Leading Australian Aboriginal voices, creatives and mental health professionals have come together to launch an awareness initiative focused on the staggering rate of suicide in First Nation communities.

This short film, titled Change Direction, directed by filmmaker Warwick Thornton, with support from advertising agency Apparent and production company Photoplay, explores the role culture can play in reversing the crisis.

The Westerman Jilya Institute for Indigenous Mental Health, founded by psychologist Dr. Tracy Westerman AM (Nyamal, indigenous Austrlian people of the Pilbara area of northwestern Western Australia), partnered with Aboriginal creative talent including Thornton (Kaytetye), poet Dakota Feirer (Bundjalung-Gumbaynggirr), actor Pedrea Jackson (Jingili-Mudburra-Waramungu) and songman Fred Leone (Butchulla), to develop a campaign aimed at the hearts and minds of all Australians.

The campaign, led by the short film, aims to change the direction of Aboriginal mental health by pointing to Jilya’s solution: more Aboriginal psychologists to improve screening and suicide prevention within Aboriginal communities. The Institute funds scholarships for Indigenous people in high-risk communities to become psychologists in places that desperately need them, with a vision to “build an army” of Indigenous psychologists.

Beyond raising awareness, the campaign will seek donations to help fund the scholarships.

The short film centers on a poem, written in collaboration between Apparent and Dakota Feirer, using a palindrome to turn a negative narrative to positive through the power of cultural connection.

Hamish Stewart, CCO at Apparent, said, “Our team is committed to doing something to help address an issue... Read More