Aunty Flo: Walking with You with Care, Courage, and Community

Every great journey starts with courage—the brave heart it takes to leave home, chase opportunity, and carry the hopes of your whole family and community with you. I know how much strength that takes. For our Pacific and Timor-Leste PALM workers navigating life and work away from home, having someone in your corner who truly understands makes all the difference.

Hello, good people, I am Aunty Flo, the guiding heartbeat behind Melanaiya and Veritas Pasifika. Your journey is my journey. I walked the same path, many years ago when I first came to Australia.  My commitment to you is rooted in deep cultural respect.

My mission is simple: to look out and support you at every single stage of your journey. From the day you first arrive until the time you head home, my time and my guidance are here to help nurture your well-being, honour your cultural identity, and build a strong future for you. Using our care-based GROW coaching model, I am here to see you fully—to champion you and stand right by your side for the long haul.

Through Aunty Flo’s Advice, I offer a safe, welcoming space of wisdom, connection, and trusted support. Before setting up Melanaiya and Veritas Pasifika, I walk alongside many of you, through your approved employer, as a senior program coordinator for the critical incident team within the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations (PALM Operations Division). Before that, I served as your regional coordinator for community connections under the PALM scheme in Cairns and surrounding areas, where I was blessed to help establish Tablelands South Pacific Inc., a wonderful community organisation driven by PALM workers themselves.

Along with my background in journalism and public policy, a Master of Applied Anthropology and Participatory Development from the Australian National University, and a lifetime of coaching, my greatest honor is using my experience to serve PALM workers, approved employers, and government agencies alike.

Please, never hesitate to reach out if I can support your PALM employees or your worker welfare support teams or anyone in the PALM ecosystem.

Remember: there is no shame in asking for help.