NRL legend Greg Inglis will visit Cowra next month for a community mental health forum aimed at breaking down stigma, encouraging conversations and helping residents access support. The former rugby league superstar and founder of the Goanna Academy will headline an adults' mental health forum at Cowra Golf Club on Wednesday, 11 November, sharing his personal experiences with mental health and encouraging locals to speak openly about their own challenges. Organised through Wellways, the event will bring Inglis and the Goanna Academy team to Cowra as part of an effort to strengthen mental health awareness and connections across the community. Wellways representative Taylah-Jane Donnelly said the idea emerged during discussions with colleagues about opportunities to deliver meaningful initiatives for local residents. "My Wellways team and I were having a conversation about some things that we could do for our community, and we'd seen, obviously through the NRL, that Greg has his organisation," she said. The opportunity to bring Inglis to Cowra was particularly significant given the town's Aboriginal community and the Goanna Academy's focus on mental health education and support. Ms Donnelly said the organisation's Indigenous leadership made it a fitting choice for the event. "We've got a high Indigenous population in Cowra," she said. "Given his organisation, it's the first Indigenous owned mental health organisation in Australia, so it just was really fitting when we were looking into some things that we could bring to the community." While Inglis is widely recognised for his achievements throughout his rugby league career, his work beyond the sporting field has increasingly focused on encouraging conversations about mental health. Through the Goanna Academy, he has used his public profile and personal experiences to help challenge stigma and promote mental wellbeing. Ms Donnelly said the Cowra forum would provide an opportunity for residents to hear directly from Inglis about his own mental health journey. "We're going to hear from Greg and his story of his own lived experience with mental health," she said. "We're going to talk strategies about some things that you can do for yourself, some services that are available to people who might need it." Rather than a formal workshop, the event will focus on personal experiences, practical information and conversations about seeking support. Ms Donnelly said she hoped attendees would leave feeling more confident about reaching out when they needed assistance. "I hope that they'll take away that asking for support isn't scary, and there are places you can go and people you can talk to," she said. The forum will also address the barriers that can prevent people from speaking openly about their mental health, particularly in regional communities. Ms Donnelly acknowledged that stigma remained a significant challenge, including for men and Aboriginal people who might feel uncomfortable discussing their experiences or accessing support. "Yeah, absolutely. I think it's all of our job to break stigma, and the more that we have that conversation and make those connections, the better off we'll be," she said. She said events like the upcoming forum were important because they created opportunities for residents to come together and discuss issues that could otherwise remain unspoken. "We just need to bring the community together," Ms Donnelly said. "Conversations about mental health need to keep happening, and the more that we can have those conversations in our community, the better off we'll all be." Beyond the mental health discussions, the opportunity to meet one of rugby league's most recognisable figures has also generated excitement among local residents. Ms Donnelly said the response to the announcement had been overwhelmingly positive. "Excited, very excited," she said. "I think everyone's excited to meet Greg and get something signed or just to have a conversation." The event will give Cowra residents an opportunity to engage with Inglis outside the sporting environment, with the focus instead on his personal experiences and the work undertaken through the Goanna Academy. For organisers, the visit is about more than bringing a high-profile sporting figure to town. It is an opportunity to encourage conversations that continue beyond the forum and help residents recognise that mental health support is available. The adults' mental health forum will be held at Cowra Golf Club on Wednesday, November 11. Registrations are open through the Goanna Academy's social media channels, with further information available through its official pages. Residents can also visit goannaacademy.com.au for information about the organisation and its mental health initiatives.
