‘We haven’t met the Civic Commissioners yet, we do that after the launch event, but already by sharing our issues among the Community Commissioners, it feels lighter, like something we can take action to change. In the community meetings, we’ve laughed and raged and cried. I’m so honoured to call that room of strangers my friends now, and I’m excited to bring our issues to the launch event in May to see what change we can effect.’

We’ve been a full commission for nearly a year, which feels bizarre to say. I’ve had opportunities to meet people and get into rooms that I never even knew existed, let alone thought I’d ever get access to. My words and the video I co-produced have been used in rooms I haven’t even entered, to change hearts I might never meet. Being able to effect that kind of change is mindblowing. Some of my fellow Community Commissioners now have more confidence than they could ever have dreamed of. Some of the sternest-looking Civic Commissioners have shed tears for the first time in years. The Poverty Truth Commission has an unequalled way of inveigling its way into the hardest hearts to crack them open, and once the light gets into those neglected places, it provides a sense of hope you might never have experienced before.

You have to be willing to put the work in, and it is bloody hard work at times. I’ve sat at my dining table deep into the night with a stack of books I couldn’t have imagined ever owning in my life, trying to get abreast of topics and concepts I didn’t know existed. But that tenacity has been repaid a thousand times over. I used to think I was confident, and I appeared to be, but it was a fragile kind of confidence – easily bruised and thin as tissue paper. Now, I feel more grounded in myself than I ever have before. This kind of soul-deep transformation has only come about through embracing the vulnerability that the PTC quietly expects of its Commissioners, and the patient guidance of our facilitation team. I am eternally grateful to Phil, Ally, Dusty, Angela, Roger and Sue for their insights and encouragement, even though at times they didn’t necessarily know they were providing it.

At the National Gathering in October, I said, “I just want to hug me so hard!” Now, if I could go back and impart any information to myself at the start of this journey, I would say, “You feel how you do now because you know you’ve only ever been disappointed by authority. You will not be disappointed by the Poverty Truth Commission. You won’t believe me now, you won’t believe me for about 18 months, but you have started a journey that will truly and singularly change your entire life for the better. Your job, whether you choose to accept it or not, is to let it.