Psychiatrist

Duncan McKellar is a psychiatrist, with specialist training in working with older people. He is interested in the full range of experiences that older people navigate and supports older people encountering mental health challenges. He provides diagnostic assessment for people with changes in memory and will support people navigating life after a diagnosis of dementia. Duncan has worked with dementia specialist aged care provider HammondCare, supporting the Commonwealth-funded Dementia Support Australia program. In 2017 he was a co-author of The Oakden Report and subsequently became the clinical lead for the reform of statewide older persons’ mental health services. The Oakden Report triggered the Australian Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety. He previously worked in the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist as the Clinical Advisor for Older Persons’ Mental Health. Duncan is also a writer and scholar. He has published numerous academic texts ranging from old age psychiatry, through organisational culture, to disability theology and music theatre. With his composer daughter, Erin, he is the co-creator of the musical, A Box of Memories, about dementia. His book, An Everyone Story: Finding our way back to compassion, hope and humanity, was released by Wakefield Press in April 2024 and has been featured in SA Weekend, and on the ABC Conversations program. An Everyone Story won the 2024 Australasian Journal on Ageing Book Award.