Advocacy

Rhea was invited to present at the United Nations ECOSOC Forum and officially launch the Eating Disorder Module, reaching 40,000 participants.

Rhea was the first-ever youth presenter at the 2023 Australia and New Zealand Eating Disorder Conference (ANZAED) Conference alongside Dr. Bryn Austin (Professor at the Harvard T.H. Chan of Public Health and Director / Founder of Harvard STRIPED) and Dr. Laura Hart (Senior Research Fellow at Melbourne University). She presented on the incorporation of youth into the policy-making sphere and the power of anecdotal evidence in successfully lobbying for Senate Bills for restricting the sale of underage diet pills and muscle-building supplements.

We successfully lobbied for the incorporation of culturally aware mental health treatment into the Royal Children’s Hospital (in Melbourne, Australia) impacting over 95,000.

Lobbied for the implementation of policies restricting the sale of diet pills to minors, which resulted in Senate policy: “New York S.5863/A.5610D, championed by Senator Shelley B. Mayer and Assemblywoman Nily Rozic, takes effect after it was signed into law in October 2023 by Gov. Kathy Hochul.” - Harvard STRIPED

Successfully lobbied for the creation of Headspace Hawthorn and the inclusion of CALD resources with a state bill allocating $37 million to its creation and continued development.