Speaking at the WA Mental Health Conference 2024 on Lived Experience Leadership | Michael Elwan

I’m honoured to share that on Tuesday, 26 November at 3:30 pm in Break Room 8, I will be speaking at the WA Mental Health Conference 2024 on lived experience leadership.

This is more than a speaking engagement. It represents a personal and professional milestone. My pathway into mental health didn’t begin in a classroom; it began as a young carer in Egypt, supporting my parents through mental health challenges and physical challenges. Those early experiences taught me that lived experience is not a label; it is a lifeline. It bridges understanding and action, and it shapes everything I do today.

The WA Mental Health Conference is the State’s flagship mental health event; a place for shared vision, recovery-oriented thinking, and bold, future-focused solutions. This year’s theme, Solutions in Motion, speaks to the urgency of turning lived experience insight into systemic transformation.

My presentation focuses on something deeply personal: the power of peer work and the need to build a strong pipeline of future lived experience leaders. It is a call to ensure that those who have walked the path of pain, survival, and renewal are leading the system designed to support others.

From Egypt to Europe to Australia, I’ve witnessed how peer work can evolve from support to leadership, and how people with lived experience can influence policy, practice, and service design. The opportunity to speak at this conference allows me to share that vision, challenge systems, and celebrate the transformative role of lived experience leadership.

I look forward to connecting on Day 1 at 3:30 pm and continuing this important conversation with community members, professionals, and advocates across WA and beyond.

Based in Perth, WA, LEXs provides telehealth counselling across Australia for individuals, couples, and NDIS participants. Services extend to Social Work supervision, Peer Work supervision, training, and keynote speaking on men’s mental health, CaLD community wellbeing, and culturally responsive suicide prevention; helping people and organisations make mental-health care more compassionate, inclusive, and effective. LEXs provides services across Australia, supporting clients in Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, and beyond. To learn more about our work across Australia, visit LEXs' services page.