Talitha graduates with a vision for change

By Katelyn Dunn

When Talitha Travers crossed the stage at CQUniversity's Melbourne graduation ceremony with a Graduate Certificate in Domestic and Family Violence Practice, the milestone represented far more than a qualification.

For the Bendigo-based disability and family violence advocate, it marked another step in a journey dedicated to creating safer, more inclusive communities for people with disabilities and strengthening responses to family violence across Australia.

As a queer, disabled Palawa woman and mother, Talitha has spent more than a decade combining lived experience and professional expertise to advocate for people with disabilities, challenge systemic barriers and drive meaningful change.

Currently working as a Family Violence Disability Practice Leader, she supports more inclusive and accessible responses for people experiencing family violence, while helping build capability across the service sector.

Talitha said her decision to study at CQUniversity was initially driven by a desire to meet the qualification requirements for the role she had worked so hard to achieve.

"Initially, I enrolled because it was a pathway to meeting the mandatory minimum qualifications for my current role as Family Violence Disability Practice Leader," she said.

"This has been my dream role for so long, and I wanted to be able to continue doing what I love every day."

However, the course quickly became more than a professional requirement.

"I realised there was more to my career trajectory than I could have ever imagined," she said.

"I've become fascinated with non-fatal strangulation and the intimate relationship it shares with acquired brain injuries.

"I am now planning a 10-year career pathway that includes a master's degree and a PhD."

Before moving into family violence practice, Talitha built extensive experience across the disability sector, beginning with volunteering while still at school before progressing into support work, specialist support coordination, advocacy and supporting members of the disability community to make submissions to the Disability Royal Commission.

Throughout her career, she has remained focused on raising awareness of the intersection between disability and family violence.

"I have my own lived experience of both disability and family violence, and I was passionate about raising awareness of these issues," she said.

"My mum has always motivated me by saying, 'If you're going to complain about something, you might as well do something to fix it'.

"That really has been a reflection of my career to date. Every time I think I'm where I want to be, there is something else that I am motivated to change."

While the qualification enhanced her professional knowledge and skills, Talitha said one of the most significant outcomes was increased confidence in herself and her expertise.

"The greatest achievement has been confronting my own imposter syndrome," she said.

"I never believed that I deserved to be in the spaces that I took up.

"However, going through this qualification allowed me to believe what others around me have been saying for years, that I am knowledgeable and that my knowledge and the way that I work makes a difference."

Talitha said she remains passionate about ensuring people with disabilities are not overlooked by systems designed to provide support and protection.

"I am most passionate about challenging the ableism and sexism that people with disabilities experience from systems that are supposed to protect and serve them," she said.

"I am also passionate about bringing the disability and family violence sectors together, so these issues remain everyone's responsibility and all systems become culturally safe, inclusive and trauma informed."

As she weighed up whether she could fit a graduation ceremony into an already busy life, Talitha was her four-year-old daughter who encouraged her to attend.

"My beautiful, emotionally intelligent four-year-old said to me, 'Mum, you always tell me to celebrate my achievements. I think you should go'," she said.

For Talitha, attending graduation became an opportunity to demonstrate the values she hopes to pass on.

"This graduation is a reflection of me showing my daughter that my words translate into actions and that celebrating ourselves and taking up space is something to be celebrated."

She said hearing her daughter explain her work to others reaffirmed that she was making a difference.

"Hearing her tell her peers, 'My mum helps keep people with disabilities safe', helped me to feel proud and know that I was on the right path.

"I was actively making change for the next generation."

With her CQUniversity qualification now complete, Talitha is focused firmly on the future.

"It's time to put my 10-year career plan into action!"

Ready to make a difference like Talitha? Discover CQUniversity's Graduate Certificate in Domestic and Family Violence Practice.