Media Releases

4 October 2023: A national system of accountability is needed to ensure findings by coroners
are used to inform suicide prevention measures for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people, according to the results of an Australian-first research project released today.

The Center for Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander SuicidePrevention (CBPATSISP) proudly supports the establishment of an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice to the Parliament.

The CBATSISP has commissioned local Perth animated film-makers Luisa Mitchell and Rhadeya Jegatheva to produce a short, animated video “Our Wellbeing, Our Way: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social and Emotional Wellbeing”. The video tells the story of how colonisation has impacted the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities; the importance of self-determination towards a path of healing; and the ways people and communities today strengthen their social and emotional wellbeing.

On World Suicide Prevention Day 2023, we are sharing a short video series that brings together esteemed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders and Leaders.

Six Indigenous global leaders in mental health and wellbeing from four colonised countries, shared their experiences of walking in two worlds and of navigating mental health systems to ensure the wellbeing, healing and self-determination of indigenous peoples.

New Australian Indigenous Psychology Education Project (AIPEP) resources relating to Indigenous Psychology and social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) were developed.

A landmark study has shed light on the harrowing challenges faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQI youth in Australia. The first-of-its-kind ‘Walkern Katatdjin: Rainbow Knowledge’ national survey exposed the stark reality of suicide attempts and pervasive psychological distress among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTQI youth.

Join Prof. Pat Dudgeon (a Bardi woman from the Kimberley in Western Australia), Dr Stewart Sutherland (a Wiradjuri man) and Prof. Alan Rosen across this four part series as they discuss how, by living in harmony with nature, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are, at the same time, a strength and a priority in our response to the significant impacts of climate change and the Covid 19 pandemic.

Watch Noongar Elder and Associate Professor Ted Wikes on addressing suicide, men’s social and emotional wellbeing, the importance of culture on social and emotional wellbeing, and a message to the youth.

Ways to promote positive social and emotional wellbeing among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that can help build resilience and prevent suicide will be the focus of a new postdoctoral fellowship awarded to research associate Dr Ee Pin Chang from The University of Western Australia.