You may remember we acknowledged the amazing Ella (Year 10) earlier this year after she was crowned winner of the TED x Perth 30-Second Ideas for Change Competition. Ella’s 30 second video titled, ‘Changing Our Youth Mental Health System – Saving Our Youngest Sufferers,’ delivered a powerful, raw message about how youth with mental health issues are managed in hospitals and institutions.
Ella (Year 10) continues to be an amazing advocate for young people in relation to youth mental health, recently attending the ‘Building Tomorrow, Have your Say’ Workshop in Cockburn. The workshops are an opportunity for young people aged 10-25yrs to share their thoughts on what matters to them most. This State Government initiative will assist in forming a new three-year action plan aimed at improving outcomes for young people in WA. The workshop included interactive activities and every young person who participated will receive a signed letter from the Minister for Youth acknowledging their contribution.
“Some ideas I brought to the table about mental health will be presented within that plan by the minister of youth. I basically had to pitch my idea, which was implementing a lived-in experience program to educate health professionals to steer away from the standardised norms around mental health. This contributes to my continued involvement with advocacy for mental health as someone with lived experience!” said Ella (pictured in centre, with the facilitator on the right, and a member from the Office of Youth Services on left).
