Melbourne Aboriginal Health, HSH724 AT1 T2: Poster Summary Report

This report summarizes a poster that examines the mental health challenges faced by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population in Melbourne, Australia. The poster highlights the historical trauma, cultural loss, and lack of social support as significant contributors to mental health issues within this marginalized community. It focuses on the Bagung ba Wadamba program, a Relationships Victoria initiative aimed at improving the wellness of Aboriginal women in correctional care through the Wayapa Wuurrk method. The report analyzes the program's effectiveness in building resilience and promoting healing while also acknowledging its limitations, such as the lack of broader community and family involvement. The poster emphasizes the need for a more comprehensive community-based approach to address the complex mental health needs of the Aboriginal population in Melbourne, integrating programs for men, women, and children to create a more supportive and effective environment.

Running head: POSTER SUMMARY
Poster Summary
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1POSTER SUMMARY
Summary
The discussion about health, what we generally consider are the physiological aspects
of human anatomy. In doing so, what we unknowingly overlook is the psychological aspect
of health. Psychological distress and disorder has long been associated with physiological
health as well. Chronic mental health issues like depression, suicidal tendencies, and self-
harm might become the reason of health issues like obesity, eating disorder, heart diseases
and many more. While mental health issues can affect populations in general, the
marginalized and intersectional populations are much likely to face the impact of mental
health issues more intensely due to their unique conditions and vulnerability. One such
population group in Australia is the aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders, one of the most
marginalized section of Australia.
The aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are the oldest residents of Australia and
represented only 2.8 percent of Australian population. They have their unique culture and
language. Their history of the aboriginals in Australia is full of struggle and is quite
bloodstained. During the colonization period, the aboriginals went through large scale torture,
relocation, violence and loss of culture. The trauma of that experience went on for so many
years that it resulted in the trans-generational trauma and hereditary mental disorders among
the population. The aboriginal communities occupy the islands of the northern territory
though a very small percentage live in the city and suburban areas as well. Melbourne in
Victoria is one such city which houses about 10,000 of the aboriginal people.
The aboriginal population living in the city Melbourne are susceptible to mental
health issues. The major reasons for their mental health issues are lack of social support,
cultural and identity loss, kinship and familial connection, detachment from traditional land
and lack of awareness. In many aboriginal communities, mental health issues are a taboo and

2POSTER SUMMARY
many of the aboriginal people are thus unwilling to reveal their problems. Due to lack of
education, increased poverty and social support there is an increased rate of crime among the
population and the aboriginals in the correctional care and facilities are also likely to face
issues related to mental health. Bagung ba Wadamba is a program conducted by
Relationships Victoria, aimed at improving the wellness of the aboriginal people under
correctional care in Victoria.
The Bagung ba Wadamba of Melbourne was focused on women and building their resilience
and improve their mental health through community participation. The wellness method that
they adopted were Wayapa Wuurrk, which is an ancient wellness practice of the aboriginals
which improves mindfulness, connection with nature, strength and resilience building and
healing from trans-generational trauma. The program was effective in increasing the wellness
of the target group. The program had certain drawbacks as it did not include the participation
of family members or the broader community as it is an important factor for health among the
aboriginal population. The initiative could collaborate the different programs designed for
male, females and children in order to create a much better community approach that are
likely to improve the aboriginal population living in Melbourne.