Increasingly committed to addressing regional mental health issues, the federal government is allocating new funding of $115,000 to train Aboriginal Mental Health First Aid staff and expand the residential capacity of Namatjira Haven Drug and Alcohol Healing Centre.
Announcing the funding boost at Namatjira Haven, on the outskirts of Alstonville, Federal MP for Page Kevin Hogan said the training will be coordinated by the Indigenous organisation Rekindling the Spirit.
The mental health package of $31,910, along with $83,186 to expand the centre’s capacity from 14 to 16 beds, is provided through the North Coast Primary Health Network’s commissioning funds.
“Mental health is an issue for our entire community that I take very seriously and will continue to lobby to make sure we get the resources we need to help our Indigenous community,” Mr Hogan said.
“This funding will help build the skills of our local mental health and drug workforce so that they can more confidently respond to clients and build community resilience.”
The Gulgihwen (‘change’) program run by Namatjira Haven is a withdrawal management project for Aboriginal men wishing to address substance misuse who do not require, or who feel unable to attend, a seven-day hospital detox.
“We focus on the importance of a healing place (the land we are on) that allows men the safety and peace they need to work on their issues and find their own strengths and take responsibility for their choices into the future,” said centre manager Dian Edwards.
“Three months here turned my life around”
Today, 27-year-old Roger Bartholomew looks well, fit and happy, but it was not always so.
Originally hailing from Moree, he spent time in various country towns, including Tenterfield and Inverell, succumbing to alcohol and drug abuse by his late teens, and continuing the destructive lifestyle into his early twenties.
“I realised I had developed a dependency, and was having problems with life in general,” Roger told GP Speak after the announcement of enhanced Commonwealth funding for Indigenous D&A treatment and mental health care.
“Things couldn’t continue the way they were, but I wasn’t sure where to turn until I spoke with a friend who had been in Namatjira Haven and spoke highly of it.”
After nine years of substance misuse Roger went ‘cold turkey’ and entered the residential facility located in an isolated rural setting near Alstonville.
“The first three weeks were hard,” he said, “and I tried to make the rules suit me. But in reality it was me who needed to change. I stayed three months, and since then have never looked back.”
After several unsatisfying jobs, Roger found work with the Indigenous support organisation Rekindling the Spirit first as a driver, then as a youth support worker, and now as a fully fledged Youth Worker, along with studying a Cert 4 in community services.
“I’ve always loved being a part of that place [Rekindling the Spirit],” he said. “It ticks all the boxes and I know I can be of help to young Aboriginal people facing many of the same challenges I did. Of course nowadays there are even more drugs around. Early intervention is just so important.”
Considering his obvious fitness, it was not surprising to learn that Roger is a keen and accomplished sportsman - “Footy, cricket, basketball, golf… everything but tennis, for some reason I can’t understand!”
In 2014 (Perth) and 2015 (Newcastle) he joined South Cross University teams that contested the National Indigenous Tertiary Student Games, winning gold in basketball. Just as importantly his success further highlighted the benefits of turning away from substance abuse.
There could be no better advertisement than Roger for the facility named after Australia’s famous Indigenous artist, a man who struggled desperately with alcohol at a time when nothing like Namatjira Haven even existed.
* GPSpeak thanks Roger Bartholomew for his generosity in sharing the intimate details of his life and treatment journey.
