Trent Lyon

I am a proud Yugambeh nation born to the Wanggeriburra clan from southeast Queensland. I currently am working with Diabetes Australia, as the National Co-ordinator, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement. I have worked in multiple disciplines within the scope of exercise physiology and diabetes education from return-to-work, NDIS, occupational rehabilitation and a number of other areas and am, now working in public health roles as a dual-qualified professional. 

My family has always been important to me, and my mum has always been very accepting of who I am. She has always said, “Do the best you can and that is all that matters.” It’s nice to know how proud she and my two sisters are of me today.

My passion is giving back to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. With everything I have learnt, I hope to give back and provide education and assistance to Mob around Australia. There is still a gap in health and health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This drives me to want to find ways through resources, programs and primary health care models to do my best to be a part of the solution.

I went to an information session with Shannon Lin, the course coordinator and saw how hard they were working to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture into the whole course, so I applied.

We learnt about diabetes from all aspects, covering the pathophysiology, communication, medication, treatment and primary health models of care and outcomes. This course as a postgraduate requires some understanding and reliance from an undergraduate degree, really adding and consolidating a level of learning to ensure we have the knowledge to be able to work as a Credentialled Diabetes Educator (CDE) in the community.

The level of support that was provided for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is extremely rewarding. I also really enjoyed the primary health section of the course, which was a bit of a surprise to me, coming from the clinical world. I enjoyed breaking down these models, researching and reading about different processes and the differences in the outcomes from doing so.

I found the best way to balance postgrad study was to treat it as a full-time job. If you want free time, you just have to get the work done. For me, one of the hardest aspects was when I was travelling with work across Queensland to remote places with unreliable internet, but if I took the time to plan, I was still able to make good use of my time. 

During the online course, we were completely supported by all the staff involved. I was also a part of many structured meetings for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cohort of students. This was not only great for connection but also for learning from others working in the industry.

I work with Diabetes Australia. Shortly after graduating, I was working clinically as a CDE in central Queensland, however now I’m working at a national level. Every day for me is about diabetes and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. As a result, this role provides knowledge to the community and also gives the organisation the opportunity to have these conversations and access to real world advice. 

I hope to continue to work in the world of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and do my part to assist people in achieving the best possible outcomes. I hope that I can continue to share my wisdom and learnings with all through different opportunities, such as university lecturing and other corporate speaking opportunities. I have been lucky enough to share my story, as the first Aboriginal AEP/CDE. I hope that I am not alone for too much longer and we can increase the amount of professionals working as CDE’s across Australia.

If you’re interested and thinking about it go ahead and apply, you won’t regret it. You will be supported and assisted through the process; in the end, you will be a better clinician from the learnings. If you’re interested in learning more than this course offers, the staff will support you to learn in the best possible way. If you’re Indigenous then this course is amazing and endeavours to be culturally safe for all. It’s able to provide support through a yarning group and potential scholarship opportunities to help Aboriginal and Torres Strait professionals grow as much as possible.