Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health is fundamentally different from non-Indigenous mental health in its context, causation, and appropriate response. Social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) — the holistic Indigenous concept of health that encompasses body, mind, family, community, country, and spirit — is the preferred framework. The mental health challenges facing First Nations Australians are rooted in the continuing impacts of colonisation, dispossession, and intergenerational trauma — and require community-controlled, culturally grounded responses. Grant funding supports SEWB services, healing programmes, community-controlled mental health, and the Indigenous leadership that drives self-determined wellbeing.
The framework
Social and Emotional Wellbeing (SEWB) is the preferred term for Indigenous mental health in Australia — it acknowledges that wellbeing is holistic and relational:
- Connection to body and behaviours
- Connection to mind and emotions
- Connection to family and kinship
- Connection to community
- Connection to country
- Connection to culture and spirituality
Western mental health frameworks — individual diagnosis and treatment — miss much of what matters for Indigenous wellbeing.
The burden
Causes
Mental health challenges in Indigenous communities cannot be separated from their causes:
- Dispossession from country (country is central to identity and wellbeing)
- Stolen Generations (children removed from families — trauma continues through generations)
- Racism and discrimination (a direct cause of psychological harm)
- Ongoing disadvantage in health, housing, employment, and education
NACCHO (National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation)
Coordinates community-controlled primary health, including SEWB.
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs)
Primary health care services run by and for communities — major SEWB service providers.
Department of Health
Indigenous mental health programmes funding.
Closing the Gap
Mental health and suicide prevention as part of Closing the Gap targets.
PHNs (Primary Health Networks)
Commission Indigenous mental health services.
Beyond Blue
National mental health organisation — Indigenous focus programmes.
Black Dog Institute
Mental health research including Indigenous mental health.
Lifeline Australia
Crisis support including Indigenous communities.
The Paul Ramsay Foundation
Ending disadvantage including Indigenous health.
Various Indigenous-specific foundations
Some foundations specifically fund Indigenous wellbeing and healing.
Social and emotional wellbeing services
Suicide prevention
Trauma-informed care
Healing programmes
Community-controlled mental health
Alcohol and drug (dual diagnosis)
Youth mental health
Family and community healing
Workforce development
Research
The connection between country and wellbeing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is profound — country is not just a place but an identity, a responsibility, and a source of spiritual and emotional sustenance. Disconnection from country (through dispossession, urbanisation, or inability to care for country) harms wellbeing.
Programmes that reconnect people to country — on-country healing, ranger programmes, cultural burning — are simultaneously environmental and mental health interventions.
Community control
The most effective Indigenous mental health programmes are community-controlled. Applications demonstrating genuine community governance — not just community consultation — are more credible and more effective.
Cultural grounding
Culture is not an add-on to mental health — for many Indigenous Australians, cultural reconnection IS the mental health intervention. Applications that embed cultural practice in mental health support are more sophisticated.
Avoiding medicalisation
Many Indigenous mental health funders are wary of purely clinical mental health models that don't address social determinants, trauma history, or cultural factors. Applications that address the whole person and their context are more aligned with SEWB.
Trauma-informed
All Indigenous mental health programmes must be trauma-informed — acknowledging the specific historical and ongoing traumas of colonisation. Applications that demonstrate trauma-informed practice from the ground up are more credible.
Tahua's grants management platform supports Indigenous mental health funders and community-controlled health organisations — with SEWB outcome tracking, programme reach data, cultural healing measurement, and the reporting tools that help Indigenous mental health funders demonstrate their investment in the social and emotional wellbeing of First Nations Australians.