Tom is a Fellow of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses and an adjunct associate professor with the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Queensland. He has worked in the mental health field for almost 30 years having devoted the past 15 years to research and evaluation work. He has accumulated over $3 million in research funding and has published 80 papers and two text books. The primary focus of his work (and publications) has been the rehabilitation and recovery of people with severe mental illness.