In this expansive episode registered nurse, John Wright, reflects on the career he has built as a remote area nurse and clinical educator currently serving some of Australia’s most remote communities. John is a proud emissary for a career that he has found to be rewarding, challenging and rich.

Sitting down with our host, Claire Delahunty, John shares the winding path he walked on his way to join the ranks of a profession of which men make up just over ten percent. His love of ‘bush’ communities has remained a constant throughout his life, as has his gravitation to work where his skills are most needed.

John is frank about the legacy of family violence in his childhood and the way it impacted his ability to deal with conflict as an adult. In the management roles he has taken on throughout his career, John has worked determinedly to develop healthy communication skills and tools to have difficult conversations. Learning is another constant throughout John’s story, as at every turn he has invested in further study to enable him to give his best to every role. He talks about the impostor syndrome and the leadership development opportunity that helped him to truly embrace ‘being a leader’.

John is currently a Nurse Education and Research Coordinator with the Tennant Creek Hospital’s Clinical Improvement Unit, and he has a part time secondment with Flinders University as a teaching academic. He completed Course 16 of the Australian Rural Leadership Program in 2010 thanks to a scholarship from the-then Department of Health and Ageing.

Some highlights:

• The rewards for men of a career in nursing

• Why early career health workers should give remote communities a go

• How to beat imposter syndrome and reject self-imposed limits

• How practical steps and peer support helped John un-learn a fear of conflict

• Insights into the long-term impact of the global pandemic on the health workforce

• Relationships and trust: the keys to being a health practitioner in rural communities

• How feeling valued, heard, and respected helps health workers to stay in the bush

Our host:

Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.

Resources:

ARLF podcast blog

ARLF website

Australian Rural Leadership Program

Department of Health and Aged Care

CRANAplus

This episode discusses domestic and family violence. If you need support, reach out:

Lifeline | call 13 11 14 | text 0477 13 11 14

Kids Helpline | 1800 551 800

1800 RESPECT | 1800 737 732

Kids Helpline | 1800 551 800

MensLine Australia | 1300 789 978

Safe and Equal

In this raw episode, dairy industry leader, Aaron Thomas, shares the story of his mental health break-down in the midst of a “perfect storm” of personal and professional hardship. As well as managing a dairy farm in Southeast Gippsland, Aaron is working to break down the stigma, shame and lack of support that can see people struggle alone – especially in rural communities.

Sitting down with our host, Claire Delahunty, Aaron candidly talks about his battle with depression, anxiety and alcoholism, and how in 2016, his mental health deteriorated to the point that he twice attempted to end his life. From the darkness of rock-bottom, the belief of Aaron’s employers, his family and his industry supported him to get back up and choose the life and impact he wants to have.

October is Mental Health Month and as Aaron explains, “you never beat it, but you learn to live with it”.

Aaron is a Farmer Director on the GippsDairy Board and a graduate of Dairy Australia’s Developing Dairy Leaders program. He completed Course 29 of the Australian Rural Leadership Program thanks to a scholarship from the Gardiner Foundation.

Some highlights:

• Aaron describes the gradual and accumulative factors that can lead to mental health decline & how recovery is equally gradual

• The essential role of the support of Aaron’s employers and industry

• How ARLP Course 30 graduate and fellow dairy leader and mental health crusader, Sallie Jones, affirmed Aaron’s purpose in sharing his story

• How the Australian Rural Leadership Program taught him to ‘slow down to go faster’

• To be curious and ‘trust your gut’ if you think someone you know is struggling

• Why Aaron sees a bright future in the dairy industry

• Being truthful about our mental health is what matters, and it’s ok not to have all the answers

Our host:

Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.

Resources:

ARLF podcast blog

ARLF website

Australian Rural Leadership Program

Gardiner Foundation

National Farmer Wellbeing Report

More on Aaron’s mental health and leadership journey

Sallie Jones, ARLP graduate, dairy industry leader and mental health advocate

In this inspiring episode, ‘connection cultivator’ and co-founder of the grass-roots group, Resilient Uki, shares her passion for hyper-local community leadership.

Sitting down with our host, Claire Delahunty, Mel explores what she and her community have learned from the devastating NSW floods of 2022. She unpacks how an existing scaffold of connection helped Uki to cope with the trauma and isolation of the flood, and what the community has done since to make sure that it is well prepared for the next challenge.

Mel’s motto is “in service”, and she richly demonstrates why kindness and connection are much more than ideals – but rather the foundation on which leadership and resilience can grow.

This conversation helps us to understand why community self-reliance is a growing reality of living in Australia’s changing climate, and to see the strengths inherent in our rural towns.

Mel has a background in environmental science and climate advocacy, and is a graduate of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation’s Leading Australian Resilient Communities (LARC) Program. She has an article published in the Australian Journal of Emergency Management and is busy generating and collating community resilience building tools to share nationally.

Some highlights:

• Mel unpacks what ‘resilience’ means to her

• “Who gives a shit about the washing?” – Mel explains why there can be a ‘honeymoon period’ after natural disaster

• Why kindness and connection are the essential foundation for disaster preparedness

• Practical tips to help us all prepare for ‘next time’

• Plus the importance of giving everyone the space to have ideas and take the lead

Our host:

Claire Delahunty, is a writer and journalist who has worked with the ARLF for more than ten years, interviewing leaders having a positive impact on rural and regional Australia.

Resources:

ARLF podcast blog

ARLF website

Leading Australian Resilient Communities (LARC) program

Resilient Uki

Red Cross community-led resilience teams

Australian Journal of Emergency Management: Anarchy in the Uki! How a hybrid of structure and autonomy can exist in community self-organisation