Our Presenters
Manal Shebab
Pressures Faced by Migrant and Refugee Communities – Challenging Assumptions and Effective Engagement Through LLEW
This session will explore the unique pressures migrant and refugee communities face and how Lived and Living Experience Workers can engage more effectively. Despite growth, the AOD sector still primarily serves white demographics, highlighting the need for bilingual workers and culturally representative support. Low engagement does not reflect a lack of need, but rather barriers, such as: systemic fear, underrepresentation, and negative experiences with authority. While these communities are underrepresented in health services, they are overrepresented in the justice system, often facing racism and discrimination. This session will offer solutions for reducing these barriers, and provide strategies how LLEW can more effectively support families within migrant and refugee communities.
Manal Shehab is a faith-based counsellor, educator, IPS Trainer and public speaker, with her own AOD family lived experience, specialising in support for families impacted by substance use dependence, family violence and other social challenges. She runs psychoeducation programs across Victoria through SHARC and supports clients of the Muslim Youth Adult Family Services (MYAF) in Glenroy. She is also a member of the Multifaith Advisory Group to Premier and Cabinet on Family Violence in Faith settings, board member of Federation of Ethnic Community Council Australia, and sits on many other communities of practice how to dismantle and disrupt some of the systemic barriers faced by migrant and refugee communities across the Victorian health sector. In 2022 she authored ‘The Faith Leader’s Practice Guide and Toolkit on Preventing and Responding to Family Violence in Faith Settings’ on behalf of State Government Victorian, launched by Minister Gabrielle Williams.
