Red Dust: Program Continuation and Expansion

Overview

The grant opportunity was announced as part of the 2022-23 Federal Budget Measure: Prioritising Mental Health and Suicide Prevention – Supporting our vulnerable.  The objectives of the grant opportunity are:    - delivery of culturally appropriate social and emotional wellbeing and mental health programs in remote and very remote locations, including Indigenous communities and communities in the Northern Territory, that are strengths-based and designed in partnership with communities, and tailored to needs of particular cohorts, like youth, men, and women; - increased engagement in cultural exchange, through activities which may include narrative therapy activities, health education, life skills training, social activities as well as domestic family violence prevention and men’s behaviour change activities; - provision of employment and professional training, to continue to build a skilled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health workforce in remote communities and promote mental health pathways and careers; and - expansion of established Red Dust Community-as-family health and wellbeing Programs, including an increase to the number of communities supported and additional programs in remote parts of the Northern Territory. The intended outcomes of the grant opportunity are to:   - contribute to actions to reduce incidence of suicide among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities (National Agreement on Closing the Gap Target 14); - contribute to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people achievement of highest standard of social and emotional wellbeing and mental health; - increase community engagement and awareness of good social and emotional wellbeing, physical health, and cultural connection; - increase skilled local work opportunities and trained workforce in communities; and   - increase skilled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health workforce in remote communities.