Call for abstracts

CALL FOR ABSTRACTS

The conference theme reflects back to 50 years of International Mental Health Nursing conferences, and looks forward to where the sector will go: Celebrating 50 years of mental health nursing: The future is now.

The conference will address key themes, needs, and areas of interest for mental health nurses as identified through analysis of contemporary issues being discussed in the sector more broadly, as well as among ACMHN membership.

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Important dates

Abstract information session

January 2026

Call for abstracts close

10 April 2026

Abstracts review

March to April 2026

Successful presenters contacted

Late April 2026

Early bird registrations close

Thursday 30 April 2026*

*all presenters/authors required to be registered by this date

Call for abstracts closes in

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Abstract themes

Acute
Alcohol and other drugs
Artificial intelligence
Carers
Clinical supervision
Community
Consultation-Liaison
Contemplative practices
First Nations
Environmental, sustainability, and planetary health
Forensic

Leadership
Lived experience perspectives
Mental health nursing education
Nurse Practitioner
Older persons/elderly
Perinatal and infant
Physical health
Policy
Psychotherapy
Tele and digital mental health
Veterans and defence

Presentation types

Presentation type	Time allocated	Details
Oral presentation	15 min plus 5 min Q&A	May be more than one speaker No additional time will be allocated Presentations may be based around (but not limited to): research findings, case studies, industry trend exploration, demonstration of best practice, new strategies, etc.
Lightning presentation	8 Min plus 2 min Q&A	The goal of lightning presentations is to articulate a topic in a quick, insightful, and clear manner. These efficient talks are intended to gain the attention of the audience, communicate key information, and allow for several presenters to share their ideas in a brief period of time Lightning presentations are brief which requires the speaker to make their point clearly and rid the presentation of non-critical information. This causes the audience to be more attentive to the speaker and gain a broader array of knowledge from the presentations given The number of slides is significantly less than a traditional oral presentation. Speakers must be careful not to read the details which they include in slides.
Poster presentation	Not applicable	A visual and interactive display of your work as per your abstract Presenters will be required to stand by their poster at a nominated time to speak with interested delegates.

Preparing your abstract

Choose an abstract theme
Prepare a 350-word abstract in a Word document using the required subheadings, word limits, and rubric to structure your proposal. Your submission will be completed via a text box only, so we recommend you have your abstract content ready to 'copy and paste' into the portal.
Do not include any author, presenter, or organisation names in your abstract
Do not include references in your abstract

Abstract structure and word limits:

Background (100 words)
Methods (50 words)
Results (100 words)
Conclusion (100 words)

For a successful abstract, you should highlight something new, innovative and thought provoking and the format encourages discussion and active participation amongst delegates. Your presenters should be engaging and informative.

Submitting your abstract

All abstracts must be submitted via the call for abstracts portal. Follow the below steps to submit your abstract:

Log in to the portal and head to the Abstract Submission tab. Use the menu to navigate between each section of the abstract submission portal.
Review your submission
Submit your abstract for review
You will receive a confirmation email once your abstract is submitted for review. if you do not receive a confirmation email, then your abstract has not been submitted successfully and may still be in draft
Abstract's may be saved as a draft, to be finished at a later date, but it must be finalised in order to be considered in the review

You may submit more than one abstract all under the same account.

If your abstract is accepted you must agree to register and pay the Early Bird Registration price.

Abstract submissions close on 31 March 2026.

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Abstract review process

The ACMHN uses a blind review process for all abstracts submitted for consideration the 50th International Mental Health Nursing Conference and strives to include high quality research and clinical papers. This process is overseen by the Scientific Chair, Dr Brent Hayward.

All abstracts satisfying the basic requirements will be subject to a blind review by at least two independent reviewers, who will have no knowledge of the name of the author/s or of the other reviewer/s. Members of the ACMHN Board are not eligible to participate in the review process.

Reviewers apply a simple set of criteria to each abstract, which are then given a numerical ranking. Abstracts are then tabulated according to their numerical ranking and submission date i.e. abstracts which attract the same ranking are then ordered according to the date of submission, with contributions submitted first, listed first. Offers are made to presenters from the highest-ranking abstract down, and a program is developed.

Click here to view the rubric that reviewers will use to assess abstracts. You are strongly encouraged to use this rubric to write your abstract.

Where a presenter is not able to participate, or withdraws their abstract from the program, an offer is made to the next thematically appropriate presenter down the list to take their place in the program.

Presenters are advised that the 50th International Mental Health Nursing Conference provides delegates with a program that reflects and leads contemporary mental health nursing practice. As such, all abstracts are to be presented using appropriate terminology for people who experience mental health issues. Terms such as 'mentally ill people', 'the mentally ill' and 'case/subject' and 'the mentally ill case' are not accepted. Rather, descriptors should be person-centered, such as 'people/person who experience XYZ', 'consumer', 'service user', 'person with disability, gender diverse, sexually diverse', 'person with a lived experience' or 'client'. Abstracts which do not meet this criteria will not be eligible for review.

Submission guidelines

Online submission is the only method of abstract submission
Submissions can be saved as a 'Draft' in the abstract portal but must be finalised to be considered. Abstracts still in 'Draft' will not be considered for the program
Abstracts submitted for presentation will be published exactly as received. Abstracts may be revised for clarity, spelling, or grammar
It is strongly recommended by the Scientific Committee that your abstract submission be reviewed by a second person, such as a peer, colleague or mentor, who can provide constructive feedback and ensure all abstract guidelines have been met
You may submit more than one abstract all under the same account
Abstracts will only be accepted as 350-word text format abstracts with the four subheadings; Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion. We recommend writing your abstract in Word and saving to your desktop prior to starting the submission process, then 'copy and paste' the abstract content into the relevant section of the abstract
Do not include references in your abstract
Do not include author, presenter, or organisation names in your abstract
All presenters must attend and present at the conference in person
It is the responsibility of the presenter/author to ensure that the abstract is submitted correctly. For assistance with submissions, contact acmhn@conlog.com.au
It is the responsibility of the presenter/author to ensure their abstract explains how it relates to the themes
Where there is more than one presenter all correspondence will be sent to the person who submitted the abstract
The Scientific Committee reserves the right to allocate the presentation to best suit the program
The invitation to submit an abstract does not constitute an offer to pay travel, accommodation or registration costs associated with the conference. Similarly, no presenter fee is paid to successful presenters
If your abstract is accepted, all speakers agree to register and pay the Early Bird registration price
If applying for an Abstract Award, only one trophy will be presented per award

ACMHN 2026 Awards

If you would like to put your abstract forward for an ACMHN 2026 abstract award, please make sure to read the abstract award criteria to ensure your selected presentation type is appropriate.

To be eligible for the Research Award, the abstract must report on a completed research project or a completed section of a program

research that ethics approval, or it may be a systemic review or quality improvement project.

*Lightning and poster presentations are not eligible for this award category.

The Stan Alchin Award is presented to the best clinical paper delivered by a clinician or group of clinicians. To be eligible for the ACMHN Stan Alchin Award, presenters must be clinicians at the time of presentation.

*Lightning and poster presentations are not eligible for this award category.

This award is dedicated to Meryl Caldwell-Smith AM, a former Lifetime Contributor to the College, and is presented to an individual who is presenting for the first time outside their organisation, workplace, or tertiary institution. The presenter must be the first author on the presentation and deliver the majority of the content.

*Lightning and poster presentations are not eligible for this award category.

The lightning presentation award is presented to an individual who effectively communicates a topic quickly, clearly, and with insight. This short presentation captures the audience’s attention and conveys key information within a brief timeframe.

*Poster presentations are not eligible for this award category

This award recognises the most outstanding presentation demonstrating excellence in clinical supervision within mental health nursing. It celebrates innovative and reflective supervision practices that contribute to a skilled, supported, and resilient workforce.

*Lightning and poster presentations are not eligible for this award

This award is voted by conference delegates. It recognises a poster that is visually engaging, easy to read and navigate, and is about a topic which is innovative and/or important to mental health nurses.

*Oral and Lightning presentations are not eligible for this award

The First Nations Paper Award recognises a significant presentation delivered by or with a First Nations mental health nurse about a topic that advances First Nations mental health nursing or mental health care to First Nations people.

*Poster presentations are not eligible for this award

The Policy Impact Award acknowledges a paper that makes a substantial contribution to mental health nursing and/or mental health care policy at the local, state/territory, national, or international level.

To view the rubric award judges will use to mark, click here.

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ACMHN 2026 Destination Partner