Recent alleged assaults in Adelaide have sparked a massive debate about the challenges and issues faced by our State’s international students when they engage in part-time work.

The ongoing vulnerability and exploitation experienced by many international students directly impacts their mental health and wellbeing, as they confront job loss, underpayment, financial hardship and isolation.

While the State Government’s International Student Support Package of $13.8m and combined contributions of almost $30m from the three universities have delivered vital emergency relief for SA’s 30,000 international students, as we enter 2021, there are still thousands of students who are financially insecure and isolated, anxious about the welfare of their families back home and experiencing high levels of psychological distress.

At a workshop hosted by Study Adelaide and SA Mental Health Commissioner David Kelly, University and Non-Government Organisation (NGO) representatives identified a number of specific groups of students that are particularly at risk, as well as the obstacles to the provision of mental health services for international students.

While issues like ongoing financial support and improved access to public mental health support will require long-term solutions, the immediate priority was to ensure international students could access mental health services and intensive support where required, over the summer holiday break.

As a result, the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist provided additional resourcing to Relationships Australia in order to extend the ASK PEACE mental health support service for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities and ensure that additional counselling and clinical services are available for vulnerable international students during 2021.

– Sharon Lawn
– David Kelly
– Heather Nowak

The post Strengthening our international students’ mental health & wellbeing: eNews February 2021 appeared first on .

We wish you all peace and rest over the Christmas Season

2020 has been a year of challenge for every South Australian. We have experienced bushfires, drought and COVID-19! The collective impact has been huge.

Let’s farewell 2020 and hold hope for 2021!

On an individual level, however, the impact is unique and varied.

Some people have embraced working from home and the opportunity to spend more time with family. For some, it has had life-changing impacts of loss of employment, financial loss, isolation, and loss of hope.

Although we are “all in this together”, sadly we have the potential to all end up in a different place.

Some of us have faced some tough times before and will have developed much-needed skills to problem solve the issues we are faced with and will actively source the services and information to meet our needs. Others will reach out to families and friends for support. Some will seek out services and support for the first time while others may be still looking.

If we truly believe that we are “all in this together” then we need to continue to look out for each other and seek to understand and be observant of people’s feelings and emotions.
We all deal with change and uncertainty in different ways. Like grief, there is no right and wrong. We are all individuals and we all deal with adversity in different ways. At different times in our lives we might struggle, survive or thrive.

As we approach the end of 2020, the best gift we can give is the gift of time and listening and looking out for one another whether this is our family, friends, neighbours, or other people in our community.

Christmas is a time for all of us to reach out, to care about each other and encourage each other to seek help if needed so we can “all be in this together”.

Stay connected and be kind.

Best wishes from Heather, Sharon and David

The post We wish you all peace and rest over the Christmas Season: eNews December 2020 appeared first on .

On October 13, as part of the celebration of National Safe Work Month, Commissioner David Kelly participated in a webinar hosted by SafeWork SA entitled Psychological health and wellbeing in the age of COVID-19.

The webinar focused on practical strategies to address mental health and wellbeing challenges during the pandemic.

Commissioner Kelly discussed the need to manage uncertainty during COVID.

“In difficult and uncertain times, we are all faced with uncontrollable stressors that cannot be resolved by traditional problem solving,” he said.

“Our task is to regulate our feelings and emotions in response to these stressors – we can’t necessarily change the nature of the stress that we experience, but we can change the way we respond to it.

“By maintaining stability, supporting connections with community and fostering a growth mindset, we can navigate the challenges of COVID-19.”

Monique Newberry from SAHMRI outlined how wellbeing measurement and evidence-based wellbeing plans can help individuals to take control of their wellbeing during COVID-19.

Mardi Webber from Return to Work SA and Heidi Turnbull from Pinnacle Workplace Consultants both provided recommendations and ideas to maintain mental and physical health whether in the workplace or at home.

The post Psychological Health and Wellbeing in the Age of COVID-19: eNews November 2020 appeared first on .

It’s that time of year when we celebrate, reflect upon, debate, and generally enjoy the diversity that mental health brings to our communities.

Throughout South Australia, many events will be available either online or with restricted numbers and also made available live.

We encourage everyone to explore the programs of events across Adelaide and regional and rural SA.

We’ll be out and about and catching up with as many people as possible to hear from you and talk about the importance of mental health.

Chat to us during Mental Health week!

We look forward to hearing from you – share what’s working well and chat about mental health and wellbeing in general. It’s a great opportunity to connect with you and hear about your areas of interest.

The phone in is on Wednesday 14th October.

AVAILABILITY:

• Heather: 9am – 5pm, Telephone 8463 6119
• Sharon: 1pm – 4pm, Telephone 8463 6066
• David: 10am – 2pm, Telephone 8463 6155

To see the program of Mental Health Week events, go to:
https://www.mhcsa.org.au/mhw2020-program

– Sharon Lawn
– David Kelly
– Heather Nowak

The post Mental Health Week: eNews October 2020 appeared first on .

On World Suicide Prevention Day, we remember people we have lost to suicide and pledge to ensure the best suicide prevention strategies are in place.

Reducing stigma, providing appropriate knowledge and training in the community and improving connections to others, community, supports and services will go a long way to ensuring that we have done everything we can to help prevent suicide.

While it’s good to have a day to remind us of the importance of suicide prevention globally, the real work in making a difference for the people we care about needs to happen every day, in every home, community and workplace.

Every person lost to suicide is a tragedy. The pain of loss ripples through families and communities.

Those of us who have been bereaved by suicide know how hard life can be after losing a loved one.

As Mental Health Commissioners, we are always thinking about how we can increase community awareness and confidence in noticing the signs, improving access to compassionate support and ensuring seamless access to service providers.

We can all work together to help prevent suicide. People can be reluctant to reach out for help when they need it, so it’s important we check in on friends and family regularly, take notice of changes in behaviour, and have the confidence to know that it is OK to ask if someone we know is thinking about suicide, and to know where to go or what to do if they say “yes.”

A good place to begin is by listening, assisting the person to look at safety for now and asking if they would like to investigate some professional supports (see our list below).

RU OK? Day is a national day of action dedicated to reminding everyone that every day is the day to ask “Are you OK?” and support people struggling with life’s ups and downs.

Certainly in this year of COVID and the aftermath of devastating bushfires, it is important to check in on family, friends and colleagues at any time throughout the year.

This year’s message is ‘There’s more to say after RU OK?’ For excellent and easy tips on having this important conversation, go to www.ruok.org.au/how-to-ask

Depending on a person’s need, the following services can be worth considering:

• 24/7 Crisis Services Mental Health Triage 131 465
• Emergency Services 000
• For telephone and online support 24/7: Lifeline 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au
• Suicide Call Back Service 1300 659 467 www.suicidecallbackservice.org.au
• Lived Experience Telephone Support Service (LETSS) 1800 013 755 www.letss.org.au
• Kids Helpline (ages 5 to 25) 1800 55 1800 www.kidshelpline.com.au
• Mensline 1300 78 99 78 www.mensline.org.au
• beyondblue 1300 22 4636 www.beyondblue.org.au

– Sharon Lawn
– David Kelly
– Heather Nowak

The post World Suicide Prevention Day & RU OK? Day: September eNewsletter Edition appeared first on .

By bringing together lived experience and professional expertise, we will drive reform that enhances the lives of people living with mental illness.

In order to achieve these objectives, we’re keen to get out into the South Australian community to meet with people and organisations and hear about the issues, concerns and opportunities that affect South Australians.

Please contact us if you wish to discuss your ideas or concerns related to mental health and wellbeing in South Australia.

You can do this by telephoning 08 .

– Sharon Lawn
– David Kelly
– Heather Nowak

The post Connecting with South Australia’s Mental Health Commissioners: August eNewsletter Edition appeared first on .

Rick and his wife Lynette recently spent two weeks volunteering on Kangaroo Island, rolling up damaged fences and listening to local residents. In this blog, he shares his thoughts on the Kangaroo Island crisis, the community and the importance of just listening.

The damage and personal losses are unimaginable

SAMHC Featured Blogger:
Rick Hinge

Beyond Blue Ambassador
Former Dairy SA Wellbeing Coordinator

The fire was extinguished when we arrived on Kangaroo Island but we were really shocked by the enormity of the damage: half of the Island almost completely burnt, and a significant area of the other half burnt as well.

It must have felt like the whole island was under threat. We had heard about the size of the fire but when we saw the damage, we were without words. The personal loss was astounding with many houses, sheds woolsheds and fences destroyed. I thought of all the clothes toys, photos, computers, memories favourite spots in the bush creeks, pets… the loss is unimaginable. The native bush was almost completely gone as well, and native animals were in the line of fire.

My wife Lynette and I were on Kangaroo Island to see if we could offer practical and emotional support. We were privileged to stay with a local family who helped us link to surrounding farmers where we helped with various tasks. We noticed an attitude of caring and practical help that you rarely see other than in crisis. Observing these simple acts of caring will remain with us forever. People were dealing with their great losses differently. Mostly what we saw was a desire to get some basics fixed. The dead livestock had all been disposed of before we arrived. People who had lost homes had found accommodation and the generosity of people was amazing. Fencing was of high priority as most of the boundary fences had been damaged, and feed for the surviving stock was urgently needed.

Many people are in planning mode; they’re about fixing stuff but taking time off was difficult. They just wanted to get the next task done: fencing for surviving sheep and cattle and working out where their next dollar was coming from. What do they have to buy so they can start to earning a living again? They had to check on insurance.

We were surprised with the power and phone outages, but the locals seemed to meet the frustration with a minimum of fuss. It was heartbreaking to see property after property destroyed. We witnessed farmers and their partners working away cleaning up the mess or instructing helpers where to go and what to do.

Fatigue must have been intense although the human body has an amazing ability to endure. The Island had experienced several fires through the period from early December, not just the one. Many people had been involved with fighting fires for extended periods. I’m aware that fatigue and grief and loss can disrupt sleeping patterns. We can become less tolerant, make poorer decisions, change our mood, and noise can irritate. My advice is not to get stuck in this state – find the best people you can help you through it.

Along with the generosity of the community and individuals, organisations such as Livestock SA, the Army and Blaze aid RSPCA are taking action in a practical and supportive way.

Listening is so important when we communicate. What people need and what we think others need are often two different things, so our great intentions become just another thing to sort out.

Farmers generally spend most of their time working by themselves or at least with just a few others around. It is wise to remember this whenever you want to meet with men to convey information or hold a public gathering.

Rural men in particular feel uncomfortable revealing their vulnerability in public. They’re more comfortable in their own kitchen or shed or leaning over a gate gazing out into a paddock while talking, and hardly making eye contact. Given the right circumstance I find most men are happy to chat and the best conversations can often be one on one.

For the first week, we pretty much rolled up fences. When fences are burnt, all that’s left is cyclone wire lying on the ground. It has to be rolled up and the area levelled off ready for the new fence. The best part in this job is you can see where you have been, gives a sense of achievement.

We felt happy to do this and it’s surprisingly not as big a chore as you’d expect because you feel like you’re doing something useful in helping people endure a pretty difficult time. You gain a desire to be the most useful you can be.

For me, it’s about building rapport and trust through listening, a safe place for people to talk, a gentle place to exist and showing you can be in the presence of a person when things are uncomfortable. A fair bit is left unsaid and a lot can be conveyed in the silence: no matter what state you’re in, you’re going to be all right.

Sometimes, they may ask me to go and see a mate who’s not doing so well. There is a genuine concern for others amongst country folk. I listen and look for a question that might ease the situation

Unless you’ve been involved in trauma, life pretty much goes on as if nothing happened. It’s your cross to bear, you believe that no one feels it like you do. It’s quite an interesting thing. I can remember going through difficult times and seeing people going about their lives in the street and wondering why aren’t they affected by what has gone on, how can they sleep well with no worries?

Dealing with issues like loss, hardship and feeling like you can’t control things are difficult to negotiate but we all have our own ways to survive it.

But when we get stuck it’s valuable to find someone we trust to chat to sometimes a mate is enough but sometimes we need extra skills to help us deal with stuff.

By Rick Hinge
Beyond Blue Ambassador
Former Dairy SA Wellbeing Coordinator

What helps when you’re suffering?

• If you have a close friend talk often. i.e. phone or visit
• What can I do to make things easier in the moment?
• Walk/exercise
• Do a task with someone you trust.
• Ask for help with the things you are most worried about.
• Massage, Hugs, Acceptance
• Get sleep, it’s sometimes difficult to fall asleep or return to sleep.
• Talk to your GP
• Sit and enjoy your favourite drink
• Use multi levels of support and care through friends/family, GP, Counsellor, Health Worker, Psychologist, Psychiatrist, Mindfulness
• Talking with someone you trust, who accepts you as you are, can make a difference.
• Be gentle with yourself.
• Resist making major decisions while unwell.
• Eat a balanced diet

How the carer can help:

• Accept the person without preconceived ideas.
• Resist giving answers, listen
• Know the alternate help that is available
• Deal with the need of the moment, physical/emotional need
• Be sensitive to the length of visit, not too long or short
• Maintain confidentiality
• Your being there often speaks louder than anything you might say.
• Refer them to someone you have trust in, take them if need be.

Rick Hinge is the son of a fifth-generation Mundulla farmer and former Dairy SA Wellbeing Coordinator. He has spent the best part of 10 years listening to rural people and seeing if he can make a difference. He worked with the Tactics for Tight Times program which is supported by the SA Dairy Farmers Association and PIRSA.

Rick creates spaces where people feel comfortable enough to communicate what’s going on and links them to much-needed resources. Opening up can be particularly tricky for rural men. He has worked with the Drought Assistance program, Mind Australia and is an Ambassador for Beyond Blue.

SAMHC Featured Bloggers

The SAMHC presents our series of guest featured bloggers who generously share their personal thoughts and experiences of mental health and wellbeing.

VIEW ALL SPECIAL GUEST BLOGS

The post Rick Hinge: KANGAROO ISLAND BUSHFIRE – The damage and personal losses are unimaginable appeared first on .

Fleeing the Cudlee Creek fire with the kids… and bunny ears

SAMHC Featured Blogger:
Ellie Hodges

Executive Director of the Lived Experience Leadership & Advocacy Network
Therapeutic Practitioner
Educator, Consultant

When I sat down to write this post I didn’t know what perspective to write it from: a parent who was home with our children on the day of the Cudlee Creek Fire; as a therapist and someone who lives with the after effects of trauma and knows some stuff about recovery and healing; or as someone actively trying to improve how we understand and support people experiencing distress or mental health issues in our state.

The day of the fire was the last work day of the year for us before an interstate family trip that we were leaving for two days later. I was home with our eight-year old and six-year-old (known as Munch and Mister) and an initial very slow, relaxing morning shifted into a higher gear over the course of a couple of hours.

The smell of smoke while putting washing out made me check the SA Alert app and CFS page. These told me that there was a fire in the Hills. Being an over-thinking worrier who likes to have contingency plans for contingency plans, I did some checking of businesses in the Hills to get a sense of how worried others were by the fire and how it was progressing. It seemed like it was being taken very seriously but was still not anything for us to specifically be concerned about. At this stage though I called my husband and suggested he could finish earlier than his already planned early finish just in case so that we were all together.

As time went by, it became clear from information on the apps, the sight of the smoke and our checking in with each other that we needed to have a more serious talk about what our children and I would do. I was still focused on my husband coming home from the city which he thought was probably not the best idea [which I now totally agree with]. He had some intel from a mate’s mate that if the fire continued heading the way it was, the freeway linking our home in the Adelaide Hills and the city could be closed. Top of my mind was being safe together, so the decision was made that Munch, Mister and I would head down to the city.

Fortunately, we had talked to our children in the past about our plan if there ever was a fire.

I asked them to get dressed and pack a backpack each while I grabbed some things. I told them there was a fire in the Hills, and we were going to go and be with Daddy. It was scary to be packing a suitcase of our laptops, hard drives and important documents while the wind howled around the house on an over 40-degree day in catastrophic fire conditions and a fire was coming our way, even when we were not yet in the evacuate red zone of warnings which did come later.

What do you grab when you’re fleeing a bushfire?
Why, three sets of bunny ears of course!

Despite my own internal jitters and uncertainty of whether things would actually be OK, I reassured Munch and Mister that we were safe, that at that stage our house was fine and that we were just going with the plan we have always had which is very proactive, ‘get out early because life is everything and blocking roads later is unhelpful’. Among all of this we let a couple of key family members, all of whom live interstate, know that ‘Yes there is a fire in our part of the Hills, it is nearby but we are OK. We are leaving’.

We headed down the freeway to the city with no real idea what we would do once we got there. What we decided to do first was get some food for lunch. I took our children to my husband so I could attend a meeting and they continued with our Advent Activity of the day which was donating gifts under the Kmart Wishing Tree. Which all seems so random and very calm looking back now, yet this is not what I was feeling at the time.

Once we were reunited in the late afternoon, having no family to rely on but a couple of offers to hang out at friend’s and knowing that a wind change was starting to have an effect on the fire’s progress toward our town, we made the decision to head to the lobby/ground floor café of a Serviced Apartment Complex. We got more food, watched the news on TV, kept checking the apps, Munch and Mister played with an incomplete chess set and we talked about what we would do next.

After a couple of hours, we decided that it was ‘safe’ to head home. So that is what we did. We went home, assured Munch and Mister that we would not return if we did not think it was safe, told them we would be checking the fire status during the night (which we did by setting alarms) and we put them to bed.

Here’s what I learnt from evacuating because of a bushfire threat:

• There is no way to tell what children value or want to have with them when they need to leave home. This was highlighted when halfway down the freeway Mister pulled some things out of his backpack and asked me to look at him. I turned and saw that he had three sets of bunny ears on his head. What?
• That something as simple as a wind change or the ridge line of Hills decides the path of a fire like this one. That once our town was safe, others were not and that our moments of gratitude were other people’s horror
• That social media can be really helpful and equally unhelpful during times of crisis. There were so many reports from seemingly valid sources that landmarks had been damaged or ruined. For example, it was reported Melba’s Chocolate Factory had burned down but this was not true.

Since the Cudlee Creek Fire, and perhaps because our need to listen in and check on fires continued for the next two weeks as we road tripped to Melbourne and back, Mister continued to ask about the fire near home specifically and also about fires generally. After the Cudlee Creek Fire was declared safe, he asked if we could go for a drive and have a look, saying that ‘it’s part of our community so we should know about it’.

We drove around some of the area which I think was a really helpful thing, particularly for him. It gave us a chance to expand the conversation beyond fear, threat, being unsafe and what was lost. It showed how big the fire ground was and, while the devastation was obvious, it also showed everything that was spared by the CFS and the people who banded together to save property and lives (human and animal). Charred black fences and trees stood right next to homes that were still standing. New growth was starting to shoot through the ground in the smallest of ways. The local property owner installing new fence posts. 

I wonder how the communities in the line of the fire are being supported to (re)build, not just the physical environment but the social connections and psychological capacity to keep them moving forward so that the fire is not the sole defining factor of their future?

How does the broader community stay aware enough to learn what we need to learn? How do we collectively and compassionately remember that recovery takes much longer than a month and continues after the media have stopped reporting? How do our services, government, communities and families recognise that the experiences of people directly and indirectly impacted by fire will continue to ebb and flow over time and that support will need to be provided in different ways? How do we get the correct information out there, past the ‘it won’t happen to us’ defence, so that households prepare plans and all residents, including and especially children, know about it?

How do we keep all of this in mind and put things in place to minimise further harm and hurt? I know that the hardest times often begin once people are safe after trauma and when recovery or rebuilding starts to happen, when you have some time to breathe. It can be the place for unravelling and working through while still doing what needs to be done.

People’s lives have been disrupted and will be for some time. How do we look after their mental health and wellbeing without pathologising their responses; creating room for grief and despair, hypervigilance and intrusive memories, weariness at the hurdles and steps needed to get back to ‘normality’, even though it will never be the same again? How do we allow children space to continue to make sense of it without being concerned that they are not coping or are forever affected in a detrimental way?

A few weeks after the fires I was asked if we would continue to stay and live in the Hills. My first and all thoughts since have been, ‘Why wouldn’t we?’ The Hills are our home and we are more ready than ever for any future threat that comes because of the summer that has been. We are not going anywhere.

By Ellie Hodges
Executive Director of the Lived Experience Leadership & Advocacy Network
Therapeutic Practitioner
Educator, Consultant

Ellie Hodges has worked for over 20 years in the community and mental health sectors as a community development lead, therapeutic practitioner, manager, educator, advisor, strategy/policy worker and consultant.

Ellie is the founder and Executive Director of the Lived Experience Leadership & Advocacy Network (LELAN, www.lelan.org.au), which was established in 2017 to amplify the voice, influence and leadership of people with lived experience of distress or mental health issues to drive change. Ellie is an active lived-experience representative, leader and speaker at state and national levels.

She is committed to innovation, social justice, leading together and eating lots of stinky cheese.

SAMHC Featured Bloggers

The SAMHC presents our series of guest featured bloggers who generously share their personal thoughts and experiences of mental health and wellbeing.

VIEW ALL SPECIAL GUEST BLOGS

The post Ellie Hodges: Fleeing the Cudlee Creek fire with the kids… and bunny ears appeared first on .

‘The CFS arrived like avenging angels…’

SAMHC Featured Blogger:
Jody Drechsler

Lobethal Resident

December 20, 2019

Walking down to the supermarket, there seemed to be more fire engines and police cars going through the town than usual. We’re used to them because there are often car accidents on the winding roads coming up to Lobethal.

But an hour later, I knew this was different.

My husband Graeme decided to stay in Lobethal given that all the bushfire information told us we should.

But later that day, when we saw fire on the hill over the road and heard a house blow up a couple of streets over from Main Street, solid black smoke pouring into the air, we decided to go to stay with friends who lived further out of Lobethal.

We hadn’t been there long before we all decided to evacuate to Mt Torrens. When we discovered the evacuation centre to be so hot and crowded, we decided not to stay.

The police advised us not to go home, so we headed to Kenton Valley where our friend, Craig, was on his own as his wife Di was in Melbourne. Craig, who has lived on the property all his life, told us that if the wind changed, the fire could come over the ridge in minutes. As he was speaking, the property looked serene and safe.

Around 5pm Graeme and I went into Birdwood to get some dinner. Travelling back to Kenton Valley, we were a little concerned about the thick white smoke. But we had no idea what we were in for.

Craig and Graeme monitored the bushfire from the edge of the property overlooking the valley which was covered in low-hanging, white smoke. I was standing inside the house looking out of the large window, still not too worried. I looked away briefly and when I looked back flames were snaking across the paddocks directly to the house. I realised what a serious situation we were in!

For 45 minutes, Craig and Graeme fought the fire which now surrounded the house on three sides. So close on one side that it was about to set the pine trees alight which would have been the end of the house. It was maybe 20 metres away. I felt like I could touch it.

I heard Graeme yelling for Craig who was fighting the fire on the other side of the house. Then saw them both tearing across to put it out.

They had the hoses pumping bore water and all I could do was wet towels to block smoke coming in, fill water bottles, find wool blankets for protection, and prepare for the worst.

Finally, the CFS arrived like avenging angels and put out most of the flames before they ran out of water. The house was safe.

We stood outside in the roaring wind and watched the fire travelling further across the valley and through the hills. The vineyard across the road was burning. What sounded like rain was simply the sound of a greedy fire devouring everything in its path.

Throughout the night, the boys kept watch as the flames, like a birthday candle that can re-light, kept popping up. I eventually slept what I now realise was the deep sleep of shock.

December 21, 2019

The next morning, with the property now blackened with a firebreak and safe, we left to go home to Lobethal. We travelled through burnt land, saw singed sheep, cattle and alpacas huddled together on the occasional bit of unburnt land.

Trees were still burning on the side of the road and, weirdly, a mighty gum tree was still standing with its base on fire inside. A huge gum tree across the road was being sawn up by volunteers, so we manoeuvred our cars onto the paddocks, and drove through ash several feet thick until we could get back onto the road.

We arrived home to find our house just as we had left it. I was fully expecting it to be gone.

Later that day, we went to Mt Barker to find internet coverage so we could contact family and friends. Each of our phones began to ping with messages. It was so touching that so many people cared for us.

The fire ground map showed Lobethal surrounded by fire. Seeing the losses for myself made it so sadly real.

I am so proud of all the firefighters who, day after day, put themselves at risk, and of my husband Graeme and our dear friend Craig who fought so valiantly. I know, without a shadow of doubt, if we had not gone to Craig’s house, he and Di would have lost their home.

I am so proud of the Hills community who show so much love and support for each other.

I am so glad to be alive.

Christmas Eve

Our family was concerned for us and frightened to come and stay for Christmas. Our daughter was desperate to find accommodation for us all to stay in. In her mind, the fires were still raging.

But for those of us who had seen the worst, there was a strange sense of calm. We didn’t want to leave our community and could think of nothing worse than staying somewhere else. We just wanted to be in our homes and our town where we belonged, spending Christmas with our families.

There were still sirens and fire engines tearing through Main Street every day but they didn’t engender fear, more a sense that we were being looked after. We were safe.

Family who arrived from Melbourne were shocked by what they saw. Trees were still burning and hanging over the roads and some stock was loose. Driving through Woodside and into Lobethal and seeing how close the fire had come to the centre of town, they couldn’t believe we had survived.

I went shopping at our local supermarket and so many of us were walking the aisles in a daze.

One lady said she couldn’t remember what she needed. I said neither could I, even though I had a list in front of me. We laughed.

All through the supermarket, people were sharing their stories. Such a sense of community.

Last report there were 82 houses lost and another just gone in Gumeracha. Hundreds of hectares of crops and land lost and countless numbers of cars and farm equipment gone.

Our daughter has asked several times if we will move back to the plains. Our answer is a definite “no”. Here, we can be seen. Here, we have community. We do not want to return to the anonymity of suburban life where we hardly spoke to our neighbours, or they to us.

This morning the air is full of the song of so many birds that have come in to town to find refuge in the trees. It’s a busy, happy sound. A sound of hope for the future. We’re blessed.

Christmas Day

All of the family arrived from different directions through fire-ravaged countryside.

We weren’t sure that the whole family would turn up on Christmas day. They were coming from interstate, Roxby Downs and the Adelaide plains so we were so happy they did.

It was a wonderful day filled with love and laughter, and happy children.

The sirens were still going and there were still fires burning – but not near us.

Traditionally, our house is covered in lights to support the Lobethal Lights events. We did wonder whether we should turn them off out of respect. The pageant had been cancelled and people were not coming up at night as they usually did, but we decided to keep them going for our grandchildren and the few people who may brave the drive. I don’t know why, but coloured lights bring so much joy to not only me but to so many people. We needed to share the joy.

A small family was standing outside our fence looking at the lights and inflatable Santa. I asked them if they would like their little boy to come in and have his photo taken. They said they would. He was maybe three-years-old and so excited. Our four-year-old granddaughter Mia very kindly offered to be in the photo with him. It was quite funny. They were pretty disappointed that the lights in Lobethal were mostly not on so this was at least a nice memory for them to have.

Daily

All throughout the hills, different parts of the bush are healing. The bright emerald green of new growth that clings to the trunks of trees is wonderful. A testament to how our country can heal.

I still haven’t seen the ponies that used to be in a paddock on the way to Cudlee Creek. I feel things will feel a little more normal if they return. I look each time as we head to Adelaide via that road. I really hope that when that area starts to heal and provide grazing land, they will be back.

3 weeks after the fire

It has amazed me how quickly the fencing is being replaced along the paddocks heading out to Woodside. Burnt stumps are now replaced with lovely fresh posts and wire stretching all the way to the Onkaparinga Valley Road.

The farmers have been watering the land and the feed is returning, so the cattle are back in their paddocks.

One of the dams has been enlarged to maybe three times its size, perhaps to ensure there is more water available should there be another fire.

I have watched the progress of the rebuilding of the dam. There is something that appeals to me about its smooth walls. It seems like one minute it looked like just a road. The next that road turned into a smooth, high slope which will contain a much larger amount of water. I look at it each time we come home, waiting for the other side to be completed.

I guess all these things give me confidence that life is moving on. I know there is a lot of healing to do for people though and that is going to take a long time.

4 weeks later

Sadly, the fire and the damage it has caused seem harder to accept.

I look up a driveway that was once lined with majestic trees and now all I see are blackened stumps of the trees that have had to be removed. I realised the two-storey house is gone and the gardens destroyed. 

Many of the houses on the outskirts of Lobethal were hidden by huge trees and shrubs and now as the dead trees are removed we can see that so many didn’t escape the fire.

The burnt houses are slowly subsiding into the ground. The metal roofs collapse a little more each day. One house that I thought was intact because the outside is still standing is in actual fact a shell. If you look through the front door you can see that the house is burnt out and empty. The people there had a strawberry farm and also a rustic pizza café. It’s all gone.

The man who owned property near the strawberry farm had created a bit of a tourist attraction with his quirky fitting of the backs of cars to his big shed – they looked like someone had driven straight into the wall. That shed and the house near it surrender a little more each day to the weight of the collapsing roof.

The paddocks are healing and what was a soft merging of colours is very quickly turning into green. The animals are grazing again. Then my eye catches a burnt-out tractor or a huge blackened stump of a tree and my breath catches in my throat.

One of my friends was quite distressed by the fact that the colours are merging. When I asked ‘but surely that is a good thing?’, she said, “No, it’s as though nothing has happened!” I think she’s upset because we don’t want people to think it’s all over and everything is fine. The new green covering the burnt out land is like a bandage covering a sore. The sore is still there, underneath.

On a more positive note, there a number of agencies working to help the Hills people.

In Lobethal at the Wool Shed, people can go and get some really good advice and practical help. Further up the road there is an unused shop full of goods for people who need them. We see army trucks and army personnel around the area who are also working with people to get their properties back into shape.

So while this has been a traumatic time for so many of us it has brought with it a stronger sense of community, caring and love. Healing is in progress and there is hope for the future. People in big and small ways are making a difference to those in need. There is a long way to go but the grit and determination of the hills people will not be beaten down. We will heal and move on.

What I want the decision makers to know

• Financial help is moving too slowly
• Too much red tape in accessing funds and paperwork is complicated and overwhelming for people who need to access it.
• People want to know where all the money is that has been raised through various groups and concerts etc.
• There needs to be a softer approach to helping people access support. Even though there is some good advice available, people have found it daunting to be pounced on by three people at once when going to the Woolshed for help only to find in many cases they may not meet the criteria.
• Most Australians will not seek help for their mental health until they break. There will be an ongoing need for counselling. Their needs may grow, rather than diminish. How is the government going to provide ongoing mental health support?

By Jody Drechsler
Lobethal Resident

Jody Drechsler is Information Coordinator at the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist, a mother of four and grandmother to 11. She and her husband Graeme have lived in Lobethal for eight years, following a “Hills change”. She loves the sense of community there and says “we’ve made more friends in the past eight years than we did in the last 20.”

Jody says she and Graeme will never move back to the plains: “This is our forever place.”

SAMHC Featured Bloggers

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“I don’t know how you do what you do.”

SAMHC Featured Blogger:
Mary Brooksbank

Chair, GriefLink Management Committee

During the past 20 years of my medical career, I was privileged to work as a palliative care specialist at a time when palliative care was just beginning to be seen as a special part of our health system.

It was a significant detour from my previous work as a surgeon, but proved to be an immensely rewarding one.

Colleagues were puzzled that someone could work in this field. “Isn’t it depressing?” or “I don’t know how you do what you do” were common comments. But in supporting someone through a terminal illness, helping them live as fully and comfortably as possible, I met so many amazing people – patients, families and the professional team I worked with. It was truly an enriching experience. And although when death came it was sad, and the grief of family and friends was profound, that’s not the same as “depressing”.

Among the things that did cause me great sadness, however, were stories patients told of friends, even family members, who broke off contact during their illness, crossing to the other side of the street to avoid having to speak to them. That people might be so fearful or not know what to say that they abandoned their old friend now they were ill seemed almost unbearable.

Since I retired and have been working with the GriefLink committee, I realise that this ‘avoidance’ can also apply after death for the person who has lost someone. They, too, may be shunned, particularly if the cause of the death of their loved one was something uncomfortable to talk about, such as suicide perhaps.

Of course, that doesn’t apply for everyone. There are many, many amazing people in our community doing wonderful work, often unrecognised, to help support people through unimaginable losses, such as the death of a child, a sudden accidental death, or death through suicide.

There are the family and friends who rally around with practical support, such as cooking, shopping, gardening etc and most importantly taking the time to listen to the person who is grieving when what they need most is to talk and feel heard.

Grief will touch almost all of us at some time in our lives. But because so many in our community are living longer lives, the death of someone we love may come as a shock, something we have never encountered before. And the grief that follows may be unfamiliar. And that’s where GriefLink can help.

The web site https://grieflink.org.au was set up 20 years ago to provide information about what grief can feel like, to offer pointers on coping with your loss https://grieflink.org.au/coping-with-grief, and to offer guidance to those around you as they support you in your grief https://grieflink.org.au/supporting-the-bereaved.

There is no one way and no set time for grief but most people, with the help of loving family and friends, can gradually rebuild their lives without the person who died. But if you are wondering whether other people are going through similar experiences, or if things aren’t going well, if you are alone, or if your grief is overwhelming, GriefLink offers links to support groups who may be able to help in your particular loss and provides links to emergency contacts and resources.

Grief can be difficult and complex and some people will need expert guidance and help to get their life back on track. But for most people, they will gradually find the resources to cope, within themselves and with the help of the people around them.

As a community, and as individuals, we all need to realise how powerful simple kindness can be – in our workplace, in the street, and with our families and friends.

Depending on the situation, a smile, using the R U O K approach, taking time to stop and listen to a story, offering a cup of tea perhaps, are important ways to ‘be there’ for someone, and show that a life of connection can go on.

It’s really not rocket science.

By Mary Brooksbank AM, MB BS, FRACS, FAChPM
Chair, GriefLink Management Committee
www.grieflink.org.au

Mary Brooksbank has worked in medicine for 40 years, including as a General Surgeon, specialising in burns surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and Birmingham Accident Hospital. Mary was also the Director of the Palliative Care Unit, Royal Adelaide Hospital, and Medical Director, Mary Potter Hospice, Calvary Hospital. She retired in 2009 but continues her role as the Chair, GriefLink Management Committee.

Mary is a mother of three, an historian, computer software engineer and a sociologist, who has lived in the UK, Canada, US and Sweden. She is a keen hiker particularly in Japan.

SAMHC Featured Bloggers

The SAMHC presents our series of guest featured bloggers who generously share their personal thoughts and experiences of mental health and wellbeing.

VIEW ALL SPECIAL GUEST BLOGS

The post Mary Brooksbank: “I don’t know how you do what you do.” appeared first on .