Anne is the Clinical Nurse Consultant for the Cultural Healing Program, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health Service, Sunshine Coast. This is a specialist service providing treatment and support to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community members who are at risk of developing, or affected by, mental illness.
Anne began her career in the Sunshine Coast Cultural Healing Program as an Aboriginal Health Worker in 2007, before completing a Bachelor of Nursing studies in 2016. In 2018 Anne was one of the founding members to pilot an expansion of the Cultural Healing Program in Gympie, which continues today. The program provides the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community with a culturally appropriate mental health service, incorporating social, emotional, cultural, spiritual, and mental wellbeing.
As an Aboriginal woman, Anne’s identity is a part of everything she does within her role. Anne believes culturally valid understandings must shape provision of services and guide assessment, care and management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people’s health generally and mental health problems. The human rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must be recognised and respected. Anne’s position as Clinical Nurse Consultant has provided her with an opportunity to advocate for increasing cultural awareness across all services and encourages staff to take steps to ensure all aspects of care are culturally competent, building cultural safety of the service through cultural consultation.
A highlight of my career was establishing the Cultural Healing Program in Gympie. I worked there for five years with high caseloads. I still go backwards and forwards from there now. I became a Clinical Nurse straight after I graduated from a student nurse, within a Cultural Healing Program. It just fell into place at the time. I love looking after my mob, I left aged care nursing back in 2007 to work with my mob and another highlight of my career is actually being where I am today, having a great team to work with and feeling supported in that team and getting a chance to work with my mob around their mental health.