Family Wellbeing Project (2019) - full transcript
(DIDGERIDOO MUSIC)
MAN: The Family Wellbeing model
itself is based around family.
A lot of Aboriginal culture,
our culture,
the foundation of everything
in our culture starts with a family.
Our connection to Mother Earth,
our connection to one another,
our connection to the place
where we belong.
And unfortunately, our culture has
been broken down in some ways.
Our young men are
coming to us with...
..and I'll go off what they've said,
is that they're missing something.
They feel like there's something
inside of them that they're...
..they're missing.
And we believe, and what we've seen
throughout the program,
is that's that connection to culture.
Welcome to the Central Coast Primary
Care Family Wellbeing documentary.
In 2012,
as part of the government's Taking
Action to Tackle Suicide initiative,
we saw a unique opportunity
to work closely with
our local Aboriginal community.
And we wanted a program
that was empowering, strength-based
and created by Aboriginal people.
The Family Wellbeing Program.
Family Wellbeing was developed
by a group of Aboriginal elders
in Adelaide
who had been affected
by the Stolen Generation.
The program aims to empower young
men through personal transformation,
improving their social
and emotional wellbeing
and enabling future leaders
within the community.
Our program was the first
of its kind in New South Wales,
and to bring the program
to the Central Coast,
we sought the support
of Professor Komla Tsey
from James Cook University,
we talked to community members
and local Aboriginal organisations,
and recruited a team of passionate
and dedicated Aboriginal men
to deliver the program.
This documentary is about journey -
the journey of a group of brave men
in our Family Wellbeing Program.
They will share their story,
their highs and lows,
and you will share in the successes.
We are proud to bring you
this story - their story.
Thank you.
MAN: Yaama. My name's Nigel Millgate.
I'm a proud Ngemba Karulkiyalu man
from western New South Wales.
I'm the coordinator
for the Family Wellbeing Program
here on the Central Coast,
and I've been coordinating
the program since late 2012.
And throughout that time,
we've had roughly 130 to 150
young men and women
facilitate and come through
our program.
Hi. My name is Ben Cheniart.
I'm a proud Dharug man,
born and raised in Western Sydney,
New South Wales,
and I'm the Family Wellbeing
Project officer
with Central Coast Primary Care.
Ben and I have both
been fortunate enough
to have been passed on
a lot of cultural knowledge
from role models
and proud Aboriginal men
that we do a lot of cultural, um...
..mentoring with.
And from there,
we've been able to pass on
a lot of the emotional
and spiritual connections
that have been lost through
our people for over 230 years.
Our culture's...dated back
over 60,000 years old,
and for the last 230 years,
our men have been subjected
to racial vilification,
drugs and alcohol, domestic violence,
high rates of incarceration,
high rates of suicide,
and our young men, unfortunately,
are at the top of that statistic
around youth suicide
and especially young Aboriginal men.
So injecting those cultural values
into these young men
plays a big role in their wellbeing.
First of all, it started
as a community program,
whereby facilitators are sent
to communities
to hold community meetings,
and the idea was to just create safe
space for ordinary community people
to talk about their day-to-day
challenges they face in life
and the ways in which they try
to solve day-to-day problems
and share with each other,
whether it's about parenting,
whether it's about relationship
issues, education, employment,
and then build support networks.
So, the program started like that -
as a community development activity,
and the idea was that the more
people that go through the program,
develop communication skills,
support skills,
then the stronger
their community becomes
and then their community is able
to support individuals
to participate in education
and employment.
In 1998, there were a number
of suicides in the community,
young people taking their lives
for reasons that was hard
for people to see,
so their community mobilised,
all the community organisations,
and decided something
had to be done about it.
And it was in that context
that they...
..they got funding
from the National Suicide Prevention
funding at the time
and then got
the South Australian facilitators
to bring that program
to Alice Springs.
The Family Wellbeing Program
commenced in 2012
through a collaborative effort
between Medicare Local,
the local health district,
and the Aboriginal Medical Service,
and it was targeted around suicide
prevention for young Aboriginal men.
We flew to South Australia
to meet with delegates
of the Family Wellbeing Program.
From there, we moved back
to the Central Coast
and started facilitating
the Family Wellbeing Program.
So, the Family Wellbeing Program
on the Central Coast is targeted
towards young Aboriginal men
between the ages of 14 to 18,
where we take the boys out of school
one day a week
and train them in a social
and emotional wellbeing program
that aims to empower each individual
through a range of topics
over a 10- to 14-week program.
On the first day of program,
we introduce the boys
to a cultural ceremony
that is the smoking ceremony.
And the way we segue the young men
on that first day
into that smoking ceremony
is to talk to them about a new
beginning and a new lease on life
and the start of a new journey
through the Family Wellbeing Program.
And we introduce them to their first
cultural aspect of Family Wellbeing,
and that's that smoking ceremony.
And I think the best thing to see
about that cultural aspect
of a smoking ceremony
is that hesitation that
the boys do have initially
when they come to the smoke,
and not because of the fact
that they might be scared of it,
but I think
it's more or less because
they've never had
this experience before,
but they know through
their connection as time goes on
that this smoking ceremony
is very symbolic to them.
And that's what we say -
it is a ceremonial process,
but for these boys, when they
transition through the program,
when they have their final
smoking ceremony,
you do see that change
and that appreciation for it.
You see them actually
getting involved
and the emotions that are
in that smoking ceremony.
They're in that moment,
and whatever's going on
inside of them, it's therapeutic.
They let it all go, they put it into
that fire, and up it goes again,
and they know that's
a spiritual process for them.
MAN: My experience with
the Family Wellbeing course
has been a great journey.
Growing up as a young
Aboriginal man,
you know, sometimes you get lost.
With the Family Wellbeing,
it's an opportunity
to bring out your cultural side,
your feelings,
and to show other men that it is OK
to talk about our feelings.
We arrive at the centre
between 9:00 and 9:30,
and by that time,
Ben's there with the barbecue
and we're cooking the boys
a breakfast
that consists of bacon and eggs
and juice and stuff
that, you know,
sometimes boys skip on,
and we talk about basic human needs,
and that first meal form
is a good meal,
something that, you know,
they mightn't get
every day at home in their lives.
Leading into
the Family Wellbeing Program,
I still remember my first day.
I got there
and there was breakfast -
you know, everyone loves
a bacon and egg roll.
Seeing Nigel
and the other facilitators
standing there
as proud Aboriginal men
and looking around to my peers
in my classroom,
it was hard, it was hard.
I didn't want to sit there
and talk about my feelings.
These men, I didn't know them.
Once Nigel and the other
facilitators and these men
started to open up,
I'd realised that
it was a safe place.
Being able to express myself
to a group of men within that room
felt good.
The beauty of our process
in Family Wellbeing
is that Nigel and myself,
unlike in a school environment,
get that opportunity to share
our own personal life journeys.
With the sharing of
your own personal story,
this allows a domain, a safe domain
for these young men
to actually come out and share
their own experiences.
When they felt comfortable,
the boys will naturally
open up and flourish
and they'll share
their own experiences.
We had a young fella,
me and Nigel told our story,
and without even asking him,
he put his hand up,
he goes, "Oh, I just want to share
a bit about my story."
I'm like, "Oh!" We were like, "Oh,
this is mad. Yeah, thanks, buddy."
It was heavy.
So, he's saying, you know, he's 14.
"I got into ice,
got into drugs, alcohol,
"fighting Mum and Dad
and my sister.
"We had a bad life,
always out in the streets.
"I got locked up out at Baxter."
He goes, "But it's
only just recently
"I've had a bit of a turnaround,
"stopped hanging around
with all my mates,
"got off the ice,
got off the drugs..."
And then come to realise
that their brother next to them
has a very similar story
to their own.
The brother on the other side,
he has a very similar story
to their story.
At the end of the day,
we're all walking that same path
and that journey.
And that's what
Family Wellbeing's about -
that initial journey that we're
setting that foundation for.
Yeah. And we've got to
remember too that...
..the Family Wellbeing model
is a counselling model,
and if you mention counselling
to young men that are vulnerable
or at a stage in their life where
things are starting to go downhill,
they put their walls up
when you mention counselling.
So we throw it at them
as a youth leadership program,
but internally,
what they don't realise
is that they're actually doing
a form of counselling.
Our old people for many years
have had yarning circles,
where we'd sit in a circle
and we'd talk about our differences,
we'd talk about our problems,
we'd talk about, you know,
where to from here,
what's next, what we're doing.
You know, I remember growing up
in western New South Wales,
where if you broke up with your
girlfriend or something went wrong,
you'd go and have a schooner of beer,
or the next minute, you'd be
physically fighting with someone
around dealing with your emotions,
and that's all it was.
So, we're trying to change
that stigma or that culture
around young men coming together.
And as Benny said,
it's a vulnerable day.
We have, you know,
between 10 and 15 young men
that probably haven't met each other
ever until this day,
and within the space
of probably 30 minutes,
we've got young men that
are vulnerable, emotional,
sharing their story.
And it might sound a little bit
depressing, but at the end of it,
there's a sense of spiritual relief
for these young men.
You can actually see a weight
taken off their shoulders.
..I think around about five,
I got taken away from my mum
and I got put into DOCS.
Um, my name's Liam,
and, um...I've been
through a rough childhood.
Um...
My mum and dad split up,
and, um...about...a year ago,
my nan passed away.
And, um...
..this year, my pop passed away.
Uh...my name's Josh.
I was born around this area.
Um...had an alright childhood,
Dad and Mum split up...
Take your time, bro.
You can cry here.
It's a good place to let them out.
(SOBS QUIETLY)
Um, my name's Bailey Carney.
Um, I come from Wiradjuri tribe...
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
..which is about five, six hours
west of here,
near Gilgandra, Coonabarabran.
I live with my brother and mum,
and me and Terence go to school
at Erina High.
And, um, yeah, when I was younger...
..my father passed away.
And, um...
..yeah, it's really...really tough.
That's about it.
Thanks, brother.
Thanks, brother.
(APPLAUSE)
Yeah, same as him.
(SNIFFLES)
It's alright, man. Tears...
You seen me cry last week.
Tears are good.
Yeah, my name's Leigham.
I go to Erina, and...
..when we were three,
my dad passed away.
And...
..Mum, she's looked after us
ever since, and...
..she's been the best.
And, yeah...been...
Life's been heaps good and...
love our sport and stuff and...
Yeah, that's about it.
School's good.
When I found out that, started
getting suspended from school,
going out on the weekends
getting drunk.
And then Mum started
going through chemo,
started getting better, better.
She met my stepdad now.
When they were kids,
they were friends.
Mum's finished her chemo.
Starting to get better at school.
Haven't been suspended as much.
We're in a new house.
And just...getting better.
For young men to sit in a circle
with 15 other young men
and share their story
and let tears roll down their face
is...is a powerful, powerful domain.
An aspect of the cultural inclusion
we introduced into Family Wellbeing
is that we actually get to take
our young men out on some...
..out to some cultural sites
on country,
and we do that with the permission
of the traditional owners
here on the Central Coast,
so we're very grateful for that.
Our young men
that come through the program
are missing that link
to their culture
and that connection to their culture,
so taking them out onto country
and introducing them
to our old people's classrooms
that are engraved
or through stencils in caves
gives these young men a visual aspect
of what our culture and our learnings
and education systems were like
prior to colonisation.
Through this process,
we're able to teach
the morals and the stories
of what comes from that stencil
on the wall
or the engraving in the ground.
Also look at things around
understanding relationships
and how the relationships
in their lives today can play a role
in where they want to go
and how they grow as individuals.
Through the Family
Wellbeing Program,
the boys actually get to attend
community events,
and the one that stands out the most
to me for our boys
was attending
the Walk a Mile Koori Style.
Walk a Mile Koori Style
is an initiative
alongside the White Ribbon approach,
where we're going to aim
awareness for domestic violence
in our community.
The main aspect of that is
showing strong, proud
Aboriginal men and women
who are coming together
to show their support
against domestic violence
on the Central Coast community.
The greatest thing that...
for myself and Nigel was
that we saw our young men
in the Family Wellbeing Program
take part in that,
and they marched down the streets
of the Central Coast
showing their pride
and standing for a cause
that's very close to heart for a lot
of people here on the Central Coast.
With that, that just shows the
initiative that young men can take
in being valuable leaders to
not only their homes in community,
but also to all those other people
who are watching on.
They're playing that role-modelling
that people can see
and look up to and inspire,
and that's what we want
from Family Wellbeing.
And Walk a Mile Koori Style
was a great example
of how that comes to be,
and that comes to be something
that the boys can be very proud of
and that myself and Nigel, we're
very proud to see that initiative.
It takes a whole community
to raise a child,
and children grow up to become
adolescents, young people,
young people grow up
to become adults,
adults grow up
to become the elders, old...
..you know, elders
of their community.
This is how most communities
have functioned historically.
Now, Family Wellbeing
was developed specifically
to build a sense of community,
a sense of community
that can raise a child.
And in the first few years
of Family Wellbeing development
in Central Australia,
there were Family Wellbeing centres,
integral parts of communities
in Central Australia
and in places like Ceduna.
The idea was to have a place
where people have these
conversations on ongoing basis
and develop support networks
so people can take
a whole-of-community perspective
to dealing with issues
including raising children.
Unfortunately, the nature of
funding environment in Australia
didn't support this vision.
Now, one of the goals
of the new national
Family Wellbeing partnership
is to bring that vision
back to reality.
Family Wellbeing goes some ways
in bringing organisations...
..community groups,
men's groups, women's groups,
schools, services together
in any local...
..you know, regional, local
and community level.
One of the most powerful outings
that Family Wellbeing has
is our visit to the Glen Drug
and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre
at Chittaway Bay
here on the Central Coast.
The greatest thing about the Glen
is it provides our young men
with an opportunity
to witness face to face
with other men who have experienced
extensive abuse
when it comes to
drug and alcohol issues.
So the boys are confronted
with one-on-one situations
where they're sitting with men
who have lived experiences
and they're seeing how their life
has changed dramatically
in a negative way initially,
but from that strength, they're
having to rehabilitate themselves.
And you do see a lot of boys walk
away from that experience
kind of really taken back,
and even in some instances,
I have seen some boys
turn around and say, "You know what?
"Ben, I'm not gonna smoke
any more yarndi.
"After seeing that experience
of what happened to that fella,
"I'm done with that."
So, basically, what we hope
from the Glen is
that we're gonna get
a bit of empowerment
where we see young men taking charge
of their drug and alcohol use
and finding ways in which
they can channel that and see,
"Hey, if I keep going
down this path,
"I'm gonna end up
in a place like this,"
and that's somewhere definitely
those boys don't want to be.
At the conclusion of
the Family Wellbeing Program,
the boys move into
the mentoring side of things,
and two weeks after the program,
we take the boys on
a two-day cultural camp,
where we take the boys out
of the world that they know
with their iPhones
and iPads and PlayStations,
and we take them out to Wollombi,
where we utilise skills
and old, traditional values
and site visits and Aboriginal
dance and storytelling,
and using those old values with
the new values that we've given them
through the Family Wellbeing program,
and infuse those so that the boys
have the best of both worlds.
Because as Aboriginal people
in this world now,
we've got to walk two worlds -
the cultural world
and the Westernised world.
(HISSES)
The essence of the Family Wellbeing
is basically saying
that as human beings,
we all experience challenges
in our lives,
particularly in terms
of modern living.
For Indigenous people, being
minorities in their own country,
for non-Indigenous people,
and for everybody
living in a very busy society
where day-to-day problems,
the challenges we face
are so complex,
they don't have any simple answers.
It's a humbling experience.
We sit down, we have
those yarning circles,
we have that smoking ceremony
to welcome us into country.
From there, we've run
little activities where...
..we introduce boys to a ceremonial
process of signing into country.
We take boys to a cave we have
on private property
and we introduce them to
putting their own hand stencil
onto a cave wall.
And some might think this is just...
you know, it's an artist's exercise
or it's just a little bit of fun,
but for them boys, and for us
as Aboriginal men and role models,
it's a ceremonial process that
they're connecting to that country.
And once they've put
that hand stencil on that wall,
they have an obligation
to care for that property.
So, through the stencil
and the connection,
they put themselves
onto that...onto that wall,
these boys then feel
a bit of ownership
and a sense of belonging
to that property.
So, from there,
they help clean up the property,
they look after it, they don't
leave their rubbish around,
and that might be minuscule to some,
but for our boys and where
they're at in their lives, you know,
having that sense of belonging
and connection to something
is major for them.
Some of our boys, you know,
they don't have that connection
to...at home,
because home life might be
a little bit destructive
or they don't have that sense
of ownership yet
because they're 14 or they're 15.
And we're able to introduce them
to that sense of belonging
and ownership through our camps.
The components that Family Wellbeing
teaches the boys
then does play a role
in those camps.
And when it comes to...
I guess the best word we use
and we'll use something
a bit more traditional,
is those obligations those boys have
not only to themselves,
but also to upholding those values
that we introduce to them.
The camp gives the boys
an opportunity
to take the person they've become
and flourish in
a cultural environment.
And that's through processes such
as, like Nigel mentioned earlier,
about putting a hand stencil
on a wall,
about crush...
just simply crushing the ochre,
learning about that process and why
that importance of that ochre has,
getting the opportunity to do
a paint-up that's special to them.
So, a lot of the boys might be
already very familiar
with a specific paint-up that
they like to put on their bodies
that actually represents
where they may come from
in the country that they might be on
at that time.
The boys also get the opportunity to
explore new areas and various sites
that they probably never, ever
will get the chance to see,
but it's through those practices
that the boys show
a lot of empowerment.
And at the end of that process,
you get boys walking out saying,
"That was by far the best thing
I've ever experienced."
And this is proven throughout
every single camp that we have run,
not just this particular camp,
but all the camps that we have -
the boys walk away with that sense
of connection and that longing,
saying to us, "Oh, I don't want
this program to end.
"This was the best experience. I
wish we could stay out here longer."
That just goes to show that the life
that a lot of the boys probably lead
outside of that environment,
even though sometimes
it can be very positive,
but all those destructive elements
in there really go to show
that those boys being in that
comfort zone of being out in bush
gives them that security,
gives them that belonging.
BOY: Got pretty much a new family.
Lots of close mates,
good people to be around.
I learnt, like, leadership goals
and, like, how far I want to be
with my other boys
outside of the group,
and, like, it's given me a lot
of thought about that sort of stuff
and, like, where I want to be
in 20 years, stuff like that.
Like, life goals and, um...
and pretty much a new family.
Uh, I have, like,
new adolescence skills
and, um...yeah, new mates and...
..good blokes to be around.
Nigel and Ben, to talk to
whenever we need,
and I met new people.
It's just been good.
If we lose our traditions, then
we're gonna lose ourself, basically,
and our spirits and that,
and we don't really want to do that.
We want to pass it on and that
and be able to learn
and do this stuff.
Important for us
to know these skills
and, like, to keep our tradition
and our culture in our lives.
Because without it,
we wouldn't be nothing.
We wouldn't be ourselves.
And...yeah, just wouldn't be us.
Like, our culture and tradition,
like, gives us, like, a...
..like, if you're lost,
if you don't know what to do,
it gives us something...like, a way
of life, something you can live by,
something to help you,
like, no matter what,
so you always have, like, rules
and guidelines that can help you.
It gives us something to be proud of
and something to pass down
and keep the culture going.
'Cause, like,
it's good to know your...
..what people have been...
happened before you
and to continue the ways
and traditions they had.
MAN: Family Wellbeing is something
that needs to continue.
It needs to continue to show
our young Aboriginal men
that it is OK to talk,
to face our demons,
and to move forward
and become strong Aboriginal men.
Aboriginal culture is a lifeline
for people like myself
and the boys that come
through this course.
The cultural components
that we learn
throughout the Family Wellbeing
is something that...
was a link that was missing,
and putting those links together,
everything fell in place
for my life.
Family Wellbeing always
needs to be there.
Men like Nigel and Ben and future
facilitators need to be there.
This is not an average course.
This is a course for Aboriginal men
to stand strong, stay strong
and be proud of who we are.
If we want to bring about
change in Australia,
then programs such as Family
Wellbeing needs to be supported,
needs to become organic part of...
..the way we do education,
health and other business
in communities
over a long period of time.
And if that can happen,
then we can see change,
sustainable change, over time.
The Family Wellbeing Program's
probably changed my life
in such things like...um...
..like, relationships,
friends and...
..looking at different...
..a different way of looking at,
like, relationships and friends.
Um...like, cultural dance.
Yeah, dancing with Nigel,
the Wakagetti group.
Well, today, now, I have, like...
I muck up a bit still,
but I'm better
than what I was before.
I am able to open up to people
and tell them what's wrong
when something's happening with me,
I'm able to express my feelings
more than what I was before,
and I feel like a better person
and that I can achieve things
and that it's not all bad
at the end,
and you've got to have
bad things come around
to get the good things as well.
Family Wellbeing loves
to celebrate all achievements
not only just through
the process itself,
but all the achievements that the
boys have outside of the program.
The biggest milestone that they had
was actually completing that program
with a success rate
of 80% or more in attendance.
As a token of the program and
something for the boys to reflect on
is the boys are given their
very own Family Wellbeing shirt.
The Family Wellbeing shirt
represents
a very strong coastal design,
which has been made into a format
that not only is very appealing
marketing-wise,
but also gives people an element
of what the boys have achieved.
We like to think of it as a trophy
for their accomplishments,
and with that trophy,
when times get tough
or when they need to reflect
on a moment of...
..any issues that do arise
and they do need to think back
to those lessons,
the Family Wellbeing shirt's always
gonna be there for them to look at
and to kind of remind them
of that process
and that journey
that they've gone through.
That shirt is a representation
of the men that they have become
and who they're going to be
for the future.
(DIDGERIDOO PLAYS)
(MEN SHOUT, TRILL)
Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2022
MAN: The Family Wellbeing model
itself is based around family.
A lot of Aboriginal culture,
our culture,
the foundation of everything
in our culture starts with a family.
Our connection to Mother Earth,
our connection to one another,
our connection to the place
where we belong.
And unfortunately, our culture has
been broken down in some ways.
Our young men are
coming to us with...
..and I'll go off what they've said,
is that they're missing something.
They feel like there's something
inside of them that they're...
..they're missing.
And we believe, and what we've seen
throughout the program,
is that's that connection to culture.
Welcome to the Central Coast Primary
Care Family Wellbeing documentary.
In 2012,
as part of the government's Taking
Action to Tackle Suicide initiative,
we saw a unique opportunity
to work closely with
our local Aboriginal community.
And we wanted a program
that was empowering, strength-based
and created by Aboriginal people.
The Family Wellbeing Program.
Family Wellbeing was developed
by a group of Aboriginal elders
in Adelaide
who had been affected
by the Stolen Generation.
The program aims to empower young
men through personal transformation,
improving their social
and emotional wellbeing
and enabling future leaders
within the community.
Our program was the first
of its kind in New South Wales,
and to bring the program
to the Central Coast,
we sought the support
of Professor Komla Tsey
from James Cook University,
we talked to community members
and local Aboriginal organisations,
and recruited a team of passionate
and dedicated Aboriginal men
to deliver the program.
This documentary is about journey -
the journey of a group of brave men
in our Family Wellbeing Program.
They will share their story,
their highs and lows,
and you will share in the successes.
We are proud to bring you
this story - their story.
Thank you.
MAN: Yaama. My name's Nigel Millgate.
I'm a proud Ngemba Karulkiyalu man
from western New South Wales.
I'm the coordinator
for the Family Wellbeing Program
here on the Central Coast,
and I've been coordinating
the program since late 2012.
And throughout that time,
we've had roughly 130 to 150
young men and women
facilitate and come through
our program.
Hi. My name is Ben Cheniart.
I'm a proud Dharug man,
born and raised in Western Sydney,
New South Wales,
and I'm the Family Wellbeing
Project officer
with Central Coast Primary Care.
Ben and I have both
been fortunate enough
to have been passed on
a lot of cultural knowledge
from role models
and proud Aboriginal men
that we do a lot of cultural, um...
..mentoring with.
And from there,
we've been able to pass on
a lot of the emotional
and spiritual connections
that have been lost through
our people for over 230 years.
Our culture's...dated back
over 60,000 years old,
and for the last 230 years,
our men have been subjected
to racial vilification,
drugs and alcohol, domestic violence,
high rates of incarceration,
high rates of suicide,
and our young men, unfortunately,
are at the top of that statistic
around youth suicide
and especially young Aboriginal men.
So injecting those cultural values
into these young men
plays a big role in their wellbeing.
First of all, it started
as a community program,
whereby facilitators are sent
to communities
to hold community meetings,
and the idea was to just create safe
space for ordinary community people
to talk about their day-to-day
challenges they face in life
and the ways in which they try
to solve day-to-day problems
and share with each other,
whether it's about parenting,
whether it's about relationship
issues, education, employment,
and then build support networks.
So, the program started like that -
as a community development activity,
and the idea was that the more
people that go through the program,
develop communication skills,
support skills,
then the stronger
their community becomes
and then their community is able
to support individuals
to participate in education
and employment.
In 1998, there were a number
of suicides in the community,
young people taking their lives
for reasons that was hard
for people to see,
so their community mobilised,
all the community organisations,
and decided something
had to be done about it.
And it was in that context
that they...
..they got funding
from the National Suicide Prevention
funding at the time
and then got
the South Australian facilitators
to bring that program
to Alice Springs.
The Family Wellbeing Program
commenced in 2012
through a collaborative effort
between Medicare Local,
the local health district,
and the Aboriginal Medical Service,
and it was targeted around suicide
prevention for young Aboriginal men.
We flew to South Australia
to meet with delegates
of the Family Wellbeing Program.
From there, we moved back
to the Central Coast
and started facilitating
the Family Wellbeing Program.
So, the Family Wellbeing Program
on the Central Coast is targeted
towards young Aboriginal men
between the ages of 14 to 18,
where we take the boys out of school
one day a week
and train them in a social
and emotional wellbeing program
that aims to empower each individual
through a range of topics
over a 10- to 14-week program.
On the first day of program,
we introduce the boys
to a cultural ceremony
that is the smoking ceremony.
And the way we segue the young men
on that first day
into that smoking ceremony
is to talk to them about a new
beginning and a new lease on life
and the start of a new journey
through the Family Wellbeing Program.
And we introduce them to their first
cultural aspect of Family Wellbeing,
and that's that smoking ceremony.
And I think the best thing to see
about that cultural aspect
of a smoking ceremony
is that hesitation that
the boys do have initially
when they come to the smoke,
and not because of the fact
that they might be scared of it,
but I think
it's more or less because
they've never had
this experience before,
but they know through
their connection as time goes on
that this smoking ceremony
is very symbolic to them.
And that's what we say -
it is a ceremonial process,
but for these boys, when they
transition through the program,
when they have their final
smoking ceremony,
you do see that change
and that appreciation for it.
You see them actually
getting involved
and the emotions that are
in that smoking ceremony.
They're in that moment,
and whatever's going on
inside of them, it's therapeutic.
They let it all go, they put it into
that fire, and up it goes again,
and they know that's
a spiritual process for them.
MAN: My experience with
the Family Wellbeing course
has been a great journey.
Growing up as a young
Aboriginal man,
you know, sometimes you get lost.
With the Family Wellbeing,
it's an opportunity
to bring out your cultural side,
your feelings,
and to show other men that it is OK
to talk about our feelings.
We arrive at the centre
between 9:00 and 9:30,
and by that time,
Ben's there with the barbecue
and we're cooking the boys
a breakfast
that consists of bacon and eggs
and juice and stuff
that, you know,
sometimes boys skip on,
and we talk about basic human needs,
and that first meal form
is a good meal,
something that, you know,
they mightn't get
every day at home in their lives.
Leading into
the Family Wellbeing Program,
I still remember my first day.
I got there
and there was breakfast -
you know, everyone loves
a bacon and egg roll.
Seeing Nigel
and the other facilitators
standing there
as proud Aboriginal men
and looking around to my peers
in my classroom,
it was hard, it was hard.
I didn't want to sit there
and talk about my feelings.
These men, I didn't know them.
Once Nigel and the other
facilitators and these men
started to open up,
I'd realised that
it was a safe place.
Being able to express myself
to a group of men within that room
felt good.
The beauty of our process
in Family Wellbeing
is that Nigel and myself,
unlike in a school environment,
get that opportunity to share
our own personal life journeys.
With the sharing of
your own personal story,
this allows a domain, a safe domain
for these young men
to actually come out and share
their own experiences.
When they felt comfortable,
the boys will naturally
open up and flourish
and they'll share
their own experiences.
We had a young fella,
me and Nigel told our story,
and without even asking him,
he put his hand up,
he goes, "Oh, I just want to share
a bit about my story."
I'm like, "Oh!" We were like, "Oh,
this is mad. Yeah, thanks, buddy."
It was heavy.
So, he's saying, you know, he's 14.
"I got into ice,
got into drugs, alcohol,
"fighting Mum and Dad
and my sister.
"We had a bad life,
always out in the streets.
"I got locked up out at Baxter."
He goes, "But it's
only just recently
"I've had a bit of a turnaround,
"stopped hanging around
with all my mates,
"got off the ice,
got off the drugs..."
And then come to realise
that their brother next to them
has a very similar story
to their own.
The brother on the other side,
he has a very similar story
to their story.
At the end of the day,
we're all walking that same path
and that journey.
And that's what
Family Wellbeing's about -
that initial journey that we're
setting that foundation for.
Yeah. And we've got to
remember too that...
..the Family Wellbeing model
is a counselling model,
and if you mention counselling
to young men that are vulnerable
or at a stage in their life where
things are starting to go downhill,
they put their walls up
when you mention counselling.
So we throw it at them
as a youth leadership program,
but internally,
what they don't realise
is that they're actually doing
a form of counselling.
Our old people for many years
have had yarning circles,
where we'd sit in a circle
and we'd talk about our differences,
we'd talk about our problems,
we'd talk about, you know,
where to from here,
what's next, what we're doing.
You know, I remember growing up
in western New South Wales,
where if you broke up with your
girlfriend or something went wrong,
you'd go and have a schooner of beer,
or the next minute, you'd be
physically fighting with someone
around dealing with your emotions,
and that's all it was.
So, we're trying to change
that stigma or that culture
around young men coming together.
And as Benny said,
it's a vulnerable day.
We have, you know,
between 10 and 15 young men
that probably haven't met each other
ever until this day,
and within the space
of probably 30 minutes,
we've got young men that
are vulnerable, emotional,
sharing their story.
And it might sound a little bit
depressing, but at the end of it,
there's a sense of spiritual relief
for these young men.
You can actually see a weight
taken off their shoulders.
..I think around about five,
I got taken away from my mum
and I got put into DOCS.
Um, my name's Liam,
and, um...I've been
through a rough childhood.
Um...
My mum and dad split up,
and, um...about...a year ago,
my nan passed away.
And, um...
..this year, my pop passed away.
Uh...my name's Josh.
I was born around this area.
Um...had an alright childhood,
Dad and Mum split up...
Take your time, bro.
You can cry here.
It's a good place to let them out.
(SOBS QUIETLY)
Um, my name's Bailey Carney.
Um, I come from Wiradjuri tribe...
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
..which is about five, six hours
west of here,
near Gilgandra, Coonabarabran.
I live with my brother and mum,
and me and Terence go to school
at Erina High.
And, um, yeah, when I was younger...
..my father passed away.
And, um...
..yeah, it's really...really tough.
That's about it.
Thanks, brother.
Thanks, brother.
(APPLAUSE)
Yeah, same as him.
(SNIFFLES)
It's alright, man. Tears...
You seen me cry last week.
Tears are good.
Yeah, my name's Leigham.
I go to Erina, and...
..when we were three,
my dad passed away.
And...
..Mum, she's looked after us
ever since, and...
..she's been the best.
And, yeah...been...
Life's been heaps good and...
love our sport and stuff and...
Yeah, that's about it.
School's good.
When I found out that, started
getting suspended from school,
going out on the weekends
getting drunk.
And then Mum started
going through chemo,
started getting better, better.
She met my stepdad now.
When they were kids,
they were friends.
Mum's finished her chemo.
Starting to get better at school.
Haven't been suspended as much.
We're in a new house.
And just...getting better.
For young men to sit in a circle
with 15 other young men
and share their story
and let tears roll down their face
is...is a powerful, powerful domain.
An aspect of the cultural inclusion
we introduced into Family Wellbeing
is that we actually get to take
our young men out on some...
..out to some cultural sites
on country,
and we do that with the permission
of the traditional owners
here on the Central Coast,
so we're very grateful for that.
Our young men
that come through the program
are missing that link
to their culture
and that connection to their culture,
so taking them out onto country
and introducing them
to our old people's classrooms
that are engraved
or through stencils in caves
gives these young men a visual aspect
of what our culture and our learnings
and education systems were like
prior to colonisation.
Through this process,
we're able to teach
the morals and the stories
of what comes from that stencil
on the wall
or the engraving in the ground.
Also look at things around
understanding relationships
and how the relationships
in their lives today can play a role
in where they want to go
and how they grow as individuals.
Through the Family
Wellbeing Program,
the boys actually get to attend
community events,
and the one that stands out the most
to me for our boys
was attending
the Walk a Mile Koori Style.
Walk a Mile Koori Style
is an initiative
alongside the White Ribbon approach,
where we're going to aim
awareness for domestic violence
in our community.
The main aspect of that is
showing strong, proud
Aboriginal men and women
who are coming together
to show their support
against domestic violence
on the Central Coast community.
The greatest thing that...
for myself and Nigel was
that we saw our young men
in the Family Wellbeing Program
take part in that,
and they marched down the streets
of the Central Coast
showing their pride
and standing for a cause
that's very close to heart for a lot
of people here on the Central Coast.
With that, that just shows the
initiative that young men can take
in being valuable leaders to
not only their homes in community,
but also to all those other people
who are watching on.
They're playing that role-modelling
that people can see
and look up to and inspire,
and that's what we want
from Family Wellbeing.
And Walk a Mile Koori Style
was a great example
of how that comes to be,
and that comes to be something
that the boys can be very proud of
and that myself and Nigel, we're
very proud to see that initiative.
It takes a whole community
to raise a child,
and children grow up to become
adolescents, young people,
young people grow up
to become adults,
adults grow up
to become the elders, old...
..you know, elders
of their community.
This is how most communities
have functioned historically.
Now, Family Wellbeing
was developed specifically
to build a sense of community,
a sense of community
that can raise a child.
And in the first few years
of Family Wellbeing development
in Central Australia,
there were Family Wellbeing centres,
integral parts of communities
in Central Australia
and in places like Ceduna.
The idea was to have a place
where people have these
conversations on ongoing basis
and develop support networks
so people can take
a whole-of-community perspective
to dealing with issues
including raising children.
Unfortunately, the nature of
funding environment in Australia
didn't support this vision.
Now, one of the goals
of the new national
Family Wellbeing partnership
is to bring that vision
back to reality.
Family Wellbeing goes some ways
in bringing organisations...
..community groups,
men's groups, women's groups,
schools, services together
in any local...
..you know, regional, local
and community level.
One of the most powerful outings
that Family Wellbeing has
is our visit to the Glen Drug
and Alcohol Rehabilitation Centre
at Chittaway Bay
here on the Central Coast.
The greatest thing about the Glen
is it provides our young men
with an opportunity
to witness face to face
with other men who have experienced
extensive abuse
when it comes to
drug and alcohol issues.
So the boys are confronted
with one-on-one situations
where they're sitting with men
who have lived experiences
and they're seeing how their life
has changed dramatically
in a negative way initially,
but from that strength, they're
having to rehabilitate themselves.
And you do see a lot of boys walk
away from that experience
kind of really taken back,
and even in some instances,
I have seen some boys
turn around and say, "You know what?
"Ben, I'm not gonna smoke
any more yarndi.
"After seeing that experience
of what happened to that fella,
"I'm done with that."
So, basically, what we hope
from the Glen is
that we're gonna get
a bit of empowerment
where we see young men taking charge
of their drug and alcohol use
and finding ways in which
they can channel that and see,
"Hey, if I keep going
down this path,
"I'm gonna end up
in a place like this,"
and that's somewhere definitely
those boys don't want to be.
At the conclusion of
the Family Wellbeing Program,
the boys move into
the mentoring side of things,
and two weeks after the program,
we take the boys on
a two-day cultural camp,
where we take the boys out
of the world that they know
with their iPhones
and iPads and PlayStations,
and we take them out to Wollombi,
where we utilise skills
and old, traditional values
and site visits and Aboriginal
dance and storytelling,
and using those old values with
the new values that we've given them
through the Family Wellbeing program,
and infuse those so that the boys
have the best of both worlds.
Because as Aboriginal people
in this world now,
we've got to walk two worlds -
the cultural world
and the Westernised world.
(HISSES)
The essence of the Family Wellbeing
is basically saying
that as human beings,
we all experience challenges
in our lives,
particularly in terms
of modern living.
For Indigenous people, being
minorities in their own country,
for non-Indigenous people,
and for everybody
living in a very busy society
where day-to-day problems,
the challenges we face
are so complex,
they don't have any simple answers.
It's a humbling experience.
We sit down, we have
those yarning circles,
we have that smoking ceremony
to welcome us into country.
From there, we've run
little activities where...
..we introduce boys to a ceremonial
process of signing into country.
We take boys to a cave we have
on private property
and we introduce them to
putting their own hand stencil
onto a cave wall.
And some might think this is just...
you know, it's an artist's exercise
or it's just a little bit of fun,
but for them boys, and for us
as Aboriginal men and role models,
it's a ceremonial process that
they're connecting to that country.
And once they've put
that hand stencil on that wall,
they have an obligation
to care for that property.
So, through the stencil
and the connection,
they put themselves
onto that...onto that wall,
these boys then feel
a bit of ownership
and a sense of belonging
to that property.
So, from there,
they help clean up the property,
they look after it, they don't
leave their rubbish around,
and that might be minuscule to some,
but for our boys and where
they're at in their lives, you know,
having that sense of belonging
and connection to something
is major for them.
Some of our boys, you know,
they don't have that connection
to...at home,
because home life might be
a little bit destructive
or they don't have that sense
of ownership yet
because they're 14 or they're 15.
And we're able to introduce them
to that sense of belonging
and ownership through our camps.
The components that Family Wellbeing
teaches the boys
then does play a role
in those camps.
And when it comes to...
I guess the best word we use
and we'll use something
a bit more traditional,
is those obligations those boys have
not only to themselves,
but also to upholding those values
that we introduce to them.
The camp gives the boys
an opportunity
to take the person they've become
and flourish in
a cultural environment.
And that's through processes such
as, like Nigel mentioned earlier,
about putting a hand stencil
on a wall,
about crush...
just simply crushing the ochre,
learning about that process and why
that importance of that ochre has,
getting the opportunity to do
a paint-up that's special to them.
So, a lot of the boys might be
already very familiar
with a specific paint-up that
they like to put on their bodies
that actually represents
where they may come from
in the country that they might be on
at that time.
The boys also get the opportunity to
explore new areas and various sites
that they probably never, ever
will get the chance to see,
but it's through those practices
that the boys show
a lot of empowerment.
And at the end of that process,
you get boys walking out saying,
"That was by far the best thing
I've ever experienced."
And this is proven throughout
every single camp that we have run,
not just this particular camp,
but all the camps that we have -
the boys walk away with that sense
of connection and that longing,
saying to us, "Oh, I don't want
this program to end.
"This was the best experience. I
wish we could stay out here longer."
That just goes to show that the life
that a lot of the boys probably lead
outside of that environment,
even though sometimes
it can be very positive,
but all those destructive elements
in there really go to show
that those boys being in that
comfort zone of being out in bush
gives them that security,
gives them that belonging.
BOY: Got pretty much a new family.
Lots of close mates,
good people to be around.
I learnt, like, leadership goals
and, like, how far I want to be
with my other boys
outside of the group,
and, like, it's given me a lot
of thought about that sort of stuff
and, like, where I want to be
in 20 years, stuff like that.
Like, life goals and, um...
and pretty much a new family.
Uh, I have, like,
new adolescence skills
and, um...yeah, new mates and...
..good blokes to be around.
Nigel and Ben, to talk to
whenever we need,
and I met new people.
It's just been good.
If we lose our traditions, then
we're gonna lose ourself, basically,
and our spirits and that,
and we don't really want to do that.
We want to pass it on and that
and be able to learn
and do this stuff.
Important for us
to know these skills
and, like, to keep our tradition
and our culture in our lives.
Because without it,
we wouldn't be nothing.
We wouldn't be ourselves.
And...yeah, just wouldn't be us.
Like, our culture and tradition,
like, gives us, like, a...
..like, if you're lost,
if you don't know what to do,
it gives us something...like, a way
of life, something you can live by,
something to help you,
like, no matter what,
so you always have, like, rules
and guidelines that can help you.
It gives us something to be proud of
and something to pass down
and keep the culture going.
'Cause, like,
it's good to know your...
..what people have been...
happened before you
and to continue the ways
and traditions they had.
MAN: Family Wellbeing is something
that needs to continue.
It needs to continue to show
our young Aboriginal men
that it is OK to talk,
to face our demons,
and to move forward
and become strong Aboriginal men.
Aboriginal culture is a lifeline
for people like myself
and the boys that come
through this course.
The cultural components
that we learn
throughout the Family Wellbeing
is something that...
was a link that was missing,
and putting those links together,
everything fell in place
for my life.
Family Wellbeing always
needs to be there.
Men like Nigel and Ben and future
facilitators need to be there.
This is not an average course.
This is a course for Aboriginal men
to stand strong, stay strong
and be proud of who we are.
If we want to bring about
change in Australia,
then programs such as Family
Wellbeing needs to be supported,
needs to become organic part of...
..the way we do education,
health and other business
in communities
over a long period of time.
And if that can happen,
then we can see change,
sustainable change, over time.
The Family Wellbeing Program's
probably changed my life
in such things like...um...
..like, relationships,
friends and...
..looking at different...
..a different way of looking at,
like, relationships and friends.
Um...like, cultural dance.
Yeah, dancing with Nigel,
the Wakagetti group.
Well, today, now, I have, like...
I muck up a bit still,
but I'm better
than what I was before.
I am able to open up to people
and tell them what's wrong
when something's happening with me,
I'm able to express my feelings
more than what I was before,
and I feel like a better person
and that I can achieve things
and that it's not all bad
at the end,
and you've got to have
bad things come around
to get the good things as well.
Family Wellbeing loves
to celebrate all achievements
not only just through
the process itself,
but all the achievements that the
boys have outside of the program.
The biggest milestone that they had
was actually completing that program
with a success rate
of 80% or more in attendance.
As a token of the program and
something for the boys to reflect on
is the boys are given their
very own Family Wellbeing shirt.
The Family Wellbeing shirt
represents
a very strong coastal design,
which has been made into a format
that not only is very appealing
marketing-wise,
but also gives people an element
of what the boys have achieved.
We like to think of it as a trophy
for their accomplishments,
and with that trophy,
when times get tough
or when they need to reflect
on a moment of...
..any issues that do arise
and they do need to think back
to those lessons,
the Family Wellbeing shirt's always
gonna be there for them to look at
and to kind of remind them
of that process
and that journey
that they've gone through.
That shirt is a representation
of the men that they have become
and who they're going to be
for the future.
(DIDGERIDOO PLAYS)
(MEN SHOUT, TRILL)
Captions by Red Bee Media
(c) SBS Australia 2022