Rebecca Lyons - President
Rebecca Lyons, mother of one, hails from the Blue Mountains in NSW. She started her working career in Sydney before making the move to Tasmania in late 2006.
Over her career she has worked in various industries including finance, real estate and the law but in 2011, she found her path into the funeral industry and stayed there until mid-2017 working across the many roles offered in the contemporary funeral industry; including pre planning, administration, mortuary, funeral arranging and directing. Retraining as an End of Life Doula and becoming an independent Funeral Director she has worked in home based death care and family led funerals ever since.
Bec has also been actively working to advance the mission of You n’ Taboo which is the education and advocacy service she co-founded with her partner in 2016.
Most recently Bec was awarded a Churchill Fellowship to undertake international research and report on changes and disruptions in the end of life space which saw her travel through 6 countries exploring alternatives to contemporary ceremony and body disposal. A link to her report can be found by clicking here.
In her spare time, she enjoys reading, writing, photography, camping and travel but what makes her most contented is time with her family. The subjects of death and dying, natural burial and the DIY approach to death care are her passion and she loves being out in the community raising awareness and promoting good honest conversations, she is a dedicated advocate for positive change.
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Website: www.yountaboo.com
Rose Sexton
With over 40 years of nursing experience and post-graduate qualifications in palliative care, I have a great passion for supporting those at the end of life and have long nurtured a deep desire to open up discussions around death, dying, and end-of-life issues, believing that this contains enormous possibilities for living more fully and richly. I work now in the field of Palliative Care in North East Victoria.
The past few years have provided several personal experiences for end of life support, culminating in the death of my husband in June 2019. This deeply personal exploration of the mystery of dying, death and grief have given me great insight into the challenges, nuances, and opportunities in this space.
Along with my colleague Nicole Stephens at End Stage Matters, we offer End of Life Doula services, Advance Care Planning workshops, and other events such as Death Cafes, podcasts and a theatre piece about ACP.
NDAN provides me with an opportunity for me to have a positive influence and contribute to our cultural reclamation of natural dying and natural death.
Phone : 0422318149
Website : endstagematters.com
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Heidi Grieg
Heidi has worn many hats in her working life: nurse, Auslan interpreter, teacher, and counsellor for rural youth. The 2019/2020 bushfires on Kangaroo Island flicked a switch as Heidi witnessed the raw strength and capacity of community. Tired of the endless treadmill of outsourcing services to the mainland, Heidi saw a deep need to bring death care back into the community’s embrace – and founded KI Doula Services in response to the existential crisis that was all around her.
After further study with Griffith University, and intensive training as an end-of-doula and funeral guide, Heidi now partners with Kath Bald, who established Island Holistic Funerals, the only local funeral provider on the island. Both businesses work closely with Kangaroo Island Health Services to deliver the full range of end-of-life guidance, education and support on KI.
Heidi is a strong advocate and facilitator for home-based death care, and family lead burials on private rural holdings. Buoyed by the community, she is quietly working to establish a conservation burial ground on the remote western end of Kangaroo Island and is thrilled to be involved in NDAN, an organisation she sees are clearly leading the change in Australia.
Email: www.kidoulaservices.com.au
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Alex Antunes - Treasurer
Compassionate, Queer, Aged Care Worker, passionate about living the best life we all can using Music as therapy.
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Learn more about Alex with this link.
Fiona McCuaig
Fiona has volunteered and worked for a number of marine conservation and environmental organisations throughout her property career. Fiona was a full-time volunteer for Sea Shepherd for nearly three years - she went on four dangerous campaigns including three anti-whaling campaigns in Antarctica and the Faroe Islands and was media promoter for the discovery channel show called Whale Wars.
Fiona's life project now is establishing the first conservation burial ground in Australia which will have 100% natural burials. The Bodalla Conservation Burial will create 20ha of protected forest ecosystem. She strives to make conservation natural burials the number one choice for all Australians due to it being the most beneficial end-of-life choice for the planet and wildlife.
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Phone: 0402892759