Safe Conversations Start Here
DoNOHarm is MIEACT’s practical training that equips teams to discuss mental ill-health and lived experience safely. Grounded in clear principles and real-world scenarios, it builds respectful language and boundaries, reduces stigma, and provides tools people can use immediately—delivered in person or online.
In this interactive workshop, participants will be introduced to the six guiding principles of DoNOHarm and explore how they apply in their personal and professional environments.
Whether we’re talking about mental health, trauma, identity, loss, racism, discrimination, performance, or change, DoNOHarm empowers participants to navigate conversations with clarity, confidence and compassion – without causing harm.
Learning Outcomes
- Understand the six principles of DoNOHarm
- Understand the impact of language on stigma, mental health and other Lived Experiences
- Gain practical strategies and tools to maintain appropriate boundaries, support help seeking, and practice self-care.
- Explore inclusive language and develop safe and respectful practices when communicating, particularly about Lived Experiences.
Empathy & Compassion
Genuine connection comes not from fixing but from witnessing and validating others. In DoNOHarm, empathy and compassion are powerful tools for cultural change, dissolving shame and stigma to build trust and belonging. Empathy is feeling with someone, while compassion is empathy with action—but action isn’t always needed. Sometimes, simply being present is the most supportive response.
Safe & Inclusive Spaces
DoNOHarm is grounded in the belief that everyone deserves to feel safe, seen, and respected – especially when navigating vulnerability, identity, or difference. This pillar commits to cultivating environments that honour psychological safety, foster inclusion, and actively challenge exclusion, discrimination, and power imbalances.
Safe and inclusive spaces don’t happen by chance. They are intentionally created through mindful communication, representation, and practices that prioritise the wellbeing and autonomy of all people. Through this pillar, DoNOHarm encourages workplaces, communities, and systems to move beyond tolerance, toward environments where people are empowered to show up, speak without fear, and thrive.
Accountability
Accountability is the backbone of the DoNOHarm Framework – it is a commitment to do better, prevent or minimise harm, and hold space for others.. This pillar invites us to own our impact, not just our intent. It asks us to respond without defensiveness when harm is named, to make space for repair and growth, and to uphold boundaries rooted in mutual respect. In DoNOHarm, accountability ensures:
- Empathy doesn’t become passive
- Compassion leads to real change
- Harm is acknowledged and addressed
It’s not about perfection—it’s about ongoing responsibility, humility, and the courage to learn.
Being Human
Being human is the heart of DoNOHarm. It honours the courage it takes to show up as our authentic selves—flawed, feeling, and real. This pillar invites us to embrace vulnerability not as weakness, but as a gateway to growth, empathy, and genuine connection.
In DoNOHarm, we learn by being present with our own humanity and the humanity of others. We recognise that healing and understanding emerge not from perfection, but from authenticity. This means sitting with discomfort, owning our stories, and allowing space for emotion and uncertainty.
Being human reminds us that connection is not built through performance, but through presence. It’s a daily practice of showing up, staying open, and learning from the messy, beautiful reality of being human.
The Story Behind DoNOHarm
Since 1998, Mental Illness Education ACT (MIEACT) has been educating the community about mental illness by centring the voices of those most impacted to reduce stigma, promote help-seeking, and share messages of hope.
Recognising that sharing personal experiences of mental illness, trauma, or distress – while powerful – can also be harmful if not done safely, MIEACT formalised this insight into the DoNOHarm Framework in 2011.Originally developed to protect both storytellers and audiences, it has since evolved into a universal communication tool used by educators, frontline workers, government agencies, HR teams, and entire communities.
DoNOHarm empowers people to listen deeply, speak responsibly, and connect with compassion, without causing harm.
It’s more than a training.
It’s a skillset, mindset and a culture shift.
Now delivered nationally, DoNOHarm Communication Training shapes how we show up for each other—in moments of vulnerability, in times of tension, in spaces of complexity and in the conversations that matter most. Whether navigating mental health, identity, trauma, difference, or systemic change, DoNOHarm empowers people to build safer, more inclusive, and more compassionate communities—one conversation at a time.
Principles
DoNOHarm includes the following six principles that guide participants toward more effective
and empowering communication in a range of settings:
Context & Purpose
Recovery emphasis
Safe talking
Limits to helping
Respectful & inclusive language
Self care
DoNOHarm FOR YOUR SECTOR
Select the pathway aligned to your context; compare focus areas, workshop format, take-home resources and
next actions.
Testimonials
Level 1. Room 10. The
Griffin Centre,
20 Genge Street
Canberra City 2601
(02) 6257 1195
About us
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