Justice Reinvestment Policy Brief: Yiriman Youth Justice Diversion Program Tim Redfern The Yiriman Youth Justice Diversion Program (YYJDP) is a community-based youth diversionary program run by the Kimberly Aboriginal Law and Culture Centre (KALACC) in the Kimberley region of Western Australia (WA). Funded by the WA Department of Corrections, it targets at-risk youth who have come into contact with the justice system, and attempts to divert them towards healthier behaviours and lifestyles through traditional culture-centred practice.1 The YYJDP is an expansion of the highly successful ‘Yiriman Project,’ on which it is substantially based, but is more specifically aimed at youth diversion away from negative justice outcomes and aims, if funding is approved beyond 2017, to be much larger in cultural and geographical scope. The YYJDP, like the Yiriman Project, is based on the culture and traditions of the Southern Law Tradition, an Aboriginal ‘culture block’ of four closely related language-tribal groups native to the southern Kimberley: the Nyikina, Mangala, Karajarri, and Walmajarri. Following the success of the Yiriman Project over the last 15 years, the KALACC are now seeking government support and funding to expand the YYJDP to the other four major ‘culture blocks,’ or Aboriginal language-tribal groups, across the Kimberly. As part of the WA Government’s consideration of this request for increased funding, this brief will assess the potential for the YYJDP to succeed in its goals and objectives, by closely examining the theory of change that underpins the YYJDP and its evidence of past success in the Yiriman Project. This brief will then discuss how the outcomes of the YYJDP may be evaluated, and will address relevant policy and political issues relevant to its funding or implementation. The YYJDP and the Yiriman Project: History, Activities, Outcomes/Goals The Yiriman Project was developed in 2000 by Elders from the languages groups comprising the ‘Southern Law Tradition’ (Nyikina, Mangala, Karajarri, and Walmajarri) in the 1 Wes Morris, ‘Yiriman Youth Justice Diversion Program: Business Plan 2016,’ 2016, pp. 3; 5. Kimberley region of WA. The Kimberley represents a vast region with five separate distinct ‘culture block’ with their own tribal and linguistic groupings, kinship ties, and customary laws.2 The program is based in Fitzroy Crossing, and arose as a response to the social problems affecting Aboriginal youth in the Kimberley, such as high rates of alcohol and drug abuse, contact with the justice system, self harm and suicide, and loss of cultural identity. The Elders behind the Yiriman Project developed it as a way to separate youth from these negative influences, and reconnect them with their culture and identity in culturally significant places. 3 The YYJDP shares the same activities and principles of practice as the Yiriman Project, but differs in its targeting of youth specifically at risk of negative justice outcomes (rather than ‘troubled youth’ in general), and its source of funding. Whereas the Yiriman Project has been funded by a variety of state and federal (and private) sponsors, the YYJDP is funded only by the WA Department of Corrections. Aside from its funding and its specific orientation towards justice diversion, the other main difference between the Yiriman Project and the YYJDP is the latter’s proposed implementation as a scalable and transferable project for all five cultural blocks across the Kimberley. 4 This ‘on-Country’ program is delivered in traditional languages in remote bush locations of cultural significance. Its activities consist of a five-day bush trek, and then a six week ‘Care for Country’ camp program to develop job skills in land management.5 The treks usually consist of large groups (50 – 100 people) across at least three generations, walking up to 20 kilometres per day. During these on-country camps and treks, the young people in the program develop their knowledge of their languages, and participate in ‘visiting ancestral sites, storytelling… traditional song and dance… ceremony and law practices, teaching traditional crafts, tracking, hunting, and preparing traditional bush tucker, practicing bush medicine, and passing on knowledge to the younger generations.’ 6 2 Morris (2016), p. 26. Yiriman Project Website, ‘Yiriman Story,’ http://www.yiriman.org.au/yiriman-story/ (retrieved on 23 August 2016). 4 Morris (2016), p. 4. 5 Morris (2016), p. 3. 6 Yiriman Project Website, http://www.yiriman.org.au/yiriman-story/. 3 The YYJDP funding proposal specifically markets the goal of the YYJDP as “to reduce the rate at which Aboriginal youths in the Kimberley come in to contact with the juvenile justice system.”7 However, given its substantial similarity with the activities and practices of the Yiriman Project, it is worth noting the variety of outcomes and goals that the Yiriman Project aims to achieve. According to the Project’s first coordinator, Peter Ljubic, the primary objectives of the Project are ‘building stories in our young people,’ and ‘creating a space for knowledge of country to be transferred between old people and young people.’ 8 Another coordinator, Michelle Coles, described the outcomes of the Project as ‘a holistic approach about re-inscribing identity and building resilience’ through ‘exercise, food gathering, eating well, avoiding drugs and alcohol, practicing positive recreational activities, spending intensive and valuable time with family, learning and teaching from each other in respectful ways.’9 In the eyes of outsiders, the YYJDP is frequently affirmed as a powerful and transformative program for Aboriginal youth, although for different reasons than those cited by Elders and program coordinators. In a series of forty case studies of young people who participated in the YYJDP, Palmer notes the frequency with which magistrates in the Kimberley refer young offenders to the program, with at least one magistrate considering it more capable at ‘minimising young people’s contact with the justice system… than most other diversionary and sentencing options.’ 10 Palmer’s case study analysis concludes that there is very strong evidence that the YYJDP has diverted many participants away from ‘living conditions that create depression and despair,’ minimalizing their contact with the justice system, providing ‘nurturing,’ helping people into paid employment and positions of community leadership. Palmer reports that the YYJDP “divert[s] [young people’s] attention to positive cultural development and away from crime, antisocial behaviour and drugs and alcohol.” Potential for Success: Theory of Change and the Complexities of Aboriginal Youth Crime 7 Morris (2016), p. 5. Dave Palmer, ‘‘We know they healthy because they on country with old people’: Demonstrating the value of the Yiriman Project,’ Community Development Program, Murdoch University, 2013, p. 13. 9 Palmer (2013), p. 13. 10 Palmer (2013), p. 122. 8 The consideration of the KALACC’s request for increased funding to expand the YYJDP across the entire Kimberly depends on the potential of the program to deliver successful justice reinvestment outcomes: namely, reducing offending and reoffending rates. Understanding the potential for the program’s success requires understanding the theory of change that underpins the project. According to Dave Palmer’s 2010-2013 evaluation of the Yiriman Project, there is a strong body of research to suggest ‘a direct correlation between ‘on-country’ activity and cultural practice, and crime prevention.’11 Accordingly, “if one accepts a) that all young people attending Yiriman activities are ʻat riskʼ, b) that there is a direct cause and effect relationship between on-country activity and youth diversion” then “it follows that participation in Yiriman trips are likely to represent a strong antidote to crime and incarceration.”12 Palmer cites research mainly from suicide-prevention studies which demonstrate the importance of cultural practice in reducing suicide risk factors. Much of this research into suicide prevention in Aboriginal communities can be transferred to theories of crime prevention in Aboriginal communities, especially when the social causes of suicide and crime are similar. In discussing the causes of high rates of mental illness, substance abuse, and suicide among Aboriginal youth, Silburn, Glaskin, Henry and Drew (2010) note the role of such factors as cultural dislocation, personal trauma, racial discrimination, alienation and exclusion. 13 Tatz (2001) also suggests that the processes of colonisation and decolonisation have left Aboriginal youth with a profound sense of frustration, alienation, and distress. He notes that suicide rates in Aboriginal communities are largely attributable to ‘lack of a sense of purpose in life; lack of recognised role models and mentors… disintegration of the family; lack of meaningful support networks within the community; high community rates of sexual assault and drug and alcohol misuse; …the persistent cycle of grief due to the high number of deaths within communities; and poor literacy levels leading to social and economic exclusion and 11 Palmer (2013), p. 40. Palmer (2013), p. 40. 13 Sven Silburn, Belle Glaskin, Darrell Henry and Neil Drew, “Preventing Suicide among Indigenous Australians” in Nola Purdie, Pat Dudgeon and Roz Walker (eds.), Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2010, p. 95. 12 alienation.’14 Robert Parker (2010) links the causes of suicide, mental health issues and substance abuse directly to high crime rates among Aboriginal youth in his analysis, citing a study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait prisoners that found very high rates of PTSD, substance abuse, loss of identity, acculturation stress and/or ‘spiritual sickness’ among Indigenous prisoners.15 Particularly regarding violent crimes, Parker notes a clear link between substance abuse and offending. Chandler and Lalonde (2008) note the importance of cultural continuity and sense of identity in preventing suicide among Canadian Aboriginals. Guided by the assumption that ‘the risk of suicide… rises as a consequence of disruptions to those key identity-preserving practices that are required to sustain responsible ownership of a past and a hopeful commitment to the future,’ they note that such disruptions are ‘associated with a failure on the part of young persons to maintain a serious stake in their own future.’16 It is not hard to imagine how when a young person loses a ‘hopeful commitment’ to, or ‘serious stake’ in, their future, destructive and violent acts towards others and not just the self may emerge, as ‘the future (because it no longer seems one’s own) loses much of its consequentiality.’17 This theory provides a valuable insight into how the loss of cultural and personal identity inflicted through colonial dispossession contributes not only to high suicide rates, but also high rates of criminality among Aboriginal youth in remote, disadvantaged communities. Capobiano, Shaw and Dubac (2003) note how this is a common experience of colonised Indigenous peoples worldwide: the processes of colonisation cause ‘loss of language, culture, identity and self esteem.’ 18 They report that among Indigenous peoples of Canada, the United States, New Zealand and Australia, these historical factors have led to high rates of poverty, substance abuse, suicide, low educational attainment, unemployment, and criminal offending. They draw upon research in Canada and Australia to show how the myriad of complex social 14 Colin Tatz (2001), cited in Silburn, Glaskin, Henry and Drew (2010), p. 96. Robert Parker, “Mental Illness in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples” in Purdie, Dudgeon and Walker (eds.), Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice, Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing, 2010, p. 71. 16 Michael Chandler and Christopher Lalonde, “Cultural Continuity as a Moderator of Suicide Risk among Canada’s First Nations” in Kirmayer and Valaskakis (eds.), Healing Traditions: The Mental health of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada, University of British Columbia Press, 2008, p. 222. 17 Chandler and Lalonde (2008), p. 223. 18 Laura Capobianco, Margaret Shaw and Sarah Dubuc, Crime Prevention in Indigenous Communities: Current International Strategies and Programmes, International Centre for the Prevention of Crime, July 2003, p. 4. 15 and economic disadvantages, traumas and tragedies that beset Aboriginal communities contribute to high levels of offending and other ‘risk behaviours.’ 19 Cultural Practice as Antidote to Criminal Behaviour The research undertaken by all of the scholars and publications cited above is unanimously clear on the importance of community-based, culturally appropriate ‘cultural practice’ or ‘cultural work’ – engagement with traditional identity and culture – in healing the complex social trauma and disadvantage that underlies many of the ‘risk factors’ of criminal and (self)destructive behavior among Aboriginal youth. 20 Silburn et. al. (2010) refer to how, in Canada, “properly funded community-administered Indigenous Healing Centres have led to significant reductions in many of the most socially damaging problems (including suicide),” and in Australia “going to country, re-created use of or development of rituals of healing” among the Aboriginals of the Kimberley have been successful in treating mental health problems and suicidal behaviours. 21 Chandler and Lalonde (2008) note the significance of Aboriginal self-governance and cultural continuity (‘including efforts to regain legal title to traditional land… to reassert control over education and other community services, and to preserve and promote traditional cultural practices’) in reducing suicide rates among Aboriginal communities. 22 Capobianco et. al. (2003) are also clear on the need for justice interventions to address the systematic and structural causes of Indigenous disadvantage, stating that best practices in Indigenous crime prevention programs take a ‘holistic’ approach at improving community living standards and addressing risk factors such as substance abuse, poverty, family breakdown and poor parenting skills.23 Citing Cuneen (2001), they report that the most successful crime reduction interventions are based on the principles of a “holistic approach… [involving] significant others such as family and community elders; self-determination; [and] culturally appropriate programmes and staff.”24 They identify a clear need to address the issues facing Indigenous 19 Capobianco, Shaw and Dubuc (2003), p. 5. Silburn, Glaskin, Henry and Drew (2010), pp. 99–101; Parker (2010), p. 70; Chandler and Lalonde (2008), p. 238; Capobianco, Shaw and Dubuc (2003), pp. 6, 10 & 13. 21 Silburn, Glaskin, Henry and Drew (2010), pp. 100–101. 22 Chandler and Lalonde (2008), p. 238. 23 Capobianco, Shaw and Dubuc (2003), p. 6. 24 Capobianco, Shaw and Dubuc (2003), p. 10. 20 peoples as part of a broad continuum, utilizing a ‘crime prevention through community development’ model, instead of narrowly fixating on crime issues in isolation from their various causes.25 Palmer’s assertion that research provides an evidentiary basis to assume “a direct correlation between ‘on-country’ activity and cultural practice, and crime prevention” therefore is supported by a variety of scholars, research undertakings, government publications and policy approaches, and international best practice in tackling Indigenous substance abuse, mental health, and crime. Accordingly, we can assume that if the YYJDP is successful in achieving outcomes that address the causes of youth crime in remote Aboriginal communities, then it will have positive effects in reducing crime and reoffending rates. If it can be shown that it is indeed successfully achieving these outcomes, then we can presume it to have a high potential for success. Evaluation Methodology and Design It is therefore problematic to describe the goals of the program as simply ‘crime reduction’ or ‘reduction of recidivism.’ These may be the goals valued most by the Department of Corrections, but the goals prioritised by the Elders and community leaders behind the program tend to focus more on going on country, transferring cultural knowledge between generations, creating stories and stronger identities, knowledge of language, and to initiate young people into their cultures. Furthermore, the overarching goal of crime reduction is only possible by addressing the complex causes of crime among Aboriginal youth living in the Kimberly. As a result, an evaluation of the program that seeks to quantitatively assess purely numerical crime reductions may ‘miss the point’ as much as it may be quickly disappointed. Reducing crime in outback communities as vast and young as the Kimberley will require intergenerational transformation of social and economic conditions. However, as explained above, the Government support for the YYJDP is guided by the well-evidenced theoretical basis that stronger cultural identities, self esteem, preservation of cultural traditions and practices, and overall community development will certainly lead to improved justice outcomes for communities, and reduced crime rates. 25 Capobianco, Shaw and Dubuc (2003), p. 13. An accurate and fair evaluation, rather than seeking to compare statistics, must therefore qualitatively assess whether the YYJDP is succeeding in producing the outputs, and therefore the outcomes, it intends to. This is not easily measured, especially not by qualitative means. It is perhaps easy enough to see whether the program activities are being undertaken: an evaluator could use direct observation to witness the many times each year that groups of elders take groups of young people and their parents out into the deserts of the Kimberley for days at a time, that they speak in their languages on these treks, and practice traditional bushcraft, learn dances and songlines, and discuss cultural themes. An observer could also easily note whether the program coordinators are implementing the six-week bush management training camps and all that they entail. 26 However, evaluating the success of these activities in achieving personal change in the participants of the sort envisioned by the program coordinators may be harder to measure. Such an evaluation requires a qualitative, participatory approach, allowing program participants and the people close to them to tell their own stories. As such, the evaluator would make use of data collection methods such as informal and facilitated group discussions, ‘workshop-based participatory analysis,’ structured and semi-structured interviews, case studies, and community and individual story-sharing.27 While a quantitative approach may allow an evaluator to count instances and variables, a qualitative participatory approach as outlined above has much greater possibility for elaboration and explanation – in other words, gaining a deeper and more profound understanding of the causal relationships by which changes take place in the real lives of individuals and communities. 28 As the issue of youth crime in remote Indigenous communities is so complex and rooted in so many other complex social issues, such an approach may give the evaluator far more potential for understanding the causal interactions at work between program activities and outputs, and outcomes/goals, that a quantitative approach would miss altogether. By examining the stories and cases of participants, an evaluator can gain a sense of whether the program is indeed producing real change in the lives of its participants, along the lines intended: i.e., knowledge of cultural traditions, stronger sense of identity and connection to 26 On observation methods in evaluation, see: Reidar Dale, Evaluating Development Programmes and Projects, Sage Publications: London (2004), p. 144–145. 27 Dale (2004), pp. 146–152. 28 Dale (2004), p. 138; John Creswell, Research Design, 4th Edition, Sage Publications: London (2014), pp. 185– 186, 200–201. family and culture, employability skills in land management, and ultimately participation in healthier activities and avoiding law-breaking and antisocial behaviours. Policy and Political Considerations Negative justice outcomes are particularly and disproportionately high among Aboriginal young people. Compared to non-Aboriginal youth, Aboriginal youth between 10-17 years of age were 26 times more likely to be in juvenile detention on any given night in 2013-2014.29 This is despite the fact that Aboriginal youth only make up approximately 5% of the 10-17 year-old age group in Australia. 30 In 2014 the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, Mick Gooda, joined various NGOs and Community Legal Centres in calling for a justice reinvestment approach to tackle Aboriginal youth overrepresentation in detention.31 In 2013, the Australian Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs References Committed strongly recommended the adoption and implementation of a justice reinvestment approach, noting the potential for justice reinvestment to deliver significant financial savings to the Treasury and taxpayer. 32 The public policy context is also marked by the strong consensus of the need for communitycontrolled and owned programs as part of this justice reinvestment approach. The WA Law Reform Commission recommended in 2006 that ‘where possible, government initiatives addressed to Aboriginal people are community-based and, more importantly, communityowned.’33 Increasing evidence has shown that community-controlled interventions are more successful in achieving improved justice outcomes than standard government programs that are imposed on communities. Reasons for this include that the communities take more responsibility in addressing the challenged that their programs aim to tackle, with methods 29 Amnesty International Australia, A Brighter Tomorrow: Keeping Indigenous kids in the community and out of detention in Australia, June 2015, p. 11. 30 Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, Youth detention population in Australia: 2014, Juvenile Justice Series No. 16, 2014, Supplementary Table S31: ‘Australian population aged 10–17 by Indigenous status, states and territories, December 2010 to December.’ 31 Amnesty International Australia (2015), p. 3; for a list of NGOs and Community Legal Centres calling for a justice reinvestment approach to tackle Indigenous overrepresentation in Australian prisons, see https://changetherecord.org.au/about. 32 Senate Legal and Constitutional Affairs Reference Committee: ‘Report: Value of a justice reinvestment approach to criminal justice in Australia,’ June 2013, pp. xi– xii; 66–67. 33 Law Reform Commission of Western Australia, Aboriginal Customary Laws: The interaction of Western Australia law with Aboriginal law and culture, September 2006, p. 36. that are responsive to specific community needs and with more culturally appropriate programs.34 In January 2015, the WA Department of Corrective Services stated its intention to adopt a new approach in the funding of justice programs, with Corrective Services Commission James McMahon stating ‘the way we fund services delivered to offenders and young people deserves unambiguous scrutiny. I want to monitor the performance of services we provide so we can improve lives, not just tick boxes.’ 35 The associated media release announced that the new approach ‘would introduce greater contestability into the market for services.’ The Department made it clear that the amount of funding available to youth/young offender programs would remain at $6.6, with Commissioner McMahon stating ‘The only change will be how we decide which programs will receive funding… you can change what you fund in order to produce better outcomes for the offenders, young people and in turn, the community.’36 ‘Contestability’ aims to encourage existing service providers to improve their own effectiveness, recognizing the value embedded in the systems throughout which many services are already delivered. Effectively, it is a public management strategy of monitoring, performance benchmarking and the threat of outsourcing to incentivize increased efficiency and effectiveness. 37 This more competitive public management environment, in which service providers must competitively demonstrate the efficacy of their programs, creates a difficult environment for the YYJDP. Nonetheless, the coordinators of the YYJDP are confident that the program can competitively and effectively ‘reduce the rate at which Aboriginal youths in the Kimberley come in to contact with the Juvenile justice system and to assist youths who have made poor life choices, bringing them in to the justice system, to make better life choices and to exit the justice system.’38 34 Commonwealth Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, We Can Do It! The needs of urban dwelling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples (2001) pp. 29–31; Many Ways Forward: Report of the inquiry into capacity building and service delivery in Indigenous communities (2004) pp. 169, 243 & 252; Commonwealth Grants Commission, Report on Indigenous Funding 2001 (2001) p. xvi. 35 Department of Corrective Services, ‘Contestability to give offenders purpose,’ 18 June 2015, https://www.correctiveservices.wa.gov.au/_news/default.aspx?id=1169&page=1. 36 Department of Corrective Services, ‘Contestability to give offenders purpose,’ 18 June 2015. 37 Sturgess, G, Contestability in Public Services: An Alternative to Outsourcing, ANZSOG Research Monograph, Melbourne, 2015, pp. 5–6, 8. 38 Morris (2016), p. 5. The theory of change that the YYJDP utilises – ‘crime reduction through community development’ and addressing the complex causes of crime – is also endorsed by the Australian Commonwealth Government. In November 2014, the Minister for Indigenous Affairs Nigel Scullion said, because many of the people “who are incarcerated are incarcerated because of circumstances invariably involved with alcohol and violence… by action rather than targets, we can change… the circumstances that people find themselves in where they are so disconnected that they self-medicate, particularly with alcohol, and then lash out at their own families and their own communities.” 39 Conclusion There is much to commend about the Yiriman Project and its new justice-focused offshoot, the YYJDP, in improving the lives of at-risk Aboriginal youth in the Kimberley. Theoretical and practical research, as cited above, shows the importance of community-based cultural practice in successfully reducing the social factors that contribute to crime and risk behaviours among Aboriginal youth. Sounds theory and evidence also underpins the assumptions that improvements in community development alongside strengthening traditional cultural identities and connections lead to reductions in substance abuse, mental health issues, and criminal offending. Palmer’s 2010-2013 evaluation of the Yiriman Project, with forty case studies and a myriad of interviews from other stakeholders, clearly showed the Project’s success in leading to positive outcomes for its young participants, including diverting them away from criminal behaviours. Accordingly, the recommendation of this brief is that the KALACC be granted its request for additional funding, to expand the YYJDP to all regions of the Kimberly and develop variants of the program appropriate to the other four culture blocks of the Kimberly Aboriginal peoples. The success of the Yiriman Project in achieving its goals and objectives gives us many reasons to assume that an expanded form of the YYJDP, transferred to the other main cultural groups of the Kimberley, will have similar success. This assumes, however, that culturally appropriate staff are available and programs for these other cultural groups can be developed that are appropriate to their cultural uniqueness. This will take some time and require the 39 Senate, Questions Without Notice, Indigenous Affairs, Wednesday, 19 November 2014 (Response by Minister Scullion), p 8880 http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/genpdf/chamber/hansards/f1127602-05e44b49-8b9f-c29f6c69c564/0072/hansard_frag.pdf;fileType= application%2Fpdf (accessed 30 March 2015). active participation of, if not ownership by, the Elders of the other cultural blocks to which the project is to be expanded. However, due to its broad base of relationships and connections with Aboriginal communities across the Kimberley, the KALACC is extremely well placed to oversee this program delivery. Bibliography Amnesty International Australia. A Brighter Tomorrow: Keeping Indigenous kids in the community and out of detention in Australia. 2015. Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. Youth detention population in Australia: 2014. Juvenile Justice Series No. 16. Supplementary Table S31: ‘Australian population aged 10–17 by Indigenous status, states and territories, December 2010 to December.’ 2014. Capobianco, Laura, Margaret Shaw and Sarah Dubuc. Crime Prevention in Indigenous Communities: Current International Strategies and Programmes. International Centre for the Prevention of Crime. 2003. 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Silburn, Sven, Belle Glaskin, Darrell Henry and Neil Drew. “Preventing Suicide among Indigenous Australians.” In Nola Purdie, Pat Dudgeon and Roz Walker (eds.), Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing: Canberra. 2010. Sturgess, G. Contestability in Public Services: An Alternative to Outsourcing. Australia and New Zealand School of Government: Melbourne. 2015. Palmer, Dave. ‘‘We know they healthy because they on country with old people’: Demonstrating the value of the Yiriman Project.’ Community Development Program, Murdoch University. 2013. Parker, Robert. “Mental Illness in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.” In Purdie, Dudgeon and Walker (eds.), Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Practice. Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing: Canberra. 2010. Yiriman Project Website. http://www.yiriman.org.au/yiriman-story/.