Blog
Monthly(ish) News - July 2026
Reading Time
In This Edition:
Rachael’s Update
Website Update
Army Member Spotlight – Karina!
Gearing Up for TheMHS
Resources and Writing
Trail of Creativity
Caring With Integrity is Back Open!
Partnerships
External Projects and Advocacy
Slay Takeaways
Rachael’s Update
It’s been a hectic month of acquittals, applications, and reporting, in the midst of transitioning from an auspice to a registered charity. Personally, it’s been huge as well. I’ve started a new job, gone pretty far outside my comfort zone, and learned a lot about myself.
Something pretty consistent throughout my work to date - especially the last month or so - has been managing other people’s expectations of me. Not so much their expectations that I work, but their expectations that I rest in ways society deems acceptable.
For me, rest looks like writing. It looks like listening to podcasts (not that I should have to tell you all that). My hobbies and passions overlap with my work, and for that I make no apologies.
That’s one of the biggest challenges of this space. We talk about self-care and wellbeing, but sometimes success only happens when we go to impossible lengths. I understand why advocates, especially young people and folks in Lived Experience roles, are told to “prioritise self-care.” But I’m fed up with how common it’s become to ask what that looks like, and to put pressure on people to answer. It’s that disconnect that troubles me
.The reality is also that over the past few months, I haven’t really had the ability to rest, and that’s just been the reality. Through incorporation, I’ve been stretched thin, but sometimes we don’t have a choice. In building something like Integrity Initiative, there have been (and probably will be many more) times where I’ve had to push myself to get things done, because if I didn’t, they wouldn’t happen. And if they don’t happen, Integrity Initiative won’t exist. That’s the reality.
Opportunities have not presented themselves, I have made them through hard work. And, yes, sometimes that has required personal sacrifice. But that’s my CHOICE.
I’m learning what and who I am while I build this, and I have no doubt that will change. But I’m also realising that I do know my limits, and I need to back myself in that.
I don’t need people to tell me to slow down or avoid burnout. I don’t need people explaining burnout to me as though I’ve never heard of it before, let alone experienced it. I need to be believed. I need action. I need funding. I need practical support in building from the ground up, not questions about whether I have enough safety equipment, because even when I don’t, and we all have room for improvement, I’m still aware of the choice I’m making.
That is something I appreciate about the wonderful Integrity Army - they see this balance.
All that aside, I’m glad I now have a little more space in my life following the hectic-ness of building a board and incorporating. It’ll be nice to have the ability to choose a little more freely, without the external pressure of the end of financial year deadline.
And before we get into the lovely happenings within the ecosystem this month, a quick update on incorporation, that being the lack of one. We’re still operating under the auspice of Consumers of Mental Health WA until we hear back from the ACNC. When that happens, we’ll be getting our .org domain and email address, and finally the proper operating systems we need.
And with that, let’s get into it.
Website Update
By far the most exciting thing that I now get to share with you all is our wonderful website update. Massive credit to Liam Moore, who put together the most beautiful site that allows us a whole lot more functionality than the previous one (which, let’s be honest, was next to impossible to use).
We now have something that offers choice and prioritises access, organised such that it is far more navigable.
I am excited to see this site grow and evolve as Integrity Initiative continues to grow alongside it. I am excited for new parts of the site to evolve over time (and for new sections that I can’t imagine yet to grow).
I also want to loudly and massively thank Liam for all his hard work pulling this together. Thanks for bearing with me through my countless documents, organised into tabs and sub-tabs and headings and whatnot, colour-coded and all. Thank you for the (several) rounds of revisions and the patience you’ve had pulling together something that not only feels like Integrity Initiative, but also deeply human and personal to me.
If you like our website, be sure to give Liam a generous 5-star rating, here. It will only take a few seconds, and will be incredibly helpful for Liam
Army Member Spotlight - Karina
Hello everyone!
My name is Karina and I only recently had the honour of becoming an Integrity Army Member. Since then, I have already had the pleasure of co-facilitating a workshop with Rachael. This workshop was known as “Compassionate Creation” and took place on Tuesday the 7th of July at a Cockburn Melville Freo Youth Network meeting. Despite a few initial IT issues (which Rachael and I laughed off in good spirits), the workshop felt like a total success! This gathering allowed us to introduce the upcoming “Trail of Creativity”, as well as reflect on our views of creativity and how it can be used.
Within the workshop, we explored the idea that supporting people to think and act creatively is also a way of promoting choice and control. Creativity is deeply individual, and no two people approach a task, problem, or creative process in exactly the same way. The decisions we make throughout the process - whether to change direction, start again, refine an idea, or embrace imperfection - reflect our own preferences, values, and experiences.
I used my own sketching as an example. My sketches are unique to me, and the process behind them is often messy and unpredictable. My desk can end up covered in eraser shavings from countless attempts to alter or refine a line, simply because that is the approach that feels right to me! Those choices are not mistakes; they are part of how I exercise autonomy within the creative process. The finished piece may not meet the unrealistic standard of perfection I sometimes set for myself, but it represents something more meaningful: my individuality, my decision-making, and my humanness.
I would like to share with you a recent piece that I named “Out of the Ground”. Four and a half years ago, I was diagnosed with a neurological condition that led to me becoming a wheelchair user. I remember feeling so “far in the ground” that a meaningful future did not seem within reach. This sketch shows how the challenges I have faced, and the growth these difficulties promoted, led to where I am today - stepping (or wheeling!) into the lived experience spaces and advocacy!
Thank you for reading my reflection on the Compassionate Creation workshop. I hope it offers a different perspective on creativity and that you enjoy viewing “Out of the Ground” as a personal reflection of my journey!
Karina Bailey
Integrity Initiative is going to Dublin!
This month, we received the wonderful news that all of our abstracts (yes, all 4) for the International Association for Youth Mental Health have been accepted, which means Integrity Initiative is officially traveling to Dublin!
IAYMH 2026 runs from 23 to 27 November in Dublin, and this year’s conference received over 1,200 abstract submissions from across the youth mental health sector globally, research, clinical practice, youth services and young people advocating for change in their own communities included. Having all four of ours accepted in a field that competitive is reassurance that the voice of Lived Experience really is valued in the right spaces.
I will be presenting
When Hope Becomes A Hindrance, a poster based on the idea of passive vs active hope (and inspired by the oral presentation being delivered at TheMHS in August)
Concern or Condescension, an Ignite presentation outlining the challenges surrounding youth participation and the infantilisation that often accompanies these spaces.
Introducing Integrity Initiative, a tabletop relaxed discussion talking about what Integrity Initiative is, why it exists, and some of the challenges we’ve faced
This Isn’t Quite What I Had In Mind, a tabletop conversation around the realities of youth advocacy walking through the phases - from the ‘living experience’ to the first advocacy engagement, through the serial advisory phase, the honeymoon phase and into the confusing, messy, challenging, uncomfortable and emotionally taxing reality when ‘shit gets real’
Gearing Up For TheMHS
In 2025, TheMHS marked Integrity Initiative’s first national conference appearance. It was also the first time I was myself as a professional.
It was the first time I saw myself amongst my idols and (though most of me still felt like an imposter), found a part of me that believed I deserved to be there.
This year, it is my absolute honour to be going back.
We are looking forward to heading over to Gadigal land for TheMHS 2026, where Integrity Initiative will also be making 2 appearances/ presentations:
When Hope Becomes A Hindrance
This is easily what I am most excited for. To speak about the dangers of ‘Hope’ and ‘inspiration’ as the narrative that is written for us and which we are expected to fit within.
Integrity In Albany
A short, 5-minute, 15-slide Ignite presentation recapping the realities, frustrations, barriers and successes of our Albany regional pilot earlier this year.
Resources and Writing
It has been a month with a lot of reflection, and with reflection comes Substack posts
Limited By Imagination, Guaranteed To Grow
As we near the finish line for incorporation, we are also ending our grant period with the WA Primary Health Alliance’s Peers Helping Peers grant funding, and what a hugely successful period it has been. In recognition of this grant, we published “Limited by Imagination, Guaranteed to Grow”, a good news story reflecting on what incorporation has actually looked like from the inside, a piece that will form part of our WA Primary Health Alliance acquittal (and yes, there will be a public version of the acquittal report available with all the interesting stuff!)
The Cost of Competition
I wrote this after an awards ceremony I almost didn’t go to. It’s about what recognition means in advocacy work, the gap between a stage and what the work actually looks like most days, and the people who never get invited to rooms like that even though their work made mine possible.
Trail of Creativity
Creativity often gets treated as something you have to master. If you can’t draw or paint or craft, it’s easy to decide you’re not creative at all. But some of the most creative, expressive and imaginative people can’t draw a stick figure.
This trail was designed to celebrate the messy, imperfect, human nature of creating. Sometimes the fragments that aren’t neat or precise are the ones that best capture what it means to exist imperfectly in a world that is overwhelming and chaotic.
This trail exists to show you that everyone carries creativity within them, whether they realise it or not. And it can mean exactly what you want it to mean.
The Trail of Creativity is in full swing! With two events down, our biggest two to come, and pocket packs on their way.
Pocket Packs
Our mailable pocket packages are being created and are on track to be sent out within the next 1-2 weeks to their creative owners. In true Integrity Initiative style, you can also expect a surprise (or two) inside!
One of those has to do with our new partner, Pulch Magazine (learn about them in the ‘partner updates’ section).
CMF Community of Practice Meeting
On Tuesday the 7th of July, Karina and I hosted a condensed Compassionate Creation workshop for the City of Cockburn x Melville x Fremantle Youth Community of Practice. Huge thank you to Karina, who came along and contributed absolutely sensational ideas, perspectives and such depth to the conversation. Karina, you are an absolute powerhouse and I am so incredibly grateful to have you as part of the team. The session was a reminder of how much richer this work gets when it is co-facilitated rather than delivered solo, and it is something we want to build on for future sessions in the Trail.
Here are some of the creative reflections from the day:
Read The Reflections
Ngatti House Compassionate Creation
On Friday 24th July, I facilitated a lovely, relaxed creative workshop at Life Without Barriers’ Ngatti House, a Service supporting young people navigating housing instability and mental health challenges. The workshop was a wonderful space to connect, unwind and celebrate creative talents beyond traditional art.
Creating in Community
We are very excited for our upcoming community creative workshop - come along to Sullivan Hall on Sunday the 30th August from 9:00am - 12:30pm. Be part of our creative space and contribute to the Trail, with the opportunity to exhibit and sell your piece as part of our gallery.
Where The Trail Leads
Spread the word, invite everyone you know! Our gallery exhibition date is set!
Join us at Walyalup Civic Centre from 4-6pm on Saturday October 17th, enjoy the showcase of works from our wonderful participants, and be part of a community of support, creativity and human imperfection 🩷
Get your tickets: https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/where-the-trail-leads-tickets-1991361807773
Apply for a stall: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/Pages/ResponsePage.aspx?id=ugIA263uJkKBaiAp22EEOf2gFmzzmNpIkpZiLkTMiG5UQlIwQ0JBS1NVSDY4QllaT1NDR0pCNVJMVS4u
Invite as many people as you can, the more the merrier! p.s. it will be catered!
Event Accessibility
See the access guides we have created for the community creative workshop and the closing exhibition.
Sensory preferences include food preferences… and with the aim of making our events as accessible as possible, we now have a catering preferences form for folks who find it beneficial. You can also complete it anonymously
Helpful Resources, Links and Factsheets
Where the Trail Leads printable flyer (feel free to write to your local MP or someone you think would benefit from coming and invite them, and you are always welcome to CC in the rachael@integrityinitiative.com.au email address)
Workshops
Workshop refinement - we have been working to standardise and incorporate more research, evidence and the latest emerging data. We are ready and ramping back up to a core focus on workshop delivery when we complete the incorporation process
You can browse the workshops we have to offer on our website here: https://integrityinitiative.com.au/workshops
If you are interested in having us deliver a workshop, please complete this form or send an email to rachael@integrityinitiative.com.au
Caring With Integrity is back open!
Now that we’ve made it through the throes of incorporation (kind of), it brings me great joy to open back up to services and organisations who might like to receive our care packages.
No longer just a pilot, Caring With Integrity has proven the dignity and autonomy that can be delivered in a simple envelope or paper bag. It has demonstrated how much simple gestures from Peers really can mean.
We’ve learned, reflected, refined and improved our processes, and welcome enquiries from any community service, health service, inpatient unit or beyond who wants to be our next recipient.
The process itself is simple - we will listen to you and your needs, develop a model together, and bring them to life in the scale, time and form that you envision.
Care packages are free, always. We don’t charge you for the delivery.
If you work with a community of people who could benefit from Caring With Integrity, please reach out and we can determine our next steps.
You can express interest here: Caring With Integrity – Fill in form
See our new resource on the Caring Process here: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_m7H7EDbB9ix-w3_R6UsQWhH69PYq-P9/view?usp=sharing
You can view more about Caring With Integrity on the webpage here: https://integrityinitiative.com.au/caring-with-integrity
Upcoming External Events
Unrelated to Integrity Initiative, but I am excited to be speaking at Perth Unfiltered in August! Tickets are available here. They are $22, but if cost is a barrier for you please reach out as I would love to help you make it.
https://events.humanitix.com/perth-unfiltered?dateId=69fa903a8be0d5866e567c59
Partnerships -
We love all of our incredible partners equally, but there are some folks in particular who are deserving of an extra special mention this month.
A HUGE shoutout to Sharon Lawn and the folks at Lived Experience Australia for truly embodying Peer values and consistently advocating for fair, non-tokenistic inclusion of people with Lived/Living experience. I look forward to seeing you at TheMHS!
And of course, a shoutout to our new partners, Pulch mag! Pulch is a small independent publication for young West Australian artists and writers. We produce print editions and online publications, specialising in works of fiction, poetry and non-fiction. We can’t wait to work together in ways we haven’t even yet imagined.
External Projects and Advocacy
Rachael on TV!
On Wednesday 15th of July, I was featured in an ABC online article and TV interview regarding the release of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists’ report highlighting a significant shortage of child and adolescent psychiatrists across Australia (especially WA).
In classic ‘me’ fashion, there are several things I could pick apart, that I feel I could have done or said better, and that I can critique. Regardless, I’ve been trying to focus on the fact that not only was there recognition that psychiatry is not helpful for everyone and that it can cause a lot of harm, but also that Lived Experience is an essential part of the path forward, and that the current reality is a system in which psychiatrists serve as a point of access, meaning this shortage will see yet more young people unable to access mental health care and locked out of an exclusionary system.
I spoke to this from my own experience, not accessing proper support for an eating disorder until I was already seriously unwell, at 16, and losing a lot of my sense of self before anyone stepped in. It is not a comfortable story to keep telling in public, but it is the one that makes the workforce numbers mean something beyond a headline, and that is worth the discomfort.
You can learn more here:
Watch the TV segment: https://iview.abc.net.au/show/abc-news-wa/series/0/video/NU2608W196S00 OR https://www.dailymotion.com/video/xapkxay
Read the full RANZCP Report:
A huge note of appreciation goes out to Mya Kordic, the reporter who made this piece possible. Mya brought deep respect, patience and care to this story - it was an absolute joy to be part of this piece of work. Thank you Mya and ABC Perth.
Eating Disorders in Western Australia
I’ve been doing a lot of external work in the eating disorder space here in WA - from collaborating with Butterfly Foundation to some projects I’ll be keeping under wraps for the time being (but stay tuned, I’ve been writing something I hope to share soon!). It is deeply heartening to see eating disorders finally being given a platform.
Slay Takeaways
The Crinia georgiana, or quacking frog, is known for its duck-like sounds! Not only that, it’s also commonly known as the red thighed frog as it has bright red legs and unique patterns along its back. Reaching only 41-44mm in length, this has to be the smallest quaker there is!
A few places to keep up with us between newsletters:
Website: integrityinitiative.com.au
Substack, for the longer reflections: integrityinitiative.substack.com
Instagram: @integrity_initiative
Rachael on LinkedIn, for the advocacy and sector-facing side of things: linkedin.com/in/rachael-burns-0bab68309
Take care froglets,
Rachael and the Integrity Army
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