Ric Allport
Ric Allport has been an animal rights activist, animal rescuer and vegan for over two decades. He is the Vegan Education in Schools program manager for Vegan Australia, Program Coordinator for Kangaroos Alive, a director of Coast-to-Coast Animal Friends, Animal Justice Foundation Board Member, part of the Animal Rights Forum team, founder of the animal rescue team Rescue Ninjas. Through his many years of activism and rescue, Ric reached a point of severe burnout and PTSD in 2020 culminating in over 3 years out of activism and finally working his way back.
www.veganaustralia.org.au/
www.kangaroosalive.org/
Guarding the Flame: Resilience and Renewal for Animal Advocates.
Animal advocacy asks us to hold immense empathy, grief, anger, urgency, and hope – all at once. Guarding the Flames is a workshop designed to help activists remain engaged without burning out. Centred on the emotional realities of living as a vegan in a non-vegan world, this session explores moral injury, vicarious trauma, and the psychological strain of witnessing ongoing exploitation to animals while actively fighting to dismantle these systems. Through an Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-informed, experiential approach, participants will learn practical strategies to move through despair, and reconnect with their values in a sustainable way. The workshop includes guided grounding exercises, burnout check-ins, and tools for boundary setting, pacing, and long-term resilience. Attendees will leave feeling greater self-compassion, and better equipped to continue advocating for animals without losing themselves in the process.
