Strong Culture, Strong Youth: Our Legacy Our Future
Close the Gap (CTG) Campaign
Who funded the project
Every year, the CTG Campaign prepares a response to the Commonwealth’s Closing the Gap Annual Report, and in late 2022 commissioned Karabena Publishing to write and produce its 2023 Report, which was launched in Sydney on 16 March 2023.
To meet the targets in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap, the report Strong Culture, Strong Youth: Our Legacy Our Future focuses on the social and cultural determinants of health. It puts forward 10 recommendations based on implementing both the National Agreement and the Uluru Statement from the Heart, as well as action in the following areas: social and emotional wellbeing; suicide prevention; gender equity and justice; cultural policy; responding to the climate emergency; raising the age of criminal responsibility; and embedding the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The 2023 report also showcases eight innovative and creative case studies organised across three themes – Share Knowledge, Cultivate Community, Cherish Wisdom – that exemplify the importance of the cultural determinants of health to Closing the Gap. Spanning the creative arts, mentoring, youth justice initiatives, climate activism, LGBTQ+SB rights, educational innovations, suicide prevention, and the structural reform of mental health services, the case studies highlight the leadership of a new generation of hands-on activists. They demonstrate how a focus on young people’s key concerns and aspirations can draw attention to the essential role of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led decision-making and self-determination in shaping a vision of health and wellbeing built upon a strong cultural foundation.
The report also features the Uluru Youth Dialogue, which was established to inform and involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth about the Uluru Statement from the Heart, and two long-standing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ally organisations, Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTAR) and the Fred Hollows Foundation.
Summary
To produce a report with achievable recommendations to government on Closing the Gap, that also documents the great work being done by organisations and individuals in our communities to enrich the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and youth.
Project Aims
In consultation with the CTG Campaign Executive Officer, we identified 8 organisations to be featured in the report, interviewed individuals from each of these projects and wrote up a case study of the work of their organisation.
In writing other elements of the report – Recommendations, Executive Summary, Abut this Report, A Year in Review – Karabena focused on the cultural determinants of health and the youth voice.
This approach reflects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ understanding of health as social and emotional wellbeing, the inherent links between physical and mental health, and the health of connections to family, community, Country and spirituality.
Methodologies
The 60-page report is available here
Outputs
Project outcomes
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health; social and emotional wellbeing; cultural determinants of health