I acknowledge and pay respects to our Ancestors – the traditional custodians of Mother Earth – across all the lands where we live work and play. I pay my respects to Elders past, who paved the way and on whose shoulders we stand: to Elders present, who lead with courage, passion, and humility; and Elders yet to come, who will carry forward our cultural ways of knowing, being and doing.
I am a proud Kamilaroi yinar from Narrabri, NSW. My family are the Trindall’s on my father’s side – my grandfather and great-grandfather – and the Barlow’s on my great-grandmother’s side. I live and work on Gaibal, Jagera and Jarowair Country, Toowoomba, QLD. I am a mum to an active 9-year-old boy and an aunt, a mentor, and a community member deeply grounded in reciprocity and service.
My leadership style is grounded in relationships rather than hierarchy — I lead through connection, collaboration, and mutual respect. This approach was shaped by my greatest inspirations – my grandfather and my great-aunt who embodied responsibility, and generosity.
My grandfather was a respected Elder in our community, known for two things: his wicked sense of humour and his quiet determination to get the job done. He believed that if you had the skills and knowledge to help someone, then you had a responsibility to do so. My great-aunt – one of Pop’s many sisters – was one of the most generous and determined women I’ve known. Well into her 60s, she would drive a van full of “oldies” on a 4-hour round trip to Tamworth for medical appointments three times a week – even though they were all younger than her! She kept going until she physically couldn’t anymore. Together they taught me that leadership is about quiet action, community care, and standing up when others can’t. Those teachings continue to centre me today in my professional and cultural practice.
My engagement with IAHA over the past decade has transformed not just my career, but who I am personally and culturally. Starting with Leadership FIT training in Alice Springs in 2015 and continuing with the IAHA Cultural Leadership program, I found the confidence and language to describe what had always guided me: cultural protocols such as reciprocity and strengths focused leadership and the deep connection between identity, self-awareness and action. These experiences have given me the confidence and skills to step bring leadership into which ever space I enter and to find my voice – ensuring that culture is embedded in everything I do, both personally and professionally. Through IAHA, I have come to understand that cultural responsiveness is not a skillset – it’s a way of life. It calls us to be proactive, and inclusive in how we engage, to lead with respect for the centrality of our cultures, and to be accountable for transforming systems so they are culturally safe and effective for our people.
As a Clinical Psychologist with 20 years’ experience across Infant, Child and Adolescent Mental Health in public health within NSW and Queensland, I have worked to create spaces where cultural safety and clinical excellence coexist. I now manage the Social and Emotional Wellbeing Service at Darling Downs Health and teach at the University of Southern Queensland on cultural responsiveness in practice and the decolonisation of psychology programs.
I currently serve as a Director on the Board of the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA), Chair of the AIPA Finance and Risk Management Committee, and co-facilitator of AIPA’s national Indigenous Psychology peer supervision groups. This year, I completed the First Nations Foundations of Directorship program which enhanced my understanding of governance knowledge, strategic thinking, and accountability whist maintaining and respecting cultural protocols and governance.
IAHA has helped me grow personally and professionally. I value reciprocity and generosity in leadership which aligns with IAHA’s values. I believe in reciprocity and generosity in leadership. This nomination is an act of giving back – using the knowledge, experience, and grounding IAHA has helped me develop to support others on their journeys and to assist IAHA achieve its vision and goals on behalf of all its members.
Thank you for considering my nomination. I look forward to contributing to IAHA’s continued leadership in transforming systems through cultural responsiveness and strengthening our workforce, communities, and future generations.