Conferences

Over three days, from 31 July to 2 August 2023, SEWB network members from across Australia attended the fourth Social and Emotional Wellbeing Gathering (SEWBG-4) to discuss social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. SEWB-4 was held in Garramilla (Darwin) on Larrakia Country, Northern Territory and online via Zoom.

As the nation prepares itself to vote on a Voice to Parliament, one of the key questions must be how the Voice can be utilised to prevent Indigenous suicide.

One obvious step would be to empower the nation’s leading Indigenous community-based mental health workers, psychologists, those with lived experience, and Elders who are saving lives today through culture-based outreach programs, online supports, and staff training devices.

The Indigenous Suicide Prevention Forum gathered in March 2023 to propose and plan action for the future, regardless of the referendum’s outcome.

Indigenous suicide prevention counsellors, community workers, researchers, and cultural healers presented on how you can build practical programs and skills to help First Nations Australians experiencing mental distress.

The 3rd Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) Gathering was held in Canberra, 6th – 8th September 2022. It aimed to strengthen understandings of individual and community SEWB, with a special focus on human rights and cultural therapies, in addition to highlighting the importance of self-determination in the development of SEWB policy, workforce, and services. Click below for a full report on the gathering and interviews with various attendees. 

Following the success of the 1st Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) Gathering, the 2nd SEWB Gathering was held in Perth, Western Australia in October 2021.

The 1st Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) Gathering was held in Perth, Western Australia in March 2021.

The aim of the SEWB Gathering was to bring together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak bodies, community organisations, leaders, experts, and front-line workers to create a national SEWB blueprint for the future by exploring 1) where we have been, 2) where we are now, and 3) where we are going.

The 2nd National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Conference and 2nd World Indigenous Suicide Prevention Conference was held in Perth, Western Australia in November 2018.

The theme of the conferences, Building a Stronger Tomorrow: Connecting our Communities Through Culture, reflects the unique opportunities for Indigenous people and communities, policy makers and researchers to share learnings and to collaborate on solutions that work in Indigenous suicide prevention. The Conferences attracted over 550 delegates from across Australia and around the world. The conferences were preceded by the World Indigenous Youth Cultural Exchange Day.

The inaugural Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Conference gathered together experts and members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the wider community from across the country to Alice Springs, the heart of the Aboriginal nations. Over two days those gathered exchanged learnings, share lived experiences, built knowledge and inspired one another as to how we can best strengthen communities to tackle this entrenched tragedy.

Conference images and video are available at the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Research Project website.