Reflections Series
Invited Speaker: Judy Tang

Abstract: When I received the Order of Australia Medal, my first honest thought wasn’t pride. It was a list of names - including all the neuropsychologists I know whose work is at least as worthy of recognition, and who haven’t yet been seen in the same way. That feeling  hasn’t gone away. If anything, it’s sharpened a question I want to share: in our profession, who gets seen, who gets cited, who gets referred to - and who does not? I will talk about advocacy - not as something we do after hours when the reports are sent, but as part of the clinical and scientific work itself. As neuropsychologists, we hold quiet but significant power. Our reports shape decisions about capacity, compensation, criminal responsibility, NDIS access, aged care, and immigration. The assessment frameworks we use, the referral pathways we work within, and the workforce we train still reflect a fairly narrow slice of Australia. The people most affected by our judgments are often the last consulted in how those judgments are made. Drawing on clinical/medicolegal and lived experience, I’d like to share what I’ve learned (and unlearned) about the structural barriers in our field, particularly for migrants, refugees, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, LGBTIQA+ communities, and older adults from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. I’ll posit that human rights and social justice aren’t adjacent to our work - they are the conditions under which our craft holds up. Please bring your reflections, your frustrations, and your harder questions, and I’ll bring mine!

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Learning objectives:

1. To examine the structural barriers in neuropsychology in the Australian context -  across assessment frameworks, referral pathways, and workforce composition - and how they shape outcomes for migrants, refugees, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, LGBTIQA+ communities, and older adults from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds.

 

2. To reframe advocacy as part of clinical and scientific practice itself, rather than an extracurricular add-on, and consider what that looks like in day-to-day work.

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3. To reflect on how human rights, social justice, and cultural humility shape the validity and ethical integrity of neuropsychological assessment.

 

Level: Intermediate. This session is open to neuropsychologists at any career stage. The content is conceptual and reflective rather than technical, and welcomes both early-career clinicians and senior practitioners.

 

 

Presenter: Judy Tang, PhD, OAM, Invictus Health

 

Dr Judy Tang OAM is a neuropsychologist at Invictus Health. The daughter of Chinese parents who came to Australia as refugees after the Vietnam War, she works at the intersection of clinical neuropsychology, lived experience, and advocacy. That history continues to shape how she thinks about belonging, intergenerational mental health, and who is included in conversations about leadership and care. Her clinical and scholarly interests span leadership, mental health, multiculturalism, ageing, LGBTIQA+ wellbeing, intersectionality, and increasingly neuroethics — particularly the widening gap between how quickly technology and AI are reshaping clinical practice and how slowly our ethical and regulatory frameworks are catching up. She speaks regularly to clinical, academic, and community audiences on cultural and structural blind spots in psychology, and on advocacy as part of - not separate from -  the science of neuropsychology. Judy received the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2026 and is co-convenor of the 2026 College of Clinical Neuropsychologists (CCN) Conference. She contributes to a number of professional and community organisations focused on equity in mental health and on building a more representative mental health workforce in Australia. Outside the consulting room, Judy is an unapologetic nerd. Anime, video games, good food, and her cats keep her honest.

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