Roz Walker

For decades, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have faced persistent challenges with water access and quality. Many homelands continue to experience poor water infrastructure, inadequate sanitation, and limited access to reliable information about their services. Safe water is not only vital for health and wellbeing, preventing disease and sustaining daily life, it is also inseparable from culture, identity and connection to Country. The inequities in access highlight the ongoing gap between homeland communities and the wider population...

This review summarises the emerging research and knowledge, key themes and principles surrounding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural perspectives and concepts of healing and social and emotional wellbeing as they relate to suicide prevention. These discussions will support Lifeline to enhance and refine their existing knowledge and practices to promote culturally responsive suicide prevention services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

This review explores the importance of the delivery of staff training programs to achieve this along with external training and program development for Lifeline services, including the telephone crisis line, Online Chat and emerging Crisis Text. Adopting an Indigenous research approach, this review prioritises Indigenous knowledge of healing and wellbeing and provides examples of culturally appropriate and effective practices.

A number of key principles and practices fundamental to Indigenous knowledges of social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB), healing, and cultural responsiveness have been identified as central to effective suicide prevention. A strengths based approach, which empowers local healing capacity, is embedded in cultural understandings of healing and the life affirming principles of holistic relationality and respect which underpin SEWB is vital.

Focusing on key Indigenous wellbeing paradigms, discourses, and disciplines this discussion paper presents a distinctive Aboriginal Participatory Action Research (APAR) approach as a transformative Indigenous Research Methodology.

It also explores Indigenous Standpoint Theory, Indigenous Knowledge Systems, Indigenous Research Methods and Methodologies as key elements in decolonising research, building self-determination in communities, and contributing to Indigenous social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) and Indigenous Psychology.

Drawing on three community projects — the Kimberley Empowerment, Healing and Leadership Program, the National Empowerment Project and the Cultural, Social and Emotional Wellbeing Program — this paper demonstrates how APAR contributes to Indigenous SEWB and Indigenous Psychology. Finally, it examines the interrelationship of core components of APAR articulating an Indigenous epistemology, ontology, axiology (Indigenous ways of knowing, being and doing) and methodology covering Indigenous specific methods, guiding principles, research protocols and ethical guidelines.

In response to the recent high rate of suicide deaths among Indigenous young people and children, and the Western Australian Coroner’s report of the Inquest into the 13 Deaths of Children and Young Persons in the Kimberley Region, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Advisory Group (ATSIMHSPAG) and Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPASTSISP) supported by the Commonwealth Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet (PM&C) hosted an Empowerment and Accountability in Indigenous Youth Suicide Prevention workshop on the 30th April 2019 in Canberra. The workshop enabled participants to hear directly from Elders and Indigenous youth leaders in suicide prevention, Indigenous young people with lived experience of suicide, and mental health consumers about their concerns and ideas for reducing Indigenous youth suicide.

Indigenous suicide is a significant population health challenge for Australia. Suicide has emerged in the past half century as a major cause of Indigenous premature mortality and is a contributor to the overall Indigenous health and life expectancy gap. In 2014 it was the fifth leading cause of death among Indigenous people, and the age-standardised suicide rate was around twice as high as the non-Indigenous rate.1 In this report, the term ‘Indigenous’ is predominantly used to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Where used to refer to Indigenous people of other nations, this is specifically addressed…

This resource was commissioned by the Social Justice Unit at UnitingCare Children, Young People and Families (UnitingCare CYPF) to support staff at UnitingCare CYPF (including the Jaanimili Aboriginal Services and Development Unit and Jaanimili members) in conducting research projects with Aboriginal people, communities and organisations. It provides a greater understanding of the main considerations when undertaking research and capacity building with Aboriginal people with some practical examples and case studies of relevant, effective and ethical research methods and processes. It emphasises the importance of conducting research in a manner that assists UnitingCare CYPF to achieve their goals to recognise, support and address Aboriginal children, families and community needs, rights, interests and aspirations. It also seeks to support the work of Jaanimili, particularly the capacity of its staff to conduct research with its clients and communities.

Empowerment, healing, ‘community-led solutions’ and self-determination are often proposed as appropriate responses to the challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities today. However, there are few examples to see how this might work in practice. This report potentially changes that. Here, there is the opportunity to hear from eight very different communities across Australia about the problems they face, and the potential solutions they identify, through the lens of individual, family and community empowerment...