The Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (known as Vic Hub) is sponsoring Sober in the Country founder Shanna Whan as a keynote speaker for Dookie Discovery Week on March 4.
Sara Hely, the director of Vic Hub, which is supported by the Federal Government’s Future Drought Fund, said the event — part of the week-long orientation program for the new intake of University of Melbourne Bachelor of Agriculture students — was free of charge.
“The collaboration aims to address crucial aspects of individual and community resilience in regional Australia,” she said.
“Because of the importance of Shanna’s message, we’re actually opening up the presentation to all interested local young farmers around the Goulburn Valley, northern Victoria and southern NSW, who can come to Shanna’s presentation alongside the new Bachelor of Agriculture students at Dookie Discovery Week.”
Ms Whan is the chief executive and face behind Sober in the Country. She’s an Australian of the Year award winner who decided to “do what she could to be part of the change” after almost losing her own life to alcohol addiction in 2015.
For Ms Whan, the story of using alcohol to hide from traumas experienced in her gap year, and later as a way to fit in, was amplified during her time as a university student.
Today, through Ms Whan’s tireless advocacy, Sober in the Country has grown from an online blog into a nationally respected charity, shifting the entire conversation around booze in the bush and saving and changing lives.
“Speaking to young adults is an increasingly strong focus for Sober in the Country,” she said.
“We are huge believers in addressing alcohol harm and the truth of our booze-soaked culture in rural Australia with practical education and awareness, and simply by being the leaders our future generations in ag need and deserve — something our generation never had access to.
“What I love about the Victoria Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub is that our goals and alignments are the same — they are all about preparedness and resilience.”
To attend Shanna Whan’s presentation at Dookie Discovery Week, from 9am to 10.30am on Tuesday, March 4, register online at: eventbrite.com.au/e/a-morning-with-shanna-whan-tickets-1257751722259
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