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Michael Fisher
As a recovering alcoholic and addict, Moree’s Michael ‘Mick’ Fisher, completed a Diploma of Alcohol and Other Drugs in 2018, and is now pursuing a Diploma of Mental Health, to continue to show others that there is a way out of addiction.
Mick successfully applied for Health Workforce Scholarship Program (HWSP) funding through Rural Doctors Network (RDN) to help him complete both diplomas, something he says has really helped him.
“As a single bloke paying off a house and with a love of travel, the funding really helped me out,” Mick said. “It made me stop procrastinating and go for it! I’m very grateful for the funding.”
From 1992 to 2016, Mick worked as a butcher at Coles and also as a taxi driver, before starting up a narcotics anonymous meeting with a friend in Moree to help others going through what he had suffered for more than 20 years.
“After 20 years in addiction, I didn’t know a way out,” Mick said. “Personally, then, I believed there was no way out.
“However, there were people who helped me get well. I wanted to have a broader knowledge to help more people too as I got well through Alcoholics Anonymous because that is not for everyone.”
Determined to help more people and after securing a job as a Drug and Alcohol Caseworker with Moree Aboriginal Residential Rehabilitation Services, Mick wanted to gain more official qualifications to improve his knowledge, so completed a Certificate IV in Alcohol and Other Drugs and a Certificate IV in Community Services.
“I was computer illiterate prior to completing my Cert IV, but decided while I was on a roll, to continue with further studies.
“I can be an overthinker, so just knowing the [HWSP] funding’s out there and there was an opportunity to do this was great.”
Mick says he’s gained some great skills as a result of the diplomas.
“I now have several skills in counselling and advocating for people [as a result of the courses] and I think [studying has] made me less judgemental. [Alcohol and drug addiction] are both diseases. I understand the challenges of addiction and the impact it has on individuals, families and the community so I am lucky to have a job where I may be able to make a difference to someone else's life.”
Mick is pleased to see support for recovering alcohol and drug addicts changing.
“Organisations are more client-centred and work with people on their strengths, on what they have gone through and are experiencing.
“I want to help more people. I’m doing my best, I have empathy for people. I may not have the same story, but I have experienced the same pain.”
Mick is encouraging others to apply for HWSP funding.
“The phone calls, the correspondence - it was all so easy. They [RDN] couldn’t be any more helpful. It was a very smooth process.
“RDN has been great and made everything so much easier – thank you.”
The Health Workforce Scholarship Program provides scholarships and bursaries to help health professionals in rural and remote Australia retain and enhance their skills, capacity and scope of practice. The Program is an initiative of the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, administered in New South Wales by Rural Doctors Network.