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We interview the irrepressible Taimi Allan to unpack her perspective on edu-tainment, giving away your best ideas, breaking the system without breaking yourself, and why fun is a mental health strategy.
That’s a massive thing to tell a young person and I believed them for a long time. Now, I see it was just a story someone else told about me. It wasn’t true, and I’ve built a life that looks nothing like the one they scripted. My parents carried me through that warped system when they were barely holding it together. Part of why I moved back to Adelaide after 20 years in New Zealand was to be closer to them. There is also a little bit of rebellion in me: I want to change the same system that once told me I was the broken one. So, in a nutshell, I went mad, got better, and turned that pain into purpose. I’ve never forgotten what it felt like to be powerless, labelled, othered. Everything I design starts with that younger version of me. Would this have helped her? If the answer’s no, it goes in the bin. You’ve been a chef, a butler, a flight attendant and an actor. What ties it together? The roles are all about connection. Performance helps people feel less alone. Food brings people together without needing words. True hospitality is making someone feel seen, safe, and cared for. And when it’s done right, tech
Your job title is ‘Mental Health Commissioner’. How do you explain what you do? It depends on who’s asking. If it’s someone in government, I say I advise on mental health strategy, champion lived experience, build things that should already exist, and throw glitter at anything that’s been taken too seriously for too long. If it’s a stranger on a plane, I say I build things. Tools, games, stories, awkward metaphors. Stuff I wish existed when I was told I was broken. And if I don’t feel like talking? I say I’m a proctologist, that usually ends the conversation quickly. My formal qualifications are not clinical. They’re in hospitality, drama, system and behaviour change. How does lived experience shape your work? As a young woman, I spent time in the mental health system — not by choice. I was distressed, neurodiverse, and misunderstood. The only tech I experienced was an ECT machine. One psychiatrist told me I’d never live independently, never work, never recover. I was erased before I even got to begin.
Taimi Allan Mental Health Commissioner South Australia
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