Pictured above: Jill Gallagher AO & CEO of VACCHO with the Odyssey Staff
In July this year, we held our annual Staff Development Day for all Odyssey House staff at Life Saving Victoria’s spectacular venue in Port Melbourne. This year’s theme was Diversity, and it provided staff with the opportunity to better understand some of the barriers people face when trying to access health and other support services.
We had a range of fantastic speakers including Jill Gallagher AO, who is CEO of the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (VACCHO) and who was the Victorian Treaty Advancement Commissioner. Jill spoke about Aboriginal Health and the Voice to Parliament.
We had a diverse staff panel talking about how we can improve our services for culturally and linguistically diverse clients. We had other guest speakers talking about diversity from a range of perspectives such as Neurodiversity (Autism Spectrum Disorder and ADHD), and the experiences of the LGBTIQA+ communities. It was a day of rich learning for everyone.