Scott is a Research Fellow in the Lived Experience Research Unit at the Centre for Mental Health Research (CMHR), The Australian National University. Prior to joining CMHR, Scott was a Research Fellow in the Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health at the University of Newcastle [2014-2021], and completed his PhD in the Centre for Values, Ethics and the Law in Medicine at the University of Sydney (2009-2013) with a thesis examining narrative and the ways it is used to structure knowledge and experiences of suicide. 

Scott’s program of research spans two substantive areas.  It focuses primarily on the sociology of mental health and illness, with a particular emphasis on suicide and self-harm. Across this research, he is interested in normative questions relating to equity, power, and the workings of suicide prevention policy and practice, and practical questions regarding health system and community responses to suicide. Scott’s research is recognised for its practical application of theory in conjunction with empirical research to advance ethical and political understanding of suicide, suicide research, and public health policy and practice. 

More recently, Scott has co-produced research and evaluated programs with a focus on peer-led services as adjuncts or alternatives to clinical services. The national multisite ‘Co-Creating Safe Spaces’ project (2021-2024) involved collaboration with health services, community-managed organisations, and lived experience partners to co-create a program of research that investigated the implementation, effectiveness, and sustainability of safe space models for suicidal distress. Currently, Scott is leading an evaluation of Community-led Safe Spaces (2023-2027). These projects have the dual purpose of developing an academic research evidence base for these new models of care and ensuring this evidence is translated into policy and practice.