CAHS Ambassador supports a more inclusive future for young people

Rachael Burns, one of the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS) Community Ambassadors, is the advocate she wished existed when she was younger.

Rachael grew up navigating mental health challenges, and subsequently, a world a that left her feeling broken. Many of her experiences of care deemed her 'complex' and 'unreachable'.

But Rachael refused to accept that.

The most significant change in how she perceived herself and found meaning came when she entered the Lived Experience (Peer) workforce

“Suddenly what I had been through was expertise, not a liability,” she said.

“I felt a shift from being managed to being met, and having permission to make mistakes, and that’s exactly what I’m now working to create for others.”

As well as her extensive advocacy work – Rachael sits on several advisory bodies, has written many articles, spoken at conferences and more – she also leads Integrity Initiative, an emerging lived experience-led not-for-profit focused on advancing autonomy, dignity and human rights within mental health conversations and care.

“I am determined to ensure fewer people experience the feeling of ‘brokenness’ that I know so well,” Rachael said.

Rachael was inspired to become a CAHS Ambassador to build on the sense of purpose and belonging working in the lived experience sector has given her, and to bring a vital youth perspective.

“Young people face compounding power dynamics that too often exclude them from conversations about their own care,” she said.

“Watching CAHS make genuine, meaningful strides in consumer representation and the lived experience workforce has been encouraging and gives me confidence looking forward.

“It is essential that we continue to build, strengthen and platform lived experience as an expertise.

“As Ambassadors, we work alongside allied health professionals, clinicians and executives who are genuinely open to learning, challenging norms and doing things differently with the same shared goal: for people to be well.

“I am proud to be part of how we get there.”

Learn more about the CAHS Community Ambassador program and subscribe to the Engage network if you’d like to hear of other opportunities to share your feedback with our health service.