Session 1: Welcome 

Welcome! Here you’ll meet your session facilitators and your Care Leaver Rep. Hear their stories and meet you peers, as well as hear from a guest speaker. Feel free to ask any questions or tell us what you’d like to be covered in the course.

Session 2: All About Leaving Care Plans  

What is a leaving care plan? How do I get one and what should I make sure is included? After I’ve left care where can I go for assistance for medical support, legal, financial, victims of crime compensation?

Session 3: Basics of Money and Benefits

How do I apply for Centrelink? Where can I go for financial assistance? The need to knows of housing, rent affordability, money saving and general money management.

What is a financial counsellor and why you should have a trusted one.

Session 4: Employment

How do I apply for a job? What should I put on my CV? What is ‘upselling’ yourself in an interview and how do you do it? How to present myself to a prospective employer and the questions to ask.

Sessions 5-6: Identity and Belonging & Self-Care and Healthy Habits

Often to progress in our lives we need to understand our past and lived experience. How can we move forward if past experiences are holding us back? How can we stay connected to our culture and heritage if we don’t live with our family? And how can we use culture to heal?

What is self-care and why is it important? How can I create a self-care routine that works for me? Plus, what are triggers and how can I understand my triggers in order to overcome them? What is a habit? How can I develop healthy habits and get rid of unhealthy ones? What are some of the habits that successful people stick to?

Sessions 7-8: Nutritious Food on a Budget & Healthy Relationships

What is considered ‘nutritious’ food?

I don’t have much experience cooking: how can I find cheap meals that are also good for me? Finding a go-to meal that is nutritious and cheap.

Note: involves elements of cooking.

How can I have healthy relationships whilst also establishing boundaries? How to identify red flags and know when a relationship isn’t working. Plus, how can I be safe in my relationships and who can I talk to when I need support?

Sessions 9-10: Understanding the Impact of Trauma & Healthy Mind and Body

What is trauma? How does my trauma affect me and what are some techniques to work through it?

Why is it important to maintain a healthy mind and body? How can I create simple and easy exercise routines? Plus, simple steps to achieving a healthy mental wellbeing.

Sessions 11- 12: Personal Stories & Wrap Up

Brad Murphy, Feonyx Holden and Emily Hikiati share advice, their personal stories and discuss how they refused to have their trauma take hold of their lives.

Congratulations! You’ve graduated from the Empower Change program! Now, what’s next? Providing you with further resources and support systems.