FWLHD Corina Kemp Awarded Mental Health Commissioners Community Champion Award
The Far West LHD is proud to congratulate employee Corina Kemp on winning the Mental Health Commissioner's Community Champion Award for 2020.
Corina Kemp is an Aboriginal Mental Health & Drug and Alcohol (MHDA) Clinical Leader with the Far West NSW LHD. She has been with Far West LHD for eight years, spending the last two as Aboriginal MHDA Clinical Leader. She is a proud Dieri/Paakintji woman, and was born and raised in Broken Hill.
A key part of Ms Kemp's role is to ensure that staff are providing culturally-appropriate and responsive services to the community. Corina uses therapeutic interventions through a cultural lens to support people to change their mindset and have a more positive outlook about their future.
Jodie Miller, Program Director, Mental Health and Drug & Alcohol Services, congratulated Corina on her award and said it was well deserved recognition for her.
'We are really proud of the work and commitment that Corina displays when working to improve the mental wellbeing, connectedness and health outcomes for Aboriginal people. This is wonderful recognition of her dedication to our communities and I congratulate her on this worthy award. Corina is an inspiring leader within our organisation and is a champion of Aboriginal mental health and wellbeing across the Far West,' said Ms Miller.
Ms Kemp said she felt privileged to receive the Mental Health Commissioners Community Champion Award for 2020.
'I am grateful to have my commitment, dedication and hard work to my communities within the Far West of New South Wales recognised. I am so passionate about working within the Mental Health and Drug and Alcohol Sector and will continue to improve on the health and wellbeing of our communities,' she said.
Ms Kemp was presented her award yesterday, in an online presentation as part of the Mental Health Matters Award that takes place every October for Mental Health Month. The awards recognise achievements across ten categories, where individuals and organisations have worked to improve understanding, awareness, service provision and the general mental health of communities in NSW.
Mental Health Commissioner, Ms Catherine Lourey, chooses the Commissioner's Community Champion Award recipient. The award recognises outstanding individuals or grassroots organisations that she has met during the year and who are working with their community to improve wellbeing and mental health outcomes.
'Since meeting Ms Kemp in March 2020 I've been impressed by her efforts to help the Aboriginal community learn about their mental health and improve their mental health,' said Ms Lourey in correspondence to the LHD.
Ms Kemp has a passion for supporting her community and helping people make positive change. This passion comes from growing up with adversity as she watched her family and community struggle through trauma, disadvantage and a lack of social housing. This adversity enabled her to develop skills to advocate for better outcomes for her people.
As a young girl, she had big dreams, she had always wanted to be a lawyer or psychologist. But it wasn't until Ms Kemp came across a traineeship with the Far West LHD to undertake a Bachelor of Health Science, Mental Health through Charles Sturt University Djirruwang Program, where she was able to study on Country and learn on the job, that she found her true calling - helping her community.
On top of her bachelor's degree, she has completed a Diploma of Management and Leadership and is currently undertaking a Graduate Diploma in Indigenous Health Promotion. This makes her a tremendous role model in an area that experiences high rates of young people not completing Year 12 and low rates of people going on to complete a university level education. Ms Kemp is a strong advocate for more local apprenticeships and traineeships to give local people the opportunity to learn and earn in their own communities.
The Far West LHD is justifiably proud of Corina Kemp and her achievements and wish her all the very best in her future endeavours.