Our Stories

We’re still coming down from our visit to the NEXUS Global Summit in New York where we had the opportunity to make new connections, showcase our model, and contribute to the global conversation around mental health.

The Government has announced a children’s mental health strategy focused on prevention and stigma-reduction as part of its Long Term National Health Plan.

It’s been another big quarter for the whole batyr community, including reaching 11 000 people through the batyr programs and a visit from the Prime Minister, Scott Morrison!

The Get Talkin’ tour has kicked off and we’re super pumped to get amongst more regional NSW towns over the next two weeks.

The Royal Commission into Victoria’s Mental Health System has entered its third week and batyr has added its submission to make young voices heard.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison made a surprise appearance at a [email protected] program in Burwood in Sydney’s Inner West today.

Yesterday four students and two teachers ran the SMH Half Marathon in memory of their teacher, Carli Freiberg, who they lost in December last year.

Last year we began a pilot project using digital storytelling to help young people hospitalised in mental health units.  In March 2019 we received confirmation of additional funding for our Digital Peer Support Project.

At the start of the year, at our annual batyr retreat, I had the privilege of doing a Q&A with the team. Whilst we covered many areas one stood out to me: the need for us to continue to ‘fall outwards’

Stigma is an isolating barrier that prevents young people from reaching out for support if they need it (SANE, 2013). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare data shows only about 22% of young people experiencing a mental health issue seek help (2011). This tells us that over the years, a large proportion of the Australian population has been suffering in silence.

A very exciting and significant announcement regarding mental health and the voices of young people in Australia has been made by the Federal Government today.

This month we are SO EXCITED to kick off a new program…Being Herd Pathways! The program has been in the works since March 2018 when we started on our pitch to be part of the NSW Department of Industry’s Youth Employment Innovation Challenge.