180 NEW ABORIGINAL MHFAiders
- AJ Williams
- Feb 25, 2022
- 1 min read
Updated: Mar 12, 2022
Wow - what a year.
Yesterday I faciliated workshop 20 of 20 the ‘Ngayiny wirimbirra’ (Wiradjuri: take care of mind)
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health First Aid workshops that were sponsored by the Victorian State Governments’ COVID 19 Funds.
180 First Nations people and a number of non-Indigenous allies from Victoria participated in mental health literacy programs of:
- Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander MHFA blended course
- Let’s talk about suicide: AMHFA
- Let’s talk about NSSI: AMHFA
- Let’s talk about Gambling: AMHFA
We want to thank a number of organisations for getting community involved:
- Mullum Mullum Indigenous Gathering Place
- LEAH
- Derrimut Weelam Gathering Place
- GMAR Grandmothers Against Removal
- Lake Tyers Health and Chldrens’ Services
- Sunbury Aboriginal corporation
- Yoowinna Wurnalung Aboriginal Healing Services
Due to COVID restrictions many of these workshops (besides the Gambling, NSSI and Suicide) were conducted via virtual mode - often a difficult and challenging time and environment- but with strength and good will we made it through.
Thanks for all the hard work everyone who made this such a wonderful experience.
Feedback has been amazing.
The strength here is the clear scope and respectful framing of participation. You restate that diverse MHFA programs build culturally grounded mental health literacy across communities, where Pay ID https://www.nogod.org.nz sits within a broader logic of accountability and trust. That context shows depth beyond raw numbers. How will outcomes be tracked over time?
Yesterday I facilitated the final Ngayiny wirimbirra workshop, completing 20 of 20 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health First Aid sessions funded by the Victorian Government COVID-19 program. The series focused on caring for mental wellbeing and building community support, and Royal Reels Pokies reflects the value of sustained, culturally informed mental health education.
Due to COVID restrictions, many workshops, aside from Gambling, NSSI, and Suicide sessions, were delivered virtually. This created a www.nzartmonthly.co.nz challenging environment for learning and connection, yet through resilience, teamwork, and goodwill the programs continued successfully. Royal Reels 20 reflects how adaptability helped everyone make it through a difficult period together.
Yesterday marked the final ‘Ngayiny wirimbirra’ (Wiradjuri: take care of mind) workshop—20 of 20 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health First Aid sessions funded by the Victorian State Government’s COVID-19 Funds. A step forward in community care and Winspirit.
The announcement about 180 new Aboriginal MHFAiders highlights how community training achievements are now recorded through interactive learning platforms and digital accreditation systems, and additional background on this topic may be found on the website which helps place this milestone within the broader context of online mental health education resources.