Justin Heazlewood has written four books including Dream Burnie which was released in 2025. He publishes a gazette called Fuzzy Logic and also writes a monthly column for Canberra street press, BMA. He spent fifteen years performing music and comedy as The Bedroom Philosopher and twice had songs feature in the Hottest 100.
Justin is the author of Get Up Mum about living with a Mum with schizophrenia, published by Affirm Press in 2018. In 2019 he adapted the book into a ten part radio series for ABC RN’s Life Matters. In 2022 he adapted the book into a one-man theatre show which premiered at Hobart’s Theatre Royal.
In 2020 Justin gave a witness statement for the Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System. He is an ambassador for Satellite Foundation who support young people caring for a family member with a mental illness.
“Justin Heazlewood is nothing short of one of Australia’s most versatile and important storytellers. In his journalism and personal essays, Heazlewood demonstrates a remarkable capacity to not only make the reader laugh, but think critically about important issues often poorly discussed, such as mental illness, unemployment and the frailty of human relationships.”
– Benjamin Law.
Some links to Justin speaking & performing:
2025 Main guest on ABC Conversation discussing his new book Dream Burnie
2022 Our Reform mental health conference in Melbourne
2017 Harry Who? The True Heroes of Hogwarts
Bio photo credit: Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System.
Testimonials
“Justin Heazlewood’s presentation was absolutely engaging, his insight and personal experience was powerful, filled with emotion and plenty of laughs. We booked Justin to close MHV, VMIAC and Tandem’s ‘Our Reform’ Conference, and he delivered a highly engaging piece which clearly resonated with audience members. He was a great drawcard for the conference, and I would highly recommend booking Justin to speak at a public event.”
“Justin was completely perfect as the last speaker for the day. So many people let me know afterwards how much they needed the laugh at the end of 2 full days of deep thinking and listening. I am so thrilled that this is the way that the booking ended up, it has really cemented my thought that we will go with this kind of intelligent and topical comedy at the end of future events too. Justin was so easy to work with and accommodating and we would book him again in a heartbeat.”
“We engaged Justin as the closing speaker for a mental health reform conference, following from his brilliant performance at the Tandem Awards in 2018. After a day of serious and heavy discussion, Justin’s hilarious and light-hearted comedy was just what was needed to lift the mood at the end of the day.“
“Justin Heazlewood actually is one in a million, but he’s far too Tasmanian and self-deprecating to actually give himself credit for being a top-notch songwriter, so we’ll just have to deal.”
“Justin effortlessly led the audience on a whimsical and hilarious journey through an evening of five speakers. His style was consoling, real and extremely responsive to the experience of the audience throughout the evening. Easy to work with and well-versed in all things philosophy and culture, Justin took the event to a new level. I hope to see his crowd-pleasing version of bogan yoga or taxi phone number poetry taking off soon.”
“The Bedroom Philosopher’s band show was one of the best things I saw at Port Fairy 2013. My colleague had tears streaming down her face and I honked like a seal with an airless laugh-gasp that neither of us could conceal. The performance was equally as funny as it was clever, and with the addition of his excellent band compadres, showed Heazlewood’s ever-evolving maturity as an artist and musician.”
“Justin’s humour and honesty has the ability to disarm and win-over artists and audiences alike. His comedy can be biting but he has a gentle, encouraging way of engaging with his subjects during interview. We closed the entire BIGSOUND event this year with a panel discussion curated and directed entirely by Justin and I’ve received nothing but incredible feedback.”
“Justin Heazlewood’s Get Up Mum talk struck a great balance between the darkness of childhood, and humour. The addition of cassette tapes alongside readings from the book, gave a raw and interesting insight into his childhood, which really resonated with the audience. He had great engagement with the audience, answering questions, and opening a great conversation that carried through to the book signing after the event.”