylum seekers, homeless youth, veterans, emergency service workers, and those affected by interpersonal and family violence. He has published widely in the field of traumatic stress. From 2014 to 2024 he held the St John of God Chair of Trauma and Mental Health at UNSW, overseeing a 30-bed inpatient hospital service for PTSD, and he has recently taken up his current appointment as Professorial Research Fellow at the Centre for Mental Health and Brain Sciences at Swinburne University of Technology. He is a past president of the Australasian Society for Traumatic Stress Studies (ASTSS) and serves on the board of the NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS). His research has influenced international policy, notably by articulating the detrimental mental health outcomes of stringent immigration laws and practices, including detention and temporary protection.