Lived and Living Experience Advisory Group

Mental Health Victoria recognises the value of embedding lived and living experience across all aspects of its operations. In recognition of this, the Lived and Living Experience Advisory Group (LLEAG) was established to provide MHV with strategic advice and guidance on how to realise the vision and objectives in its Strategic Plan by incorporating lived and living experience into the planning and execution of its work and projects.

The LLEAG is an integral and valued contributor to Mental Health Victoria's operations. It brings together a group of lived and living experience advocates to collaborate with our staff and Board in order to achieve our goals.

Get to know the members of our LLEAG:

Bernadette Montenegro
Bernadette is a qualified social worker and brings her lived experience of being a young carer to her current role as the Lead Carer Peer Support Worker at Northern Health. Bernadette is dedicated to embedding lived experience in transdisciplinary settings and creating an inclusive and responsive mental health landscape for carers.

Charmaine Curtain
Charmaine has worked in the Australian, not for profit, Government and Corporate Sectors for most of her career. Charmaine spent 30 years in the Financial Planning profession and was the Company Director and Senior Financial Planner of Private Wealth Management and Global Partnerships Financial Consulting. Prior to this she worked at Deutsche Bank in investment banking for 10 years. Since leaving Corporate, she has devoted her time, energy and passion to various Mental Health Agencies and causes. Charmaine has both academic and lived experience in Mental Health which is the driver of most of her work.

Charmaine is the Mental Health Director of The Luminate Team, who are a team of experts that work across the mental health and human thriving disciplines. They tailor experiences that help people build strength and capability to understand and manage past trauma and transition to wellness, build courage and confidence to luminate their best selves, and enhance motivation and acceleration towards personal and professional goals.

Charmaine also works at the Alfred Women’s Recovery Network (Mental health inpatient unit) providing support to families and carers that have a relative or loved one receiving care from the service. She spent time in a similar role at Peninsula Health Mental Health service where she worked closely with both clinical and allied health workers to share her experience and expertise to provide support for carers of those struggling with mental illness.

Caring and supporting a loved one through serious mental illness and recovery has taught her that there is always hope. Mental illness is not something that people develop in isolation, and it does not only impact the person it affects.

Charmaine is also a Board member of the “To be loved Charity” which aims to give children a voice through divorce and reduce associated trauma and is an Instructor for Mental Health First Aid Australia (MHFA).

I have worked in the healthcare field for many years now, dedicating the past 10+ years to Mental health specifically. I am a consumer and have had extensive exposure as a carer to my late brother for many years. By wearing both the consumer and the carer hats, I have been exposed to the system greatly which has driven my passion for quality improvement and for consumers and carers to have a voice.

I strive for a better everything and choose to put myself at the forefront of the system as I feel I have a voice for not only myself but for those who don’t feel strong enough to be heard.

I value honesty and transparency and I am committed to promoting and being a part of a respectful and collaborative team of individuals, who will strive together for positive outcomes.

I have previously been a part of a national consumer and carer advisory committee, been active in the education and codesign space and worked as a peer worker.

And I look forward to positively contributing to the LLEAG.

Thanura Ediri
While studying for a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering and a Bachelor of Science with a major in Astrophysics, Thanura fell into the DEI space through volunteering and fell in love with it. Thanura has had the chance to do some exciting work with the EDI team at Monash University, including some exciting work in the Anti-Racism and Disability and Accessibility space. Currently working in the DEI team at Deakin University, Thanura has the privilege to be working on some important work around Sexual Harm Prevention and LGBTQIA+ Inclusion.

Thanura has also served as a Project Coordinator at Monash's Counselling and Psychology Services team, where they led the implementation of a workshop focused on promoting proactive mental health practices and instilling in students the skills and confidence to engage in conversations about their mental well-being. Currently, Thanura is a Deputy College Head at Monash Residential Services, overseeing community engagement initiatives for a residential hall accommodating 250 residents.

Thanura has a strong background in volunteering, having served as the President of GLEAM: Queers in STEM, Welfare Officer for the Monash Student Association, and currently as the Secretary for InterEngineer.

In addition to their professional pursuits, Thanura is also an ethnographic researcher with two papers in the publication process. One paper explores traditional views of masculinity and its impact on queer engineers, while the other examines ways to improve physics and astronomy education for neurodiverse students.

Tharindu Jayadeva
Tharindu has a background in public health and community development, and strives to work towards more meaningful and trauma-informed care practices. He has designed, delivered, evaluated and advised on health projects at local, national and international organisations, including Orygen, headspace, batyr, the Butterfly Foundation and Alfred Health, bringing a focus on co-design, lived experience storytelling and community participation.

From delivering workshops guided by lived experience voice, to leading community activations for participatory systemic change, Tharindu works to bring collaboration, empathy and respect into conversations about mental health system reform. His interests in co-design, health promotion and community participation are informed by years of working alongside his community and peers to listen, learn and unlearn.

He now joins Mental Health Victoria to continue showcasing the power of community in decision-making and service development, and highlighting the roles we can all play in creating equitable spaces to thrive within now and into the future.