Lived Experience

This network supports early career mental health workers within not-for-profit primary /mental health organisations in NSW and the ACT. Those within their first two years of employment are invited to join the group each month to ‘lunch and learn.’ The virtual meetings consist of guest presentations from interdisciplinary professional and lived experience leaders, post-presentation discussions, networking and peer support. This network is appropriate for those working in a variety of stepped-care mental health and suicide prevention programs across all age groups, including those within headspace centres. While all disciplines are welcome, it is envisaged the audience will predominately be graduates of social work, psychology, peer work, counselling and nursing.

This mentoring initiative is a facilitated, collaborative process that centres on the therapist’s personal and professional self across the lifespan. It values collective wisdom alongside, rather than privileging solely, technical expertise. Distinct from clinical supervision, it offers a co-created, safe, and reflective space to explore identity shifts and life transitions from early career through to later-life practice and ageing. The purpose is to facilitate, model, and provide meaningful experiences of mentoring that support the mental health, wellbeing, and professional growth of practitioners, and to encourage participants to develop and share their own effective mentoring approaches over time.

Quarterly meetings include a blend of guest speakers and case-based discussions, delivered online via Zoom to support accessible and flexible participation.

Join the network to be added to the mailing list and receive invitations to future meetings!

Save the Dates

Please mark your calendar with the 2026 online meeting dates, all held from 5:30–7:00pm (NSW/VIC time):

Monday 27 July 2026 | Inaugural Session - Why Mentoring? 

Network Coordinator: Yimfong Voon (she/her)

Yimfong is a PACFA Registered Clinical Counsellor and Supervisor with 20 years of experience working with individuals, couples, and families, with a specialisation in couple therapy. She is also a Relationship Counsellor, Psychotherapist, and Clinical Supervisor, as well as a CCAA Theological Integration Supervisor supporting members pursuing clinical membership advancement. She is also able to offer Theological Integration Supervision through CCAA.

She provides culturally responsive counselling informed by both lived experience and professional training. Her work focuses on attachment, complex trauma, and loss, supporting clients navigating life transitions such as changes in work, relocation, and disruptions to identity, family, community, culture, and spiritual connection. She values diversity, equality, and inclusion as core to both her personal ethos and professional practice. Reflective supervision and mentoring are central to her work in sustaining and supporting helping professionals.

This network connects multidisciplinary healthcare professionals and students that are working in trans and gender diverse healthcare fields. Practitioners from a broad range of disciplines are welcome, including mental health, allied health, community services, and lived experience informed practice. 

The Network provides a safe, collaborative space for peer support, case discussion, reflective practice, and professional development, while aiming to enhance clinical competence, integrated care, referral pathways, resource exchange, and family, and carer support. By sharing resources and mentoring, this Network also aims to enhance workforce capability, increase access and equity, and foster evidence-based, multidisciplinary trans health services.

Join the network to be added to the mailing list and receive invitations to future meetings.

Save the Dates:

Please mark your calendar with the FY26-27 meeting dates, held from 6-8pm (VIC time).

• Friday 3 July 2026 | Trans Space 3rd Birthday & MHPN Network Launch
• Friday 6 November 2026
• Friday 5 February 2027
• Friday 7 May 2027

Network Coordinator:

Lee Taube (they/them) is a gender-queer trans masculine psychologist with over a decade of experience supporting Trans and Gender Diverse (TGD) people and their families. Lee is the founder and director of Trans Space, and has authored peer-reviewed papers about the unique strengths of trans people, which guides their approach.

This network invites practitioners who are passionate about expanding their knowledge and skillset for the care of those experiencing an eating disorder. There is a keen focus on how best practice can be achieved by listening to the voices of lived experience and creating a multidisciplinary circle of care that reflects the needs of an individual and their support system. The network meetings will consist of presentations from guest speakers, case reviews and peer to peer support. Meetings will be held in the Bayside region and sessions will also be offered via Zoom to encourage anyone in Australia who is interested in attending.

SEEKING NEW COORDINATOR: Could you be Melbourne Veteran-Focussed Mental Health Network's new Network Coordinator? You’ll play a key role in supporting a community of practitioners who value multidisciplinary collaboration. Interested? Contact us here. 

The Melbourne Veteran-Focused network has a specific interest in supporting the mental health of veteran and supporting the mental health professionals that work with veterans. The aim of this group is to build on the knowledge of evidenced-based interventions that have been proven to work well with the veteran population, enhance understanding of the lived experience of veterans and the issues they face, and optimise clinical skills and decision making that can assist with improving therapeutic outcomes. The network meetings will consist of guest presentations, case study discussions, peer support and provision of resources within the veteran community. This network aims to meet quarterly and aims to be a safe place for discussion, questions and networking for mental health professionals of all experience levels. Everyone is welcome.

The Lived and Living experience practitioners’ network is an Australia wide, online network, open to anyone using Lived and Living Experience in their work. This network aims to enhance knowledge, connections and networks for people working in the Lived Experience space. Activities will be driven by members input, aiming to meet the needs and interests of the network members. This network is suitable for anyone working in the Lived Experience space, or anyone wanting to further their skills, knowledge and/or connections in this space including, but not limited to: Lived Experience consultants and trainers, lived Experience mentors and coaches, peer workers, health and medical practitioners, academics, researchers and others as relevant. Network activities may include: Informal networking opportunities, Presentations from services and individuals, Professional development opportunities such as Intentional Sharing of Lived and Living Experience workshops.