00:00In your opinion, what is the importance of peer support when it comes to helping people get through mental health
00:06challenges?
00:08I'd say the main sort of benefits of peer support is that, as the name implies, it's just a lot
00:16of necessary support in your life.
00:18They can help you navigate your own personal experiences with using their own lived experiences, of course.
00:26And they can sort of help give you, guide you through a lot of your problems.
00:30Ultimately, it does come down to yourself, but they can also just support you.
00:35They can help you feel validated and seen in your experiences, if that makes sense.
00:40We know from speaking to, you know, young people at the youth reference groups and, you know, other young people
00:45in the community,
00:46there's so many who have, you know, relevant skills, powerful, like hard earned lived experience
00:53and really want to give back to the community.
00:55But, you know, young people living in rural areas also facing oftentimes a multitude of other barriers that contribute.
01:04There's so many who, like Ethan, want to make a difference, want to work in the sector,
01:10but don't feel like with, you know, juggling mental health appointments, you know, varying capacity, strict attendance schedules,
01:21caring responsibilities, transport difficulties.
01:23Like, you know, there's, there's a lot of barriers.
01:25And, you know, we heard a lot through the co-design from young people and through, you know, the desktop
01:30research beforehand,
01:31all of these things that can prevent people really from making a big difference.
01:38And so it's a workforce strategy, but it's also, like Ethan said, going to be an opportunity for young people
01:45to gain so many different types of skills
01:48and hopefully to, you know, take that step to be able to provide young people all around the region
01:55with an opportunity to transform their living expertise into a really purposeful life-changing role to
