Sarah’s Story

Sarah spent her teenage years living in out-of-home care. Fortunately residential care was a supportive and nurturing environment. However, due to life changes and departmental involvement she subsequently dropped out of high-school during Year 9. It wasn't until the age of 18 when she began her journey into higher education, starting with a dual Cert IV course at TAFE.

At 18 Sarah became a Residential Care Worker, a role she held for a number of years while engaging in further study.  

Sarah’s post-secondary education journey started at TAFE where she completed Cert IV in Youth work and Cert IV in Community Services (Protective Care), then moving on to a Diploma in Community Services.  This enabled Sarah to transition into university.  Studying at La Trobe University Sarah completed both a Bachelor of Human Services and most recently a Master of Social Work. 

Sarah currently works as a research assistant at Monash University where she draws on her lived-experience to inform and contribute to valuable research. Sarah has recently made a career change into the adult mental health from the out-of-home care sector, where she is also working in a newly established suicide prevention program. 

Sarah is passionate about influencing change in the out-of-home care sector through advocating for models of co-designed and lived experience to be embedded into academic studies.