Abner Weng Cheong Poon

Associate Professor Abner Weng Cheong Poon is a faculty member at the School of Social Sciences, University of New South Wales, within the Faculty of Arts, Design & Architecture. He holds a BA from Singapore, an MSW in Mental Health from the University of Melbourne, and a PhD from the University of Melbourne. His academic work centers exclusively on mental health social work, with no departmental subdivision specified beyond the school level.

Professor Poon's research examines critical areas in mental health care systems:

• Social work interventions in psychosis and severe mental illness
• Transcultural caregiving dynamics in Chinese, Vietnamese, and Malay communities
• Family-centered recovery models and caregiver burden metrics
• Barriers to mental health service access among culturally diverse populations
• Validation of assessment tools for marginalized caregiver groups

His investigations employ mixed methodologies including scoping reviews, psychometric validation, and national surveys across Australian and Southeast Asian contexts.

Analysis of his 15 most recent publications (2021-2025) reveals dominant themes in cross-cultural caregiving challenges, validation of culturally adapted assessment tools, and systemic analyses of mental health service barriers. Over 80% of publications focus on ethnic minority carers, with consistent methodological emphasis on scoping reviews (33%) and validation studies (20%). Emerging trends include youth mental health service engagement and coproduction models for culturally responsive care.

Professor Poon has received significant recognition:

• Bruce Lord Award for Excellence in Research Methodology (2020)
• Best Oral Presentation at the International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health (2016)
• Australian Postgraduate Award (2011-2014)
• Melbourne Abroad Travelling Scholarship (2013)
• Health Manpower Development Plan Fellowship, Singapore (2005)

He currently supervises five doctoral candidates researching:

• Clinical listening skills in mental health (Bani Aadam)
• Social isolation in Chinese caregivers (Ziyao Guan)
• African migrant caregiving experiences (Anthony Iwuagwu)
• Male eating disorders (Richard Knight)
• School-home partnerships (Ziyan Zhou)

His funded projects include the headspace Family Inclusive Practice Model (2014-2015), William Buckland Foundation research on non-English speaking caregivers (2011-2013), and Singaporean NMRC studies on parental mental illness (2008).