The 21st-27th of October is OT Week, honouring the vital role of occupational therapists in improving lives across Australia. This year’s theme, "Celebrating 80 Years...
Billy Black
Training and Communications Specialist
Billy is our Training and Communications Specialist, focusing on messaging and storytelling that empowers the voice of children and young people in care through the design and development of training, resources, and special projects.
Active in systems advocacy for children in care from 15 years old, Billy has brought the child’s experience to social worker training, carer training, participatory research, speaking events, carer accreditation panels, media appearances, and projects championing the voices of children.
Since graduating from care, Billy has listened to and participated in hundreds of valuable stories from care alumni peers, families, social workers, and organisations to lay a fundamental work principle that all improvements to OOHC must empower children to safely lead their own stories with ample support from their trusted adults.
Billy lives on the lands of the Wallumedegal people, where all working hours are accompanied by the sounds of good children playing nicely.
Articles written by
Billy Black
At the CETC, we know how important it is to listen and learn from residential care workers about what works for young people in care....
The 2nd of April is World Autism Awareness Day, celebrating and promoting understanding and inclusiveness of people on the autism spectrum. In out-of-home care, neurodiversity...
One of our most frequent requests at the CETC is for more training on how to respond to the behaviours of young people in out-of-home...
Over the recent decades, we have seen leaps in research and practice promoting the importance of taking a holistic trauma-informed approach to caring for children...
For children with complex trauma, the out-of-home care sector is more often reactive rather than proactive or preventative. Not many programs exist to provide significant...
In honour of FASD Awareness Month this September, the CETC brought together esteemed thought leaders Dr Julia Shekleton, Prue Walker, and Noel Macnamara to delve...
The CETC is thrilled to announce our new online course “Caring for Children and Young People with Trauma” is now live and free for all...
When I was a teen in care, I found the (well-intentioned) focus on my progress from case workers and other adults exhausting. If I tried...
How old were you when you moved out of home for the first time? Did you continue to get support from home, perhaps for an...
In this month’s Community of Practice workshop, we explored the additional challenges that LGBTQIA+ young people face in care, reflecting on how to provide a...
This month, we are thrilled to welcome Billy Black to our team at the CETC as a Care Experience Resource and Training Specialist. Billy has...