Agenda

Nicola Perry-Peters, Acting Executive Director, Social and Emotional Wellbeing, The Balit Durn Durn Centre, Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (VACCHO)

Fostering innovation and improvement in social and emotional wellbeing practice, policy and research

• Innovative Aboriginal led solutions to deliver practical outcomes and transform service delivery

• Expanding access to SEWB in ACCOs and mainstream health services through collaboration and widespread consultation

Sheree Lowe, Executive Director, The Balit Durn Durn Centre; Member of the South West Region, The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria

• How to implement First Nations governance in a mainstream organisation

• Looking to Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations as a model for best practice

• Understanding your strengths and weakness to mitigate challenges that arise

Daniel Knapp, Executive Director of First Nations Wellbeing and Engagement, Headspace

Jason Trethowan, Chief Executive Officer, Headspace

Donna Burns, First Nations Director, Board Member, Headspace

Join Melissa Puertollano as she unpacks the innovative pilot program "It’s Never Been Done Before”.  Hear insights on the impact the pilot has had with both non-Indigenous clinicians and staff and how the program is being shaped to support cultural and clinical care for First Nations young people and communities.

Melissa Puertollano, Program Manager, Cultural Supervision, Headspace

• Exploring the Buwanha Mentoring Model: A culturally grounded, trauma-responsive framework for supporting Indigenous youth

• How one-on-one and small group mentoring can restore identity, connection, and Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB)

• Walking with complexity: Embedding cultural healing into everyday practice, not just programs

• Shifting systems through relationships: From punitive care to legacy-led support

• Lessons from lived experience: Healing, integrity, and cultural leadership as the foundation of change

Jason May, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Bawamarra Cultural Services

• Best Practice for Rainbow Mob Inclusion: implementing this in SEWB and mental health services for young people. Join Natalie Bassett-Bokic from VACCHO and Dan Powell from Rainbow Health Australia for this focussed discussion on Rainbow Mob inclusion.

• Staying deadly online: Join this eSafety Commissioner yarn to learn about the co-designed resources available to support young mob as they navigate the challenges and advantages of being online.

• Compulsory Mental Health Orders Advocating for Young Mob and Engaging in Early Intervention: Join the First Nations team at Independent Mental Health Advocacy to hear about how this service can work with ACCOs to provide wrap around support for young Mob at risk of being placed on a compulsory order.

• How to Ensure & Prioritise Self-Care: Join VACCHO representatives as they facilitate a discussion with the VACCHO Continuous Quality Improvement tool allowing attendees to learn how to use the tool and apply it to real life and practical situations.

• How Indigenous leadership in the NT is reclaiming safe spaces through family-inclusive, trauma-aware, and culturally responsive models

• How policy can better reflect local strengths, solutions, and leadership to transform systems of care and justice

• Aboriginal organisations driving change at the intersection of justice and youth mental health

Moderator: Nerita Waight, Chief Executive Officer, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS); Deputy Chair, National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Service (NATSILS)

Joshua Brown, Headspace Alice Springs Community Engagement Lead, Central Australian Aboriginal Congress

Rocket Bretherton, Campaign and Advocate Coordinator NT, Justice Reform Initiative

Andrew Lockyer, Indigenous Throughcare Program, North Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency

• Addressing drug and alcohol use in young offenders

• Supporting young people in prison to pathways of rehabilitation with culturally informed programs

• Using data to enhance prison-based programs for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait peoples

Dr Michael Doyle, Associate Professor, Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney

• What a dedicated voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people has the potential to do

• Understanding the functions of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People Commissioner

• Engaging with the commissioner to ensure shared decision making

Meena Singh, Victorian Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People