About Chrissie

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So far Chrissie has created 34 blog entries.

Tiarnee Schafer

Tiarnee Schafer is a proud Kalkadoon woman from Mt Isa and is currently living in Sydney working as a Human Resources graduate. She graduated with a double degree in Psychological Science and Business in 2017, majoring in Human Resources. After finishing high school, Tiarnee started to notice the alarmingly high rates of suicide in Mt Isa and saw the effects it had on her community. She wanted to help her mob and thought the best way to do that would be to study psychology, which saw her move to Brisbane and attend Griffith University. After completing her Bachelor’s degree, Tiarnee is now studying for a Masters of Suicidology. Tiarnee is a Culture is Life Culture Squad Youth Ambassador [...]

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Rob McPhee

Rob is the deputy chief executive officer of the Kimberly Aboriginal Medical Services (KAMS) based in Broome WA.  His people hail from Derby in the West Kimberley and the Pilbara region of WA. He has held a number of roles including a lecturer at Curtin and the University of Western Australia and has worked as a senior adviser in community relations and Indigenous affairs to the oil and gas industry. He is passionate about social justice for Indigenous people and currently co-chairs the Commonwealth funded Kimberley Aboriginal Suicide Prevention Trial Working Group.

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A/Professor Michael Wright

Michael Wright is a Yuat Nyoongar man from the Moora and New Norcia area of Western Australia, north of Perth. He has worked as a hospital-based social worker and as a mental health service manager and completed a Masters of Applied Epidemiology from the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University in 2004. In 2010, Michael completed his PhD (Curtin University) which explored Aboriginal families’ access to mental health services and, in the same year, secured a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) post-doctoral fellowship to conduct applied research investigating the barriers Aboriginal families faced in accessing those services. Through several large research projects—focused on changing service delivery and their responsiveness—he has [...]

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Judith Lovegrove

Judith Lovegrove is a Ngarrindjeri woman from South Australia and resides in Adelaide. She is currently the Metropolitan Senior Aboriginal Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) Worker for SA Government’s Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service, and provides cultural and supervisory support to Aboriginal and non- Aboriginal clinicians within the service. Having qualifications in leadership, management, counselling and psychology, her vocational experience includes being a therapist, family practitioner, vocational trainer, and managing a Registered Training Organisation – she has devoted her life to educating and inspiring the SEWB workforce. Judith continues her work to improving mental health literacy and responding appropriately to mental health problems and suicidal risk. Judith identifies as being intrinsically motivated in her work – doing [...]

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Tanja Hirvonen

Tanja is an Aboriginal Australian woman through her Mother who was born in Alice Springs. Her Grandmother is from the Barkly Tablelands region and Tanja's Great Grandparents are from WA, Fitzroy Crossing and Halls Creek. Tanja's father is from Finland. Tanja grew up in Mt Isa with family. Tanja has also lived in Normanton and on cattle properties within the Gulf of Carpentaria and Darwin and surrounding areas. Tanja is a registered Clinical Psychologist in Darwin, Northern Territory and holds positions at the Centre for Remote Health (Charles Darwin and Flinders Universities) and the Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory based in Darwin and also works privately as a registered psychologist. Tanja serves on the Australian Indigenous Psychology [...]

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Leilani Darwin

Leilani is a Quandamooka woman, ancestral home is Stradbroke Island. Through her own lived experience and work within the sector, Leilani is a powerful advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander led, culturally informed practices within mainstream services. She is a lived experience contributor, consumer advocate and has a wealth of experience in suicide prevention and mental health. Leilani is now the Founder and Managing Director of Dulili Voices, a consultancy that focuses on incorporating the lived experience of community members into service deliver and outcomes. This includes extensive experience in effective engagement, evaluation and development of frameworks and guides for working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Leilani enjoys contributing on several Advisory Groups, working committees [...]

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The Healing Colour of Country

The Healing Colour of Country: Trauma recovery through culture, art and wildflowers Tuesday 9 July 2019 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. One such healing program that featured at the Conferences was the Sister Kate’s Home Kid’s Aboriginal Corporation Healing (SKHKAC) Hub. As Menang, Goreng, Wadjari woman of the Noongar Nation and Sister Kate’s CEO, Tjalaminu Mia [...]

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Indigenous Suicide Prevention in Colonised Countries

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. Suicide rates have been increasing worldwide and are especially high amongst Indigenous peoples. The critical importance of identifying and implementing effective suicide prevention strategies in Indigenous communities was highlighted by a report Global Overview: Indigenous Suicide Rates. Prepared for and launched at the Conferences, the report details the consistently higher rates of suicide amongst Indigenous compared to non-Indigenous people and demonstrates the urgency for action. Indigenous Elders, [...]

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Empowering our Community

Workshop on Empowerment and Accountability in Indigenous Youth Suicide Prevention, Canberra The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP) co-hosted a workshop on preventing Indigenous youth suicide in Canberra on Tuesday. The workshop focused on empowerment and accountability as ways to reduce suicide among Indigenous people and young people. CBPATSISP Director Professor Pat Dudgeon commented: The attendance of young people, those with lived experience of suicide, LGBTQI, emerging leaders and Elders was important at the workshop. It’s critical that we listen to, and learn from them if we are to understand how to best respond. Empowering our young people and Elders to lead in suicide prevention activity particularly in their communities - was [...]

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Disclaimer: The terms ‘Aboriginal’, ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander’ and ‘Indigenous’ are used interchangeably. It is acknowledged that there are many cultural differences between and within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the use of differing terms does not intend to disregard such differences.