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Our Domestic & Family Violence Service staff are on the phones every day of the week talking with women who call from all across the NPY lands. These relationships have developed over many years and when women call they know they will talk to a worker who knows their community and who they may have met out bush or in town, where they sat down and talked.

Our relationships grow over time, hearing stories of family and community, her work, her painting or tjanpi making, and other things she loves. We might talk about good things that have happened in the past, stories of her grandmother, of being a good mother and daughter. The conversation focuses on her journey which might include her sadness. It might include the violence she is experiencing; it is a travelling journey she is on and the sadness is like a roller coaster.

There is much practical support that women might want and we can help with to ensure her safety and that of her children. When she is feeling safe again, we might talk about the stories she told us in the past – of her hopes and dreams and she will feel strong like a tree. She will feel like it’s a new start and she will never give up.

Find out more about the Domestic & Family Violence Service

The Child & Family Well-being Service is leading an exciting new research project investigating food security on the NPY lands. Dietary factors account for almost 10% of the burden of disease in Indigenous Australians and 15% of the health gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians. The research project will look at decision making and local factors that affect food choices in remote communities.

There has been concerted effort and small gains over many years to improve affordability and availability of healthy food and drinks in the NPY lands.

Although availability of good quality fruit and vegetables has increased by 50% in the APY Lands since 1986, seemingly many people still maintain a poor diet quality with high energy intake from discretionary food such as sugary drinks and takeaway meals increasing during this time. (2016 Lee et al).

Despite understanding people’s food purchasing habits, little is known about what informs people’s day to day decision making around food purchasing and eating behaviour. This new research project will investigate what influences food choices and priorities locally.

The second stage of this research will pilot interventions designed to address factors influencing food choice and consumption with the goal of informing and improving nutrition related service delivery to the NPY lands.

This project is led by the NPY Women’s Council’s Child Nutrition Program and is funded through the MRFF fund. The research will place Anangu voices and protocol at the centre of the research process.

Find out more about the Child & Family Well-being Service