Preventing First Nations suicide in LGBTIQ+SB communities

A majority of our mob who identify as LGBTIQ+SB place our cultural identity and spirit first and this identifies with other identities connected to LGBTIQ+SB.

Emotional wellbeing looks and feels different for individuals and in a cultural context it directly relates to connection and healing from Country. Effects from intergenerational harms underpin service navigation for our Blak Rainbow Mob to access emotional wellbeing supports. This support is critical in ensuring that services are educated, informed and willing to listen with ears and hearts and not leaving our Blak Rainbow Mob feeling more distressed in that moment. Sound advice to provide to get to know the person and spirit, listen with your ears and heart and never assume and always be curious as this will build connection and trust.

Individuals and communities where there are a high population of our Blak Rainbow Mob differ in terms of experiences and needs. Many still practice with respect to ceremony, men’s and women’s business, lore and cultural responsibilities.

Needs will always be at the top but it’s creating safe, visible rainbow spaces on Country, a place to ponder, talk business and yarn our cultural ways, and this is very meaningful to someone who is experiencing a dark moment or has uncertainty.

Start with the first contact phase, ask questions using everyday language, be curious around asking cultural questions. In terms of support, it's listening with our ears and spirit, and posing the question to our mob what support do you need and how can this support be achievable?

Sharing the support journey and never making promises and not delivering as our Mob will keep an eye on this kind of behaviour. Focusing on topical cultural matters will assist in building and maintaining relationship connections.

Get a feel of a person's situation, get a white or paper and let the storyteller paint a picture, and for many of our Blak Rainbow Mob this may mean visiting the past. Our social and emotional wellbeing supports must include and acknowledge caring for spirit when being affected by emotional harms.

In our cultural care, we treat the problem and not the person as western counselling frameworks tend not to support our Blak Rainbow Mob needs.

The Yarns Heal Program began in 2018, initially funded by Brisbane North PHN as part of the National Suicide Prevention Trial (NSPT). This campaign was created as a suicide prevention initiative specifically for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander LGBTIQ+ Sistergirl and Brotherboy communities. Yarns Heal focused on cultural healing, strengthening peer networks, and providing culturally safe pathways to care, grounded in the power of storytelling and support. For the first time in Australia’s history, a co-designed LGBTIQ+ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander suicide prevention campaign was delivered.

Now, imagine what it’s like for a Blak Rainbow person navigating three worlds, Blak, white, and rainbow. Sit with that for a moment. What does emotional support look like when someone is constantly told, “I don’t accept you like that,” or “You’re not welcome in this family or community”?

Programs like Yarns Heal are vital. They offer safe spaces, amplify our voices, and increase our visibility. They provide platforms that celebrate our culture while reminding everyone that supporting our Blak Rainbow Mob requires a different approach, one that never forgets our emotional and spiritual wellbeing is just as important.

Three main themes have emerged:

1. The importance of visibility for our LGBTIQ+SB communities in metropolitan, regional and remote locations.
2. Yarns and communities save lives.
3. Aspirations for sustainable safe spaces and health services.

In a nutshell, it's creating safe rainbow spaces on Country and the importance of visibility and equal access to health care needs but most importantly whilst accessing the mental health systems.

Simple things can be creating a space in your office where Blak Rainbow Mob can feel comfortable. Contact the team at 2Spirits, who would be able to guide you further. Other important things could be changing referral forms and asking our Blak Rainbow Mob what the needs are and more flexibility in terms of supporting that person.

Develop a cultural care plan and shape this plan as the author should be the person requesting support. Get in touch with the local Blak Rainbow Mob and offer support and get creative and implement a strategy for your business or service provider, and ask our Blak Rainbow Mob to shape this.

As practitioners, never give up on being culturally curious as this will assist in spirit connection with our Blak Rainbow mob.

To learn more about Yarns Heal, please go to: 2spirits.org.au/yarnsheal