Allan Sparkes is a Keynote Speaker, Educator, and Mental Health Advocate
Allan Sparkes CV, OAM, VA, FRSN delivers unique training and presentations that blend science, story, and strategy. Helping individuals and teams manage stressors, reduce burnout, and stay mentally strong.
Presentations and programs that educate, equip, engage and inspire:
Keynote Speaking
Grounded in lived experience and focused on what works. These keynotes explore the ‘why’ factor in relation to work place mental ill health. They help develop endurance, build resilience and positive mental health, leaving audiences empowered and solution focused.
Skills based education
Practical, hands-on training designed for high-pressure roles. Equipping each individual with the knowledge and skills to recognise and manage the physical and psychological impacts of demanding work and life challenges.
Bespoke Training
Allan and his team are able to deliver skills-based training programs based on a preventative / proactive training model. These bespoke programs are tailored to your organisation’s unique needs and challenges, equipping your team with practical tools to reduce burnout, build resilience, and strengthen psychological endurance.
From frontline bravery to mental health advocacy…
Allan Sparkes CV,OAM,VA,FRSN is one of Australia’s most highly decorated civilians, known for his exceptional bravery.
Using his experience and knowledges of surviving the extremes of the frontline of emergency services, and overcoming trauma related mental illnesses, this drives his work as a mental health advocate, speaker and trainer.
Allan now empowers others to face life’s challenges, offering practical preventative tools to combat burnout and mental ill-health, drawn from his own remarkable experiences and the knowledge he has gained from years of working in the Mental Health Sector.
About Allan Sparkes CV, OAM, VA, FRSN
Before the medals and the headlines, there was service.
Allan Sparkes is one of Australia’s most highly decorated citizens and a frontline leader who has devoted his life to helping others—on duty, at sea, and across the community. A former first responder with a distinguished policing career, a blue-water sailor who has crossed some of the world’s most challenging oceans, and a tireless advocate in the mental-health sector, Allan brings lived experience with uncommon humility and impact.
Decorations and honours
Allan is one of only five Australians in the past fifty years to be awarded the Cross of Valour (CV)—Australia’s highest bravery decoration and highest civil award—for the rescue of a small boy swept 600 metres down a flooded stormwater pipe in Coffs Harbour in May 1996. He also received the Royal Humane Society Galleghan Award and the NSW Police Commissioner’s Valour Award for the same rescue. His service has been further recognised with the National Medal, the National Police Service Medal, and the NSW Police Diligent and Ethical Service Medal.
In August 2016, Allan received the Commendation for Brave Conduct for saving the life of an Aboriginal man who had fallen onto the tracks at Redfern Railway Station. In the 2017 Australia Day Honours, he was appointed a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for service to mental-health support organisations and the broader community.
His national honours are matched by rare royal acknowledgements: the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012), the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee Medal (2022), and the King’s Coronation Medal (2024). In September 2022, Allan travelled to London to represent Australia’s Cross of Valour recipients, participating—by invitation of St James’s Palace—in the Chivalry and Gallantry Procession during the funeral of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II.
Distinguished first-response career
Allan’s policing years spanned some of the most demanding roles on the front line. He led from the front, earned the trust of colleagues, and faced the human cost of high-risk work with courage and candour. Those lessons now anchor his training for first responders, councils, and corporate teams—turning real-world experience into practical skills that improve performance and protect wellbeing.
Ocean passage and seamanship
Beyond the uniform, Allan is an accomplished offshore sailor. He has crossed long, unforgiving stretches of ocean where judgement, teamwork, and endurance are the difference between safe landfall and failure. That seamanship—planning, discipline, and calm under pressure—flows directly into his approach to leadership, culture, and mental-health readiness.
Service to others: mental health and community
Allan has invested years of intense involvement in the mental-health sector, partnering with clinicians, charities, and community groups to improve access, reduce stigma, and build everyday skills that help people cope, adapt, and thrive. Allan has supported notable organisations with his Ambassadorship including as beyondblue, Soldier On and Kookaburra Kids. His charitable and professional work is hands-on and ongoing—focused on practical help, not headlines.
Author and speaker
Allan is the author of The Cost of Bravery—a raw account of the life that led to the Cross of Valour and the life that followed. He delivers high-impact keynotes and Operational Readiness training that blend lived experience with evidence-based methods to build endurance, cut burnout, and lift day-to-day performance.
Allan’s Impact So Far:
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14+
Years as a Professional Speaker & Educator
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200+
National & International Events Delivered
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40,000+
People reached through training and events
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6
Sectors served: Government, Education, Emergency Services, Corporate, Military, Health
Client Feedback
Speaking & Training Solutions.
How Allan can help you.
Keynote Speaking
Inspire Change Through Lived Experience
Allan’s keynotes are known for their honesty, emotional depth and practical power. With over 14 years of experience on national and international stages, he delivers compelling presentations that challenge, uplift and stay with audiences long after the event. More than just inspiration, Allan equips people with clear, usable tools to better manage life’s pressures and protect their mental wellbeing.
Topics include:
● Clarity about the impact of stressors on our brains and bodies
● Developing endurance to cope through periods of crisis
● Building resilience through adversity
● Self care skills to have an immediate and lasting impact
Audiences gain:
✔ Real-world insight and emotional impact
✔ A renewed sense of purpose
✔ Tools to drive personal, organisational and cultural change
Workshops & Training
Build Resilience That Lasts
With the combination of lived and experience and science, bespoke training programs deliver practical, evidence-based workshops designed for high-stress roles. We have the ability to create custom programs tailored to your organisation’s specific needs and goals.
Topics include:
● Long term coping strategies for high-pressure environments
● Endurance, resilience and recovery
● Psychological safety in the workplace
● Reducing burnout
Participants gain:
✔ Actionable skills and tools
✔ Deeper self-awareness and confidence
✔ Supportive frameworks for wellbeing
Allan’s book, ‘The Cost of Bravery’ was released on May 22, 2013 and reprinted in January 2015. The forword for the book was written by renowned Australian, Mr Ray Martin AM and is now in its second edition. Allan has appeared on national TV including 60 Minutes, Sunday Night and A Current Affair. He has also appeared on Richard Fidler’s conversation hour and been interviewed on many other national radio programs.
To purchase a copy of Allan’s book, please head to the Penguin Random House website
