St George Workshop

St George – 9^th March 2011

Local context

The St George community services a population of about 5000 with approximately 3000 living within the township itself. The majority of these residents were perceived to be in the 25-40 age groups. There was not a high aging population as most of the older farmers were seen to have moved away after retirement to the coast or Toowoomba. The indigenous community was described as being made up of two main groups.

Primary production accounts for nearly 100% of the employment and related industries in the district. Therefore if the producers are suffering it impacts on the entire community. There is a great diversity within the primary production sector with Grapes, Cotton, Wheat, Sheep and Cattle. There is evidence of a temporary workforce due to the introduction of viticulture and horticulture industry.

In the last twelve years the community has gone through a great deal of uncertainty. They have experienced three large floods, WAMP (Water Allocation Management Plan), the review of water allocation by the Queensland Murray Darling Basin Authority (still in progress) and new tree clearing legislation.

A resident of five years described St George as a friendly welcoming place, although others said it was more compartmentalized now than say twenty years ago. During the long period of drought and again with the recent flooding, rural residents experienced social isolation. They feel the political landscape has changed and there was a feeling of “loss of voice ‘and the suggestion of Australian farmers having to operate on an unlevel playing field.

Issues impacting on uncertainty, stress and mental health

Participants were asked to consider the specific issues that impacted on their community – resulting from climate variability or other factors in their rural and urban communities.  The issues raised are listed below:

Government Regulations

·         Tree Clearing Issues

·         Government Imposing Legislation in response to climate change

·         Closure of CDEP and uncertainty for Indigenous Community and flow on for business

·         Loss of Rural Voice

·         Unequal playing field

Climate

·         Lack of “Normal weather pattern”

·         MDBA reforms – water issues

·         Ongoing uncertainty

·         Increasing levels of debt from years of drought

·         Failure of crops due to weather induced events

Resources and Services

·         Lack of counselling services

·         Limited education options

·         Housing private or public

·         Transport options

·         Decreased numbers of long term Doctors eg. Retiring

Social Issues

·         Substance abuse

·         Inability to find full time employment

·         Social Isolation

·         Struggling to manage finances

·         Relationship breakdowns

·         Economic restrain affecting socialisation

·         Alcohol and drug misuse

·         Over commitment to work or committees and lacking personal or family time

·         Changing community, cultural makeup, some groups interact well and others compartmentalised

·         Lack of trust within the community

·         Interaction between cultural groups i.e. indigenous community with government departments(police) and agency is lacking

·         Over commitment risk of burn out.

Current services and initiatives

Participants pooled their knowledge of current programs and initiatives targeting mental health and well being support.  These are listed below:

Formal Services

·         Hospital

·         Mental Health unit, Child, Youth and Adult Mental Health workers and two social workers

·         Seven General Practitioners

·         ATODS worker from Roma

·         Drug Arm worker from Roma once a month

·         AMS two at Dalby visit twice a fortnight

·         One psychologist

·         Video link to a psychiatrist in Toowoomba

·         Centacare Domestic violence counsellor

·         Chaplain/school nurse at high schools

·         Chaplain at primary school

·         Lifeline – “men’s repair” and youth worker Assist Program

·         Churches Youth and Mentoring Office, Kids programs (JAFFA), holiday clubs, Youth groups, Christmas carols,  fraternal

·         Family support worker

·         Financial Counsellor

·         “Tie Up the  Black Dog”

·         Community Events, Rugby Club, NADOC, Polocrosse

·         Resources – Beyond Blue info at events.

·         Closing the Gap – Suicide prevention

·         CRRMH (Cairns) “Pathways to Resilience”

·         Building Bridges – Business Plan for Departments to match budgets.

·         Add onto events e.g. IWD event includes stress management

·         Primary Health – Pit Stop has mental health element

·         Safer community’s initiative.

·         Inter-agency meeting

What gaps are there and where is the need?

After reflecting on current initiatives and the issues faced in the region, participants were asked to identify gaps that needed filling to complete the support picture.  These are listed below:

·         Accessing Rural, Indigenous men, Limited referral points

·         Difficulty to target 15-24 years old

·         Youth Services

·         Lack of Resources and money to support programs and activities and follow up

·         Lack of regular counselling services i.e. marriage

·         People to introduce farmers to ASSIST

·         Lack of realistic strategy with acute cases

·         Ongoing support and referral to St George is lacking

·         Ongoing support for families and extended community following an acute event

·         Lack of choice for Mental Health

·         Community Stigma

·         Time – Producers push mental health onto the back burner

Steps that can be taken to address the gaps and needs

Participants were asked to discuss and come up with specific needs or steps that should/could be taken within the community to address gaps or build on current initiatives.  There suggestions are listed below:

Resources

·         Funding for further mental health professionals i.e. counsellors

·         Permanent counselling services (Established connections and referral pathways.

·         More funding for Mental Health promotion and prevention program

·         Subsidy for travel for sporting cultural activity

·         Financial support when individuals have to travel away to access mental health professionals

Training and Capacity Building

·         Mental Health First aid – roll out district wide

·         Offer Mental Health First Aid regularly to build capacity widely

·         Self esteem confidence building programs

·         Family relationship education opportunities

·         Support positive behaviour, management through sporting interests

·         Engaging Men and Families in Community activity to assist communication

·         Utilising electronic means as education/communication tool

Structures and Policy

·         Fix referral process within Qld Health

·         Building on existing successful services.

Potential RIRDC contribution

 From the list of ideas and steps suggested, the following were proposed to be most relevant to RIRDC:

Capacity building to deal with change

·         Climate

·         Technology

·         Succession

·         Toolkits – strategies

Capacity building in the wider community

·         Mental Health First aid

It was noted that resources and training should:

·         Use Terminology that suits

·         Tag onto events

·         Include a flexible resources toolkit.