event details

Expression of Interest: 'Aboriginal People and Lateral Violence' training

16 March 2023
9:00am – 4:30pm
ACON Health, Sydney, NSW
Are you an Aboriginal AOD worker and a member of NADA or ACDAN? 

KAYA KILI NHAWI PURINGA MARNMARNAPU

(talk today for a better tomorrow)

This one day workshop is delivered by Felicity (Flic) Ryan of Big River Connections, and Robert Monaghan from Monaghan Consulting. It is designed to explore and address the concept of Lateral Violence within Aboriginal communities and professional settings. 

Lateral violence is described as "the organised, harmful behaviours that we do to each other collectively as part of an oppressed group: within our families, within our organisations and within our communities. When we are consistently oppressed we live with great fear and great anger, and we often turn on those who are closest to us"
- R Frankland and P Lewis, Presentation to Social Justice Unit Staff, Australian Human Rights Commission (14 March 2011)

This interactive course provides participants with the skills to identify and expose lateral violence within Aboriginal communities/workplaces, and learn how to reduce its effects within both personal and professional settings. 

Course topics include: 
  • Defining the concept of lateral violence, 
  • identifying why lateral violence occurs, 
  • identifying when and where lateral violence occurs, 
  • describing the impacts of lateral violence, and 
  • developing strategies and tools to combat lateral violence and its effects. 
About the facilitators

Felicity Ryan (she/her) is a Wadi Wadi woman. Her mother's family are freshwater people from the Mallee area of Victoria, specifically around Miilu (the Murray River). She also has strong family connections to the Wemba Wemba and Yorta Yorta people around this region and her father was of Scottish background. The name Big River Connections reflects Flic's deep connectedness to her family, her people, her ancestors and her country. She has over ten years of experience within the AOD sector, including time on the frontline. Flic is highly respected within the field for her development and delivery of high-quality training workshops, including Aboriginal Cultural Awareness and Competency, Aboriginal Health and Employment, Lateral Violence, and Self-Care for Aboriginal Workers. She also works on various project teams as a consultant, assisting organisations as they work to become more culturally inclusive in developing their cultural literacy.

Robert Monaghan (he/him) is a descendant of the Bundjalung Nation on his mother's side; his family and extended family are from the North Coast alongside the Clarence River at Baryulgil. On his fathers side a long and rich history of descendants from Ireland. Robert specialises in the development and delivery of interactive face-to-face training packages designed around working with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people, and has also worked within the Aboriginal community controlled sector for over a decade. 

To register your interest in attending this event, click here

Please feel free to contact Raechel Wallace at  if you have any questions about the training or your eligibility. 

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