VICTORIA POLICE
I was invited to attend the Wyndham North Police Station for a community breakfast in support of Wear It Purple Day. This was to raise awareness on the diversity within our Wyndham community, in support of the LGBTQ+ on mental health and suicide. I presented a personal speech about the power of expectations and the way my gender identity has changed my life.
WYNDHAM CITY COUNCIL
I spoke at a Wyndham City Council event in youth mental health and suicide prevention alongside A/Prof Jo Robinson. I was involved in the consultation process for my presentation which involved discussion around suicide prevention. At this event, I presented this data on lived experience from LGBTQ+ and refugee youth and answered questions from the audience. The audience included parents, teachers, community members and service providers such as; Orygen, Victoria Police, headspace, The Huddle and Youth Off The Streets.
ORYGEN
I attended a community forum and once again spoke alongside A/Prof Jo Robinson about mental health and youth suicide prevention. I presented the information given by Wyndham City Council's consultation with LGBTQ+ and refugee youth to a mixture of teachers, mental health professionals and students/young people from all over the Melbourne area.
IPC HEALTH
I presented for opening night at IPC Health's art exhibition 'Many Shades of the Western Rainbow'. I spoke about how I identify and what that means to me, the poetry piece I entered in the exhibition, the importance of invisibility and the main issues LGBTQ+ youth in Melbourne's West face today.
CENTRE FOR MULTICULTURAL YOUTH
I spent the day with the wonderful young people who are a part of the Centre for Multicultural Youth's 'Young Initiators' Program. They put together an event titled 'Connect & Reflect', a day focused on mental health and well-being. They invited me to be a guest speaker and tell them my story, as well as answer any questions they had. I spoke alongside Titan and Ruth, a rapper and a poet, respectively, who also had amazing stories and works to present.
JOY 94.9
I ventured into the heart of Melbourne with Brett Bowen, a youth worker at Wyndham City Council's Youth Services, to promote the Mad Hatter's Tea Party, the only youth (12-25) event held as a part of the Midsumma Festival. We had an amazing time chatting with Anna and Dean on Murphy's Law and I also spoke about how I first joined the Q Program at Wyndham Youth Services in 2016.
CHILD WISE
I was involved in a panel discussion with Child Wise for their celebrations of Child Protection Week, in which we discussed best-practice in child protection and what needs to change.
IPC HEALTH
I worked on the Positive Affirmations Project with Adam Ehm and Stephanie Trevillan from IPC Health which involves the development of affirmations, concept art to accompany them as well as a website and content to go on it.
MELBOURNE CITY MISSION
I was on a panel with employees from Melbourne City Mission to celebrate Wear It Purple Day within their organisation in which we discussed issues currently facing LGBTQ+ young people and how to better support them.
ORYGEN
I hosted a panel discussion about ‘Ethical Design in Suicide Prevention’ for the ‘#chatsafe x Melbourne Design Week’ collaboration between Orygen and NGV. The Honorable Greg Hunt opened the panel discussion for the evening, and we heard from an A/Professor at Orygen, a designer from Portable, a teacher from RMIT and two RMIT graduates who participated in the collaboration trial between Orygen and RMIT for a design course subject.
WYNDHAM ROTARY
I presented a speech to Wyndham's Rotary Club about the work I'm doing in the community and my advocacy work, as well as my journey and struggles with mental health over the years.
