Dr Padmini Howpage was born in Sri Lanka, and graduated in medicine from the University of Ruhuna in 1985.
She later moved to Canada to further her studies at Simon Fraser University before migrating to Melbourne, Australia in 1990. In Australia, she completed her specialist training through the RANZCP in 2003 and has worked across various public and private hospitals in Australia over the last 25 years.
With more than three decades of clinical and academic experience, Dr Howpage’s practice spans general adult and old age psychiatry, with particular interests in mood disorders, addiction, perinatal mental health, and modern treatment therapies.
She is currently a senior staff specialist at Northern Sydney Local Health District. Alongside her clinical work, Dr Howpage is a conjoint lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, Western Sydney University, and the author of two mindfulness books — reflecting the academic, reflective lens she brings to patient care. Beyond the consulting room, Dr Howpage is an active part of the community in The Hills, having founded the Mind Connections Foundation and the Women’s Shed Hills Shire.
She takes an in-depth, collaborative approach with her patients, drawing on her clinical, academic, and community work to support people through complex and long-standing presentations, which she finds incredibly rewarding and uplifting for both patient and doctor.
