In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander COVID-19 working party was convened through the Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing Project at the University of Western Australia, to produce an independent report that addressed the specific mental health and social and emotional wellbeing needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.
COVID-19 Mental Health Response Read More »
The Pathways to Justice report published by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) states that although Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults make up around 2% of the national population, they constitute 27% of the national prison population. In 2016, around 20 in every 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were incarcerated. Over-representation is both a persistent and growing problem—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration rates increased 41% between 2006 and 2016, and the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous imprisonment rates over that decade widened.
Pathways to Justice Read More »
We are all responsible for shaping the world that our children are born into. The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP) at the University of Western Australia stands with those protesting for justice worldwide and are committed to challenging all forms of racism and State violence.
We stand in solidarity and great sorrow for the death of George Floyd who was killed by police in Minneapolis on the 25 of May 2020. We also extend our heartfelt sympathy and respect to the family of David Dungay, an Aboriginal man who died while being restrained by five prison guards. We share the outrage and acknowledge the re-traumatisation felt by the families and communities of these men in the wake of the death of George Floyd.
Black Lives Matter. Aboriginal Lives Matter. Black Deaths in Custody Must Stop. Read More »
Responding to the National Cabinet announcement of $48.1m to support a National Mental Health and Wellbeing Pandemic Response Plan including an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ mental health and social and emotional wellbeing pandemic response plan to be developed and implemented through Indigenous leadership, Indigenous leaders look forward to positive changes.
Indigenous Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Helpline Read More »
The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide (CBPATSISP) has joined forces with other leading mental health and suicide prevention organisations to encourage the general public to talk openly about suicide with their friends and family in a bid to save more lives.
Beyondblue, Black Dog Institute, Everymind, headspace, Lifeline, ReachOut, R U OK and CBPATSISP are launching a video for the #YouCanTalk campaign which began in July 2018.
Funded by a $5 million dollar grant, key Indigenous leaders from across Australia held their inaugural meeting last month in Perth, charged with the task of finding innovative approaches to the complex problem of Indigenous wellbeing.
Joint Approach for Wicked Problems Read More »
The Menzies School of Health Research (Menzies), commissioned by the Centre for Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP) have developed evidenced-based Guidelines for best practice psychosocial assessment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people presenting to hospital with self-harm and suicidal thoughts (Guidelines) to improve the quality of care and outcomes for people presenting with suicidal thoughts and behaviours.
The 2nd National and World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conferences in Perth Western Australia in November 2018 brought together Indigenous Elders, policy makers, researchers and community members from around the world, who came together to recognise the impacts of colonisation, past policies and subsequent trauma, disadvantage, marginalisation, lack of action by governments on Indigenous issues and the need for self-determined culturally responsive healing and recovery programs for suicide prevention.
The Healing Colour of Country: Trauma recovery through culture, art and wildflowers Read More »
Indigenous suicide is a global concern. The 2nd National and World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conferences in Perth WA in November 2018 brought together Indigenous peoples from Australia, Canada, United States of America and New Zealand. The Conference Report, released today, confirms the urgent need for action in colonised countries throughout the world.
Indigenous Suicide Prevention in Colonised Countries Read More »
Professor Pat Dudgeon, Project Director of the Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP), welcomes the McGowan Government’s broad support for the recommendations outlined in 2018 Coroner’s report on the deaths of 13 children and young people in the Kimberley.
