This presentation celebrates 25 years of the Graduate Diploma of Indigenous Health Promotion, a pivotal post graduate program at The University of Sydney. Our program is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people fostering self-determination and capacity building within our Indigenous communities. Over the past quarter-century, this program has equipped students with essential skills and knowledge to address health disparities, promote cultural resilience, and advocate for community-driven solutions. By examining the program's evolution, this presentation highlights its core principles of self-determination, cultural competence, and community engagement.
Themes include the integration of traditional knowledge with contemporary health practices, the development of effective health communication strategies, and the importance of fostering partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous stakeholders. By reflecting on the achievements and lessons learned over the past 25 years, this presentation aims to inspire ongoing commitment to Indigenous health promotion and highlight the enduring impact of the Graduate Diploma of Indigenous Health Promotion on individuals, communities, and the broader health landscape.

Title: Promoting Indigenous Wellbeing: Southern Aboriginal Corporation's Holistic Approach

Abstract:
Southern Aboriginal Corporation (SAC) is dedicated to advancing Indigenous wellbeing through a comprehensive array of programs and services tailored to the unique needs of Aboriginal communities across regional Western Australia. With a steadfast commitment to fostering resilience and positive change, SAC initiatives encompass family violence prevention, housing support, youth empowerment, health promotion, and environmental conservation.

Drawing on over 40 years of dedicated service, SAC has been a pioneering force in delivering Family Violence Prevention Legal Services (FVPLS) throughout the Great Southern, South West, and Wheatbelt South regions of Western Australia. Our accredited FVPLS program provides crucial legal advice and holistic support to address family violence and sexual assault, with a strong emphasis on cultural safety and healing.

Beyond legal services, SAC actively engages in initiatives such as our Cultural y Informed Trauma Integrated Healing Approach (CITIHA), which prioritises physical, psychological, and emotional safety for clients and staff alike. Our Tenancy Support Program offers personalised assistance to Aboriginal individuals and families in rental properties, ensuring their welfare and tenancy stability.

Through collaborative partnerships and community-driven approaches, SAC continues to champion Indigenous wellbeing, promoting self-determination, resilience, and holistic health. Our commitment to cultural sensitivity and inclusivity serves as the foundation for our efforts, driving meaningful and sustainable change for the betterment of Indigenous communities.

Aboriginal Housing Victoria’s (AHV) vision is to ensure that Aboriginal Victorians secure appropriate, affordable housing as a pathway to better lives and stronger communities. As part of this vision AHV has developed an innovative coaching program for people who are renters. Coaching has been defined by AHV as ‘Walking beside you in a culturally safe way to move towards your goals and dreams’. Participants meet regularly with a coach and are supported to identify their goals and implement small steps towards reaching them. The coaching program is designed to improve social and emotional wellbeing through raising a participant’s awareness of their own, family and community strengths and resources. This poster will outline early evaluation findings from the perspectives of program participants.

As a proud Yuibera woman and future knowledge holder, it is my responsibility to my ancestors, and to future generations to contribute to system changes. I am joined by a non-Aboriginal woman with an Australian settler history who is also a conscious advocate of decolonising practices and system change.

Together our presentation shares strategies for facilitators and educators to ‘space weave’. Space weaving embraces belonging and connection to create learning spaces which promote wellbeing, safety and healing. This strength-based approach nurtures learning potential for First Nations peoples and all individuals.

These approaches are crucial for understanding, mitigating and disrupting the long-term consequences of colonial violence and contemporary structures that do further harm. There is a need to acknowledge and address the deep-seated impacts of historical trauma through decolonizing initiatives and use of trauma-informed frameworks. These approaches evoke change through a deeper understanding of our past and bring into focus the need to value reciprocal relationships and safety in each learning environment.

Prioritising belonging and connection resets the pedagogical paradigm, creating safe environments for all people and especially First Nations people within learning settings.

In sharing our stories and strengths as experienced facilitators in social and emotional wellbeing, teaching, learning and research, we offer these key learnings in the collective journey to Indigenous wellbeing:

1) Privileging First Nations ways of valuing, knowing, being and doing while facilitating
2) Cultivating safe spaces that focus on relationality and connectedness
3) Holding space for effective learning of individuals and groups
4) Modelling cross-cultural ways of working

My presentation - Mental Health and Wellbeing through Spiritual Insight explores (i) the universal spiritual nature and needs of all human beings, (ii) the significance of First Nations people's relationship and attachment to their homeland, (iii) the significance of the process of reconciliation in mental wellbeing and respectful, supportive relationships, and (iv) the significance of our common humanity.
With the lived experience of child abuse and domestic violence, and having had the privilege of working with Australia's First Nation's people as a remote area nurse practitioner, 300ks northeast of Alice Springs, in the Northern Territory, while having a keen interest in researching religious ideology and theology, these experiences and the associated studies, have paved the way for me to advance the concept of metal health and wellbeing through spiritual insight over the past 24 years. My work is based on a holistic approach to life that is grounded in the New Testament Scripture of 2 Timothy 1:7 that states: "God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, and of love, and of a sound mind," and explores the contents of this Scripture in conjunction with the process of reconciliation for loving, supportive relationships, together with the spiritual essence of life that connects all of life through the governing environment.
This in turn reinforces our common humanity and the need for there to now be a collaborative way forward that embraced indigenous and non-indigenous knowledge of life in order to address the escalating violence, self-centered behaviour and disunity that is causing untold suffering and grief globally.

The Reweti Whānau Hui, initiated in 2012, represents a transformative approach to health promotion that is rooted in Indigenous methodologies and community empowerment. This project began as a whānau conversation aimed at reconnecting whānau with their ancestral marae, fostering relationships, and enhancing wellbeing through regular gatherings at the marae. Recognising the positive impact of these gatherings on their health and wellbeing, the whānau embarked on a research project to document and analyse their experiences, aiming to serve as a model for similar whānau-driven initiatives.
The research was designed with and by the whānau, ensuring that their voices directed the narrative and outcomes. Utilising wānanga as a collaborative method of knowledge-sharing, a culturally grounded framework was developed, enhancing the authenticity and applicability of the findings.
This case study highlights how grassroots innovation can address whānau health and wellbeing by aligning with community and cultural values. Sharing these success stories not only elevates whānau voices but also offers scalable insights for other communities aiming to incorporate cultural and place-based strategies into their health promotion practices.
This poster presentation also includes a link to a short film depicting the Reweti Whānau's gatherings, offering a visual insight into the powerful impact of cultural reconnection on health and wellbeing.
Key Learnings:
**Cultural Reconnection Enhances Wellbeing**: Initiatives that facilitate whānau reconnection with their cultural roots and ancestral lands (whenua) significantly contribute to improving health outcomes by reinforcing cultural identity and belonging.
**Cultural Integrity in Research:** Prioritising Māori values and methodologies in research not only respects cultural heritage but also ensures the relevance and effectiveness of health interventions.
**Empowerment through Participatory Research:** Engaging communities directly in the research process fosters a sense of ownership and empowerment, enabling sustainable changes in health behaviours and outcomes.