Jacq Kiss

I identify as a queer, chronically ill and neurodivergent MAD survivor and bring both personal and professional experience as a registered nurse to my work as a Consumer Perspective Supervisor. I am passionate about supporting lived experience workers to maintain authenticity, strengthen their professional identity, and build a career in a sector that can be both deeply meaningful and deeply challenging.

I believe lived experience workers deserve spaces where they can dream big, think beyond survival, and feel empowered to make decisions about their own careers, wellbeing, leadership journeys, and futures. In my spare time I love building Lego, leaning into my love language of music and stage shows, and talking about my chickens.

My experience has been as diverse as my survivor 'career'. I have worked across the community house sector providing peer support to those facing the challenges associated with homelessness, family violence, food insecurity, alcohol and other drugs, natural disasters and of course mental and psychological health struggles. I have also run groups for those bereaved by suicide, and worked with carers in a Palliative Care service.

I currently juggle two roles in the public mental health system as a Senior Consumer Consultant and at a HOPE program as a Peer Support Worker.

I currently work as a Senior Consumer Consultant within a regional public mental health service, contributing to lived experience leadership, workforce development, governance, strategy, and service improvement. I am passionate about strengthening the influence of lived experience perspectives in organisational decision-making and supporting the growth of the lived experience workforce.

Alongside this role, I work as a Peer Support Worker in the HOPE program, providing recovery-oriented peer support to people following experiences of suicidal distress and mental health crisis. I enjoy holding dual roles, as it provides me with variety, reality and I always enjoy working directly with consumers. It helps me stay connected to frontline lived experience practice and the realities of people navigating recovery.

Together, these roles allow me to bring both leadership and direct peer support experience to my supervision practice.

I have completed a broad range of formal and informal training throughout my career and remain committed to ongoing learning and professional development. While I value training, I don't believe a lived experience worker's expertise can be measured solely by the qualifications they hold. As someone who has lived and worked in regional Victoria, I recognise that access to training opportunities are not always equitable, and that lived experience knowledge, reflective practice, and collective learning are equally important forms of expertise.

Some of my consumer role specific training includes Consumer Perspective Supervision training, a Diploma of Governance, Mental Health First Aid, and a range of Mental Health Professional Online Development (MHPOD) courses. I have also undertaken further study and professional development in leadership, health, and governance, and continue to seek opportunities to learn, grow, and strengthen my supervision practice.

I strive to create a space where supervisees can bring their whole selves, explore challenges honestly, celebrate successes, connect and learn together. I believe that supervisees are the experts in their own lives, careers, and practice.

Having experienced the public mental health system from both consumer and professional perspectives, I understand the complexities that can arise when working within systems that may have previously been involved in a person's care. I have particular insight into navigating relationships with clinical and administrative staff, including situations where psychiatrists, clinicians, or services may have previously formed part of a worker's treating team. I am particularly passionate about supporting people to move beyond simply surviving work, encouraging them to dream big, explore leadership opportunities, and build sustainable and fulfilling careers within the lived experience workforce, wherever they want to work. My supervision style is warm, curious, authentic, and responsive to the unique experiences, identities, and aspirations that each person brings.