25 June 2020 COVID-19 Mental Health Response. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander COVID-19 working party was convened through the Transforming Indigenous Mental Health and Wellbeing Project at the University of Western Australia, to produce an independent report that addressed the specific mental health and social and emotional wellbeing needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia. Over 30 Indigenous leaders in mental health and wellbeing contributed to A National COVID-19 Pandemic Issues Paper on Mental Health and Wellbeing For Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Peoples. This Report calls for a coordinated response based on best practice research in Indigenous mental health and wellbeing. Indigenous governance must be prioritised to [...]

Tom Calma 8 June 2020 Pathways to Justice. The Pathways to Justice report published by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) states that although Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults make up around 2% of the national population, they constitute 27% of the national prison population. In 2016, around 20 in every 1,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were incarcerated. Over-representation is both a persistent and growing problem—Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander incarceration rates increased 41% between 2006 and 2016, and the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous imprisonment rates over that decade widened. While the statistics concerning the disproportionate incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are alarming, it is important [...]

3 June 2020 Black Lives Matter. Aboriginal Lives Matter. Black Deaths in Custody Must Stop. We are all responsible for shaping the world that our children are born into. The Centre of Best Practice in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention (CBPATSISP) at the University of Western Australia stands with those protesting for justice worldwide and are committed to challenging all forms of racism and State violence. We stand in solidarity and great sorrow for the death of George Floyd who was killed by police in Minneapolis on the 25 of May 2020. We also extend our heartfelt sympathy and respect to the family of David Dungay, an Aboriginal man who died while being restrained by five prison [...]