An effective, long term, whole-of-community mental health and wellbeing solution addressing the challenges facing our remote and very remote communities:
- inconsistent service provision,
- poor service accessibility due to large distances and travel times,
- disengagement from seeking help, and
- confidentiality in small community contexts.
Head Yakka is a community led initiative empowering communities to take ownership of their mental health and wellbeing future.
Head Yakka aligns with our Community Facilitation Model, with the Outback Futures team facilitating community led wellbeing conversations, ideas and activities.
What this looks like on the ground.
Multi-disciplinary teams
Region-specific allied health teams including psychologists, counsellors, social workers, speech pathologists, and occupational therapists.
Community clinics
Connect with our team for face-to-face appointments when we visit your community.
Stay With Me telehealth
Access regular support from our multi-disciplinary team through our phone/video telehealth service.
Critical incident response
On the ground support and care if a tragedy or disaster happens in your community, and we’ll stay connected during the recovery journey.
Community workshops
Practical tips and tools to help everyone in your community take care of themselves and each other.
Workplace wellbeing
Helping you care for your most important assets – your people.
Community action
Helping your community put wellbeing ideas and initiatives into action.
Cutting through the bulldust
Tackling the stigma and helping everyone have real, safe and positive conversations about mental health.
Working together.
Our vision is to see more remote communities across Australia equipped with the confidence and tools to identify and address their own mental health and wellbeing challenges.
We’re currently working across multiple LGAs (local government areas) in Western Queensland.
The Outback Futures Community Facilitation Model is agile and flexible, enabling us to respond to invitations from other communities as funding becomes available.
Supporting the people raising our littlest bush kids.
Our Parent Peers are local parents who come alongside you to share the journey of parenting in social and informal ways.
We know from research that the first 1000 days of a child's life are very significant for their life long term development and outcomes.
We also understand the joys and challenges of pregnancy and the early years of parenting in the bush, and the importance of having people around you who provide support, encouragement and connection.
We're here to listen, share the everyday reality of parenting, celebrate the good stuff, and walk together through the tough stuff.
Get in touch with your local Parent Peer to connect.
Helping teen girls feel seen, heard and valued.
Gather The Girls is a bush initiative creating safe, welcoming spaces for teen girls to connect, share, and grow.
Life in the outback can be isolating, and opportunities for young people to come together are limited.
Gather The Girls brings teens together for regular events filled with conversation, laughter, and support.
Each session includes a shared meal, fun activities, and discussions on topics that matter, like friendships, self-esteem, choices, and managing stress.
The program is shaped by the girls themselves and supported by local community members.
Started in Winton in 2023, the Gather The Girls initiative is now also being delivered in Blackall and Cloncurry.
WiWo - A workforce solution that works.
WiWo (Work In Work Out) is our innovative allied health workforce solution for remote communities.
Designed in the bush, for the bush, WiWo addresses two significant issues for health services in our outback communities:
- inconsistent service delivery that is difficult to access, and
- high turnover of allied health workers.
Setting kids up for stronger mental health and resilience now and into adulthood.
We provide consistent and accessible allied health services to help kids grow in confidence and capacity at school and in life.
Our team works with parents, carers and schools to identify and address developmental issues early.
The issues we're tackling.
Mental health and wellbeing issues are similar across Australian communities, but the impact runs far deeper in rural and remote communities.
Social, economic and geographic barriers often prevent people in the bush from seeking help and accessing support.
Suicide rates for young men (15-24) in Western Queensland are 4.7 times higher than their city mates. (Source)
41% of very remote children are considered developmentally vulnerable in one or more areas of physical health, behaviour, emotions, language and communication. (Source)
Turnover of health professional staff in remote communities can be as high as 80 per cent per annum. (Source)
65% of Queensland is in drought, and many communities have been in drought for more than 8 years. (Source)
The number of people going to a hospital emergency department with mental health concerns is 60% higher in Western Queensland than the whole of Queensland. (Source)
Psychologists per 100,000 people in very remote communities compared to 109 in major cities. (Source)
3-6
Access to mental health support services is difficult for people living in remote areas – people are accessing services 3-6 times less than people in the city. (Source)
Suicide rates in very remote areas are more than 2 times higher than in major cities. (Source)
Australian men are 3 times more likely to die by suicide than women. (Source)