AAFDI are very pleased to announce that the inaugural winner for the Lifetime Achievement Award 2024 went to Dr Frank Lambrick. Congratulations Frank!

The Lifetime Achievement award was introduced to recognise extraordinary contributions to forensic disability. The field is relatively newly recognised as an area of specialised practice and has evolved significantly over the past few decades. There has been little in the way of recognition and appreciation for those who have worked tirelessly to advance practice and policy for individuals with disability involved in the criminal justice system.

While many dedicated professionals collaborating and contributing to the field deserve to be recognised, we can only give one Lifetime Achievement Award. Our recipient for 2024 is widely recognised as having been an early pioneer of what we know as ‘forensic disability’ today, Dr Frank Lambrick is known and loved within the sector for his decades of dedication, innovation and passionate advocacy for forensic disability consumers. His achievements span across research, clinical practice and policy.

Beginning in the 1980’s, Dr Lambrick has worked tirelessly with individuals as a practitioner and as an academic who made significant contributions to specialised risk assessment and clinical treatment and later supported the sector as a whole as a Senior Practitioner in Victoria until his retirement.

Today, he continues educating practitioners and sector workers and continues to strive for ever improving services for forensic disability consumers. He has spearheaded significant reform in the use of restrictive practices. Decades of practitioners have been mentored and shaped by his work, and he has advanced forensic disability profoundly.

Dr Lambrick has therefore been selected to receive this first ever Lifetime Achievement Award from AAFDI, in gratitude and recognition of his remarkable contributions and stewardship of forensic disability.

Doug was a Professor of Clinical and Forensic Psychology at the University of Canberra, but many of us knew him best through his applied research and clinical work and his presence as a colleague, mentor, and friend. He was at his happiest when he was supporting students, guiding peers, and working side by side with others to improve practice in forensic disability and mainstream services.

He was a kind, generous person who gave himself wholeheartedly to the sector. Doug cared deeply about cultural respect and safety, and this was especially evident in his work with First Nations communities across Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. He helped shape more culturally sensitive approaches to risk assessment and encouraged all of us to think more carefully about how we work with the people we serve.

Doug’s connection with the Australian field began in the mid-1990s, when he came here to give keynote addresses and workshops. In those gatherings, he made it clear that his real passion was forensic disability and that he was eager to collaborate. Out of those early conversations and relationships grew the Australian involvement in the development of the ARMIDILO, which has since influenced the work of many practitioners.

Although his health affected him at times in later years, his commitment never faltered. As an inaugural committee member of AAFDI, he brought energy, encouragement, and a clear sense of purpose. As recently as March this year, he travelled all the way to Greenland to train staff in forensic risk assessment, showing the same enthusiasm and dedication that had marked his career from the beginning.

Doug’s passing has left many important threads of work in motion: ARMIDILO development in Norway, revisions of the ARMIDILO-S and G, and new applications of the tool with acquired brain injury populations, within the NDIS and restrictive practice context, with Aboriginal communities, women, and neurodivergent populations. He was also working on a bilingual Mandarin–English framework for the ARMIDILO. With more than one hundred publications, Doug has left a rich and lasting legacy, and his influence will continue to be felt in our work and in the lives of those we support for many years to come.

On behalf of the AAFDI Committee, we are pleased to share the 2025 Annual Report with our members. This year has been one of significant consolidation, growth, and forward momentum for the organisation. We strengthened our governance structures, enhanced our systems, and expanded opportunities for members to connect, learn, and contribute to forensic disability practice across Australasia.

 Throughout the year, AAFDI delivered well-attended professional development events, deepened our advocacy efforts, and continued to refine the tools, platforms, and resources that support our members’ work. The updated website, improved PD calendar, and strengthened membership systems are already improving accessibility and engagement. Our membership remains strong, and we are committed to broadening representation and creating more pathways for lived-experience voices, students, and multidisciplinary partners to participate in shaping the organisation’s future. 

As we head into 2026, our focus is on expanding our impact—through increased events, stronger collaboration, deeper community engagement, and a continued emphasis on evidence-based, rights-affirming practice. We extend our sincere thanks to our members, volunteers, partners, and colleagues for their ongoing commitment and support. AAFDI exists because of your contributions and shared vision for a more just, inclusive, and informed forensic disability sector.