About Us
DanceWize NSW exists to advance and support the health and dignity of festival goers in NSW. DanceWize NSW is a program of NSW Users and Aids Association (NUAA); the leader in peer-led harm reduction in NSW.
We attended our first festival in November 2017with funding and support from the NSW Ministry of Health, aiming to increase the safety of festival patrons. We achieve this by coupling credible, evidence-based information, with delivery of a range of peer-based harm reduction services. These include peer education about safer partying and safer drug use, provision of care Spaces and roving teams at festivals, as well as training programs and advocacy. We work closely with festival promoters, emergency medical, police, and security service to decrease harms experienced by people at music festivals. Our program is comprised of an experienced and dedicated team employed by NUAA, over 300 volunteer Key Peer Educators (KPEs) recruited from the festival and party scene, and a team of dedicated volunteer Team Leaders. All members of the team hold a minimum of a current Provide First Aid and have completed extensive harm reduction care and education training.
DanceWize NSW has attended 80 festivals since our establishment. Some of these fantastic events include Dragon Dreaming, Knockout, Yours & Owls, Groovin’ the Moo, Lost Paradise, Ultra, Festival X, and Subsonic. We successfully work with many promoters including Architects of Entertainment, Mothership, Secret Sounds, and Matt Sims Events. We have provided general health and specific drug and alcohol harm reduction education to over 32,100 patrons; provided back-of-house care to over 2,700 patrons; and over 414,100 rover interactions with patrons. We pride ourselves on our ability to deliver an integrated reciprocal referral model. Our Rovers and Care Space KPE’s have referred 410 people into medical care, and medical has referred 620 people into our care.
In addition to our festival service, we also offer our community harm reduction support and education, including NSW drug alerts, and a digital peer support service, through our social media accounts and website.
STAFF
Tim Powell
Tim has been a DanceWize NSW Program Specialist since May 2022, but began volunteering with DanceWize NSW in 2018. Tim sought out DanceWize NSW after completing a B Criminology and Criminal Justice (Hons) in 2017 where he wrote a thesis on pill testing and festival harm reduction.
Tim has previously worked with Students for Sensible Drug Policy Australia as a drug policy reform advocate, and has worked as a Health Education Officer in other harm reduction services including needle and syringe programs and the Kings Cross Medically Supervised Injecting Centre.
Tim has a passion for drug policy reform and the prioritisation of health and welfare over criminalisation, and for the advancement of drug education to include lived experience as a credible source of knowledge.
Jacinta Bourne
Cinty is a DanceWize NSW Program Specialist.
She is a harm minimisation worker, advocate and peer who has been with us at Dancewize NSW since our very first festival at Dragon Dreaming in 2017. Growing with the programme, Cinty has been a peer educator, a team leader, a casual onsite coordinator and is now a programme specialist. Cinty comes from a background in NSP health, where she worked at ACON as a Health Education Officer. Cinty has experience in advocacy and volunteer management with GetUp and is involved in the local metal music scene in her free time.
Cait Dooley
Cait (Doolz) has a degree in Medicinal Chemistry with first class honors specializing in AOD after starting out in law. She became involved in DanceWize NSW in early 2022 through uni friends. Since then, she has rarely missed a festival - quickly falling in love with the principles of harm reduction, each unique, diverse community and every genre of music imaginable (Phoebe and Joji @ Laneway was still one of the best days of her life though). Cait is a proud and outspoken advocate for the rights of PWUD and evidence-based drug policy based on harm reduction pedagogies.
Cait has worked in a variety of roles over the years but most recently has worked as an Health Education Officer at the Redfern Harm Reduction Program, a consultant for the Nighttime (24/7) Commissioner on safety and harm reduction in the Night Time Economy, a research assistant with UNSW and U Melb evaluating Gold Standard Models of Harm Reduction in festival settings and as a part-time academic in biochemical science. Cait is currently the National Co-Communications Coordinator for SSDP and works with The Loop Au.
Cait sees festivals as more than just events; they’re communities. She’s committed to enhancing the DanceWize NSW program for future attendees, including her own two kids. Off-duty, Cait enjoys time with her family, including Rufus her failed assistance dog and her two goats. Her hope is for DanceWize NSW to be a beacon for the next generation of festival-goers. And that one day her kids think she is cool.
Edie-Louise Diemar
Edie is DanceWize’s Communications (Social Media) Worker. They come from a background in journalism and content production but decided to escape media after writing one too many articles about the Kardashians. With DanceWize Edie saw a chance to leverage their experience in content creation and social media management for a cause they actually believe in.
Edie has a bard’s heart without any musical ability. They love dance, art and all things fantasy. If they’re not tearing through a dance floor Edie can be found reading trashy novels or romancing morally dubious characters in various RPGs.
CASUAL STAFF
CLANCY
"Clancys passions lie in the intersections of creative expression, system disruption, radical empathy and intuitive curiosity. Like a dodgy stick and poke on the foot of the Masters of the Universe, Clancy tries to bring simplicity to chaos and understanding to complexity.
Studying Chemistry and Creative Intelligence at UTS, he has been bringing scientific knowledge to DanceWize for over 2 years now. DanceWize has found it's home in Clancy's heart as it enables him to strengthen drug users relationship with themselves and unlearn their own stigmatising behaviours and concepts.
Always looking forward, Clancy hopes to enable and connect communities with the resources they need to re-imagine the future of sustainable drug use and it's eventual role in utopian communities."
JANE
I was inspired to join DanceWize NSW after being one of its first patrons at my favourite festival, Dragon Dreaming. I love the sense of community that both exude. Training to be a psychologist, I believe there is nothing more fascinating or more complex than the human mind. I hope to one day use my experience at DanceWize NSW to care for people who struggle to afford or access professional help. Next to people, my greatest passion is dancing. I love dancing of any kind, but mainly ballet, burlesque and anything with fans.
TAREK
Tarek has joined Dancewise volunteer in 2019, however his involvement in dance parties and dance party culture has existed long before he had the chance to work with Dancewise on the ground. Although this is Tarek's first time working with a community based organisation he has been working as a logistics and operations manager in key medical supplychains for over 15 years ensuring that the vulnerable and needy receive the care and devices they need. His greatest passion however remains deeply rooted in dance and festival culture. His favourite festival would be SubSonic in which he’s attended 5 years running. Outside of the festival scene and the festival fashion that Tarek views as a crucial add to on, Tarek is a doting cook for all in his life, constantly feeding friends in what he affectionately refers to as ’Tareks’ bistro’. Being part of Dancewise allows Tarek to really give back to a community that he truly is aligned with, understands and wants to both hero and be the hero to protect long into the future.
LAURA
It was a warm April night in the bush of Northern NSW, the crowds had decended on a doof known as Rabbits Eat Lettuce 2018. Little did Laura know, sending for help after finding a patron a little worse for wear would be the first step on a new life path. A path paved with purple, bass and a crew she'd be proud to call her friends...
Joining 2 years later in 2019, Laura has walked the purple brick road from KPE to Team Leader, before becoming a casual admin and onsite coordinator in 2020, with over 25 festivals and the passes and lanyards to prove it.
Among the team, Laura is known as many things,
-Paragon of common sense
-Mum
-Queen of organised chaos
-the first face of DW, running inductions
-over prepared, under caffeinated
-The go to for mylanta, panadol, bandaids and anything else forgotten
- The title for most marriage proposals by festival patrons (3).
Outside of DanceWize NSW, Laura also volunteers with SSDP and BHNH as a Communications Officer and is studying AOD. With a strong harm reduction focus and interest in policy, policing and research, bringing her passion to affect change for PWUD is evident in her work.
Spending time with her doggo, woodworking or working on her lego habit are her downtime, when it happens.
TEAM LEADERS
SHAWNEE
Working at NUAA’s NSP with a background in Counselling, Shawnee is a passionate advocate for harm reduction, drug reform, mental health, human and animal rights and environmental conservation. Shawnee has been with Dancewize since early 2018 and has loved providing care and support to their community, getting lost in phat beats on the D-floor, as well as creating beautiful bonds with the wolfpack team.
BELLA
I’m Bella I am an outdoor Educator (take children on school camp), medic and lifeguard as well as a palliative and disability carer. I’m passionate about caring for others, being in the outdoors and many forms of art and performance. I grew up in the doof scene from 16 and that lead to one of my main hobbies being fire spinning and I adore rock climbing. My favourite festivals are Regrowth, Lucid labyrinth, Sounds Psylly and Dragon Dreaming. One of my elder friends ran a safe care space at parties for years called ‘J's world’ which I used to love doing with him, so naturally when I heard about Dance Wize coming to NSW I was so Keen to get involved.
LUCIE
Lucie is fascinated with the mind, whether exploring her own mind or learning through counselling studies. A self-proclaimed harm reduction nerd, happy to talk for hours about the topic. Yoga Teacher by day, in her own time she will be found in nature, surrounded by animals or dancing. Self-expression is a must, especially coupled with a sense of humour. Honesty is the best policy. Two quotes to live by “Alone, we can do so little; together, we can do so much” – Helen Keller. "I am not what happened to me, I am what I choose to become." - Carl Jung.
Joined August last year. Love it, found DanceWize you guys at Origins. Wolf life!
SHAHRAD SALIMIAN
Shahrad is passionate about neuropsychology, mental health and harm reduction. He loves learning about anything and everything and has been with DW NSW since inception and has just joined the leadership team. He loves lonely kids club apparel and playing video games.
WILLIAM SWANN
Curious of all things positive psychology, cosmic connectivity and cellular awareness Will moves between the worlds of science, art , dance, meditation and yoga. Having completing a degree in molecular biology, Will is continuing his journey with psychology/neuroscience to understand the dimensions of mental health and our internal world.
MATT DIBBAYAWAN
Matt believes in all things Harm Reduction, and has worked in the field since 2014, including at the Medically Supervised Injecting Centre in Sydney and volunteering with Dancewize Victoria and NSW and The Loop Australia. Matt joined the Leadership team for DanceWize NSW in 2017.
KYLE
Kyle works in the coffee industry for a small family business. I was introduced to a small doof scene about 2 years ago. After the experience, I had a realisation of the positive potential that strong community involvement has. It inspired me to focus some of my spare time/energy to becoming a more contributory member of society. Two of my best mates and fellow Dancewize volunteers encouraged me to join the team, which I eventually did.
It instantly became one of the best things I have ever done, for myself, and my extended party family. I believe humans are inherently kind, and that with access to knowledge, and by focussing our labor and thoughts in the right places, society can become one based purely around compassion and sustainability. I love political banter, activism, psychadelics, camping.
My favourite event is burning seed. Other than that I love doofing and intimate gatherings. I love all music passionately & my household has an entire room dedicated to music.