About Michelle
Michelle Browning is passionate about supporting individuals and organisations to develop their skill in the practice of supported decision-making, and become champions of cultural change.
Michelle first heard about supported decision-making when she was working as a substitute decision maker for people under guardianship in NSW. The concept challenged and inspired her. She travelled to Canada and England on a Churchill Fellowship to explore what good decision support looked like in practice. Her desire to know more led Michelle to do research into the process of supported decision-making. She completed her doctorate in 2018 and founded her consultancy Decision Agency. Through the work of Decision Agency Michelle aspires to make supported decision-making research and practice knowledge accessible to all.
Throughout this journey Michelle has helped develop, implement and evaluate trials of supported decision-making practice across Australia. She has assisted government and non-government organisations to produce resources, policy and practice guidelines. Michelle facilitates training, practice groups and supervision for supporters wanting to build their confidence as practitioners. She also provides training for decision makers wanting to understand more about decision making and their rights.
Publications that Michelle has written or contributed to include:
A process of decision-making support: Exploring supported decision-making practice in Canada, published in the Journal of Intellectual and Developmental Disability Volume 46, 2021 - Issue 2
Supported Decision Making In Victoria, published by the Office of the Public Advocate in October 2020
Global perspectives on legal capacity reform: our voices, our stories, published in Disability & Society Volume 35, 2020 - Issue 7
Future Directions in Supported Decision-Making, published in the Disability Studies Quarterly
What people say about working with Michelle
Justine O’Neill (CEO CID), NSW
“Michelle is a tremendous communicator and a person of great integrity. She has an approachable style that fosters openness and trust and results in deeply considered work. She is a leader in decision-making support research and practice and is always willing to share her knowledge. Michelle delivers high quality work, on time. I hope to work with Michelle again in the future.“
Anita (Mum of Dale)
“When Dale's support team needed a more consistent approach to helping him with decision-making, we reached out to Michelle to share her framework with us. She facilitated training sessions, and guided us through strategies that were tailored to Dale's unique circumstances.
Michelle's commitment to this work and her leadership on this important topic are evident - she's generous, not just with her time but in sharing her resources and expertise widely.
We're grateful to have had Michelle's guidance and highly recommend her work to other families grappling with supporting their person in decision making.”
Our Services
-
Decision Agency provides customised supported decision-making training.
-
Decision Agency establishes and co-facilitates practice groups for organisations to develop confidence and skill within their teams.
-
Decision Agency partners with organisations across Australia to design, implement and evaluate supported decision-making projects.
-
Decision Agency offers strategic advice to government and non-government organisations seeking to embed a supported decision-making approach in the work they do.
-
Decision Agency offers supervision to professionals who want to deepen their knowledge of supported decision-making and confidence to lead others in its practice.
-
Decision Agency can develop a range of resources including practice guides, practice tools, documentation, videos and eLearning modules.