Dr Tessa-May Zirnsak is an interdisciplinary researcher and lived experience expert in Social Work and Social Policy. Most of her research focusses on experiences of coercion and compulsion for people diagnosed with mental illness and intellectual disability.

Tessa is a leader in lived experience research, with several papers highlighting the growing need to engage lived experience experts at all stages and in all types of research. She was invited to give a keynote address at the McPin Foundation in London in July 2024, and has delivered several invited talks internally at La Trobe, including to the University Executive Committee.