Empowering First Nations Communities: The Local Lived Experience Network for Cultural Leadership and Systemic Change
| Thursday, November 7, 2024 |
| 9:15 AM - 9:45 AM |
| Grand Ballroom |
Overview
Aunty Vicki McKenna, Head of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre, Black Dog Institute and Louise Salee, National Network Manager, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre, Black Dog Institute
Presenter
Aunty Vicki McKenna
Head of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre, Black Dog Institute
Empowering First Nations Communities: The Local Lived Experience Network for Cultural Leadership and Systemic Change
Abstract
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre (ILEC) is a national advocacy centre which aims to elevate Aboriginal and Torres Strait voices in Mental Health and Suicide Prevention initiatives across Australia. ILEC is the first centre of its kind in Australia and a leading International model in the First Nations lived experience domain. Through lived experience, the Centre focuses on amplifying the voices and insights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to influence policy, service design, and community-led solutions.
ILEC hosts a National Network of First Nations Lived Experience voices, who have lived experience of suicide which includes experiencing suicide themselves, losing someone to suicide, and/or caring for community through distress. The National Network model, built on best practice foundations has contributed to positive wellbeing, healing, and reinforced the importance of cultural governance and community led and driven solutions. We have an opportunity to share our National Network model in local regions, establishing local lived experience networks in interested areas.
The Local Lived Experience Networks are grassroots platforms for collective engagement and empowerment. These networks can offer a space for individuals to share their personal stories, cultural knowledge, and lived experiences, to shape systems within their own Communities. By prioritising local First Nations leadership and lived experience, the networks can enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities to chart their own path towards healing, empowerment, and sustained wellbeing.
This presentation will outline the significant opportunity in establishing local lived experience networks through lessons learned from the set-up of the National Network, how ILEC can support their establishment in Communities, and the advocacy ILEC can offer to elevate Community needs at a state and national level.
ILEC hosts a National Network of First Nations Lived Experience voices, who have lived experience of suicide which includes experiencing suicide themselves, losing someone to suicide, and/or caring for community through distress. The National Network model, built on best practice foundations has contributed to positive wellbeing, healing, and reinforced the importance of cultural governance and community led and driven solutions. We have an opportunity to share our National Network model in local regions, establishing local lived experience networks in interested areas.
The Local Lived Experience Networks are grassroots platforms for collective engagement and empowerment. These networks can offer a space for individuals to share their personal stories, cultural knowledge, and lived experiences, to shape systems within their own Communities. By prioritising local First Nations leadership and lived experience, the networks can enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities to chart their own path towards healing, empowerment, and sustained wellbeing.
This presentation will outline the significant opportunity in establishing local lived experience networks through lessons learned from the set-up of the National Network, how ILEC can support their establishment in Communities, and the advocacy ILEC can offer to elevate Community needs at a state and national level.
Biography
Vicki McKenna is a proud Yawuru and Bunaba woman from Broome in the Kimberley Region of Northwest Western Australia. As a devoted mother of five and grandmother to 18, Vicki’s commitment to her family and community is at the heart of her work.
Vicki has significant experience working in social and emotional wellbeing, cultural safety, suicide prevention, postvention support and care, and critical response work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Vicki is a trained Counsellor and Child Psychotherapist and currently the Head of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre where she utilises her invaluable lived experience which guides the development and implementation of crucial initiatives aimed at enhancing the Social and Emotional Wellbeing of First Nations peoples.
Specifically, Vicki is passionate about improving the shared understanding in the broader mental health sector of what Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience expertise looks like, and how successful consultation with these voices can be achieved. Vicki mobilizes First Nations lived experience voices from local, state and National levels, amplifying their voices at higher level engagements with Government, National and International decision-makers, with the purpose of informing culturally safe, effective and respectful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led suicide prevention and mental health wellbeing.
Recognised as a cultural leader and First Nations advocate, Vicki is an expert in suicide prevention, serving her community in the Kimberley and beyond. Her dedication and innovative approaches were acknowledged when she received the ‘National Innovation’ and ‘Priority Populations’ Excellence in Suicide Prevention LiFE Awards from Suicide Prevention Australia.
Louisa Salee
National Network Manager
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre, Black Dog Institute
Empowering First Nations Communities: The Local Lived Experience Network for Cultural Leadership and Systemic Change
Abstract
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre (ILEC) is a national advocacy centre which aims to elevate Aboriginal and Torres Strait voices in Mental Health and Suicide Prevention initiatives across Australia. ILEC is the first centre of its kind in Australia and a leading International model in the First Nations lived experience domain. Through lived experience, the Centre focuses on amplifying the voices and insights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to influence policy, service design, and community-led solutions.
ILEC hosts a National Network of First Nations Lived Experience voices, who have lived experience of suicide which includes experiencing suicide themselves, losing someone to suicide, and/or caring for community through distress. The National Network model, built on best practice foundations has contributed to positive wellbeing, healing, and reinforced the importance of cultural governance and community led and driven solutions. We have an opportunity to share our National Network model in local regions, establishing local lived experience networks in interested areas.
The Local Lived Experience Networks are grassroots platforms for collective engagement and empowerment. These networks can offer a space for individuals to share their personal stories, cultural knowledge, and lived experiences, to shape systems within their own Communities. By prioritising local First Nations leadership and lived experience, the networks can enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities to chart their own path towards healing, empowerment, and sustained wellbeing.
This presentation will outline the significant opportunity in establishing local lived experience networks through lessons learned from the set-up of the National Network, how ILEC can support their establishment in Communities, and the advocacy ILEC can offer to elevate Community needs at a state and national level.
ILEC hosts a National Network of First Nations Lived Experience voices, who have lived experience of suicide which includes experiencing suicide themselves, losing someone to suicide, and/or caring for community through distress. The National Network model, built on best practice foundations has contributed to positive wellbeing, healing, and reinforced the importance of cultural governance and community led and driven solutions. We have an opportunity to share our National Network model in local regions, establishing local lived experience networks in interested areas.
The Local Lived Experience Networks are grassroots platforms for collective engagement and empowerment. These networks can offer a space for individuals to share their personal stories, cultural knowledge, and lived experiences, to shape systems within their own Communities. By prioritising local First Nations leadership and lived experience, the networks can enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities to chart their own path towards healing, empowerment, and sustained wellbeing.
This presentation will outline the significant opportunity in establishing local lived experience networks through lessons learned from the set-up of the National Network, how ILEC can support their establishment in Communities, and the advocacy ILEC can offer to elevate Community needs at a state and national level.
Biography
Louisa is a proud Wakaid and Wagadagam woman from Torres Strait Islands with family ties to several islands including Papua New Guinea and Samoa. With over 27 years of experience in health sector, she has served Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Communities across Queensland. Her qualifications include a Certificate III in Primary Health Care, Bachelor of Applied Science, Graduate Certificate in Health Management, and Master’s in Public Health. Louisa is currently the National Network Manager at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Lived Experience Centre, Black Dog Institute, overseeing the creation and implementation of Local Lived Experience Networks across Australia.
Conference Chair
Barb Walters
Manager Tasmania Growth & Transition
EACH
Moderator
Lise Saunders
Event Coordinator
AST Management
Justine White
Event Manager
AST Management
