No matter what happens on Saturday, the referendum campaign is likely to continue taking a mental and emotional toll on First Nations peoples, an expert says.
Black Dog Institute First Nations strategy and partnerships director Clinton Schultz told Crikey the Voice to Parliament referendum has been distressing for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“As professionals in the field, what we’re witnessing anecdotally are reports of increased psychological distress from community members,” he said.
“People making contact with us are associating that with all the stresses of the referendum, the discourse and the constant discussion and focus. It’s been really overwhelming for a lot of people.”
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said the government received “feedback” that the referendum campaign was likely to create an increased need for mental health funding. In the May budget, $10.5 million was set aside for projects to boost mental health support for First Nations peoples.
Prior to that announcement, the Australian National University was awarded an $834,000 tender for monitoring the health needs of Indigenous peoples during the campaign.
National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing research professor Raymond Lovett said the aim of the project was to give the Health Department and mental health service provider agencies information so that they could “respond with timely provision of mental health supports”.
“As part of this research project, we conducted focus groups with 84 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across six locations in April this year,” Lovett, a Wongaibon man, told Crikey.
“We have also been analysing survey data to track levels of mental health and wellbeing during the referendum period. We have provided detailed reports of the findings of this work to the Department, along with briefings about the results to several Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organisations and relevant public service agencies to assist them to respond to community needs during this time.”
The project also developed fact sheets that have been made publicly available.
One of the sheets says the researchers were told Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were experiencing additional sources of stress related to the referendum, “adding to the load that mob are already carrying”.
“The proposed alteration to the constitution is about recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This means that conversations about the referendum are tied to identity and can have deep and ongoing impacts,” the fact sheet says.
It also says participants had experienced increased racism, including “unfair and harmful interactions in day-to-day life, overhearing racist comments, and negative messages in the media”.
Another source of stress was the pressure to “educate and inform non-Indigenous people about the referendum”.
“This can cause a heavy mental load. Repeatedly walking people through history can also be triggering or re-traumatising,” the fact sheet says.
Schultz, a Gamilaroi man and psychologist who was not involved with the ANU study, echoed that concern.
“It’s the cultural load that’s been put on First Nations people, we’ve been expected to be experts on everything to do with the referendum through the process,” he said.
“There’s been an unspoken expectation that we’d be forthcoming and that we’d educate the rest of Australia on that, but that’s not our role. The same information that’s available to us as First Nations peoples are also available to any other Australians.”
Schultz said he didn’t believe the problem would go away even if the Voice should get up.
“I don’t think it’s miraculously going to change on Saturday, no matter what the result is,” he said.
“There’s going to be ongoing discussion and focus on this either way. If it comes through as a Yes, that’s just the beginning. There’s so much more work that needs to be done to make it a positive initiative that can actually improve outcomes in social and emotional wellbeing.”
The Black Dog Institute, along with several other leading mental health groups, launched an initiative called the Respectful Referendum Pledge last month. According to NITV, the aim was to reduce the social and emotional harm to First Nations peoples associated with the referendum, including after the vote itself.
The ABC reported the group met with the government, crossbench and the Greens during a visit to Parliament House last month, but the Coalition reportedly did not agree to attend a meeting.
For anyone seeking help, Lifeline is on 13 11 14 and Beyond Blue is on 1300 22 4636. In an emergency, call 000.
So the government knew that the Referendum would cause mental health problems in aboriginal groups – so pre-emptively there was a budget increase of 10.5 million for mental health – isn’t that an admission of further ruination of the aboriginal community?
I’m sorry we need to be really careful about promoting the idea losing a vote (or a game) is somehow bad for your mental health.
Sure as a huge Europhile and someone who had lived in the UK and had friends there, I suffered a huge existential crisis after the vote. Brexit was a rejection of everything I believed in. For me the EU genuinely represents one of humanity’s greatest achievements in bringing together a continent that had been divided and at war for centuries. My own country had been torn apart by sectarianism and terrorism, and the EU had played a central role in bringing about peace – of ending decades of violence and deaths. That was all threatened because of Brexit and the lies.
By the time Trump happened I was already disillusioned but not surprised. I saw the same tactics on display and Clinton falling for the same traps in large part caused by her own hubris.
As mainstream parties across Europe and the world began to fight back it was a relief to see that they’d figured out a way to counter the populist sentiment. Biden handled his election campaign with the perfect balance of modesty and focus. Albanese Labor did the same against Morrison’ Coalition.
And then with the voice we were back to Clinton and the “deplorables” and Shorten and the “knuckle draggers”. The auld convince- a-person-of-your-point-of-view-by-insulting-them-technique. The Yes have repeated every mistake of the Remain and Leave side combined.
The biggest lie of Brexit was that the leave side had a plan if they won. The issue with the Brexit vote was that the side pushing for the change didn’t ever explain what that change meant and instead all the focus was on the status quo and why it was terrible. The status quo is usually far from perfect but the question is how is the alternative better?
The Yes simply haven’t been focusing enough of why their alternative is better. Albanese carried his “small target” approach from the election into the referendum but it was a completely different dynamic. The election was about Morrison removing the last items of his emperor’s clothing. The referendum is about making a positive case for a change.
And it simply can’t be the case now that having done such a poor job campaigning we’re going to build a narrative that a No vote is the end of the world or a celebration of racism.
For all my fears Brexit did not turn out as badly as I thought it would – my worst fears were not realised. We have not seen a return to violence in the north. They’ve fudged many of the hairier issues. Brexit has dampened the calls for other countries to leave the EU.
I hope one day the UK will rejoin but you win some/you lose some. And yes whilst my day to day experience – especially being here – is different. I have not suffered any personal consequences – neither will indigenous people if the voice is rejected. They will wake up tomorrow in the exact same world as they did today because the status quo will have prevailed. There’s no great step backwards. Just figuring out a different path forwards.
But that can’t happen if the media having built so much drama around it, then promote the idea of despair and division.
“$834,000 for monitoring the mental health of Indigenous people during the Referendum” – seriously ? I thought this was a joke when I read it.
Maybe PWC should have been given the contract.
On Insiders this Sunday ‘mourning after the night before’ the Inciters discussed the burden of “…the pressure to “educate and inform non-Indigenous people about the referendum”.
I had not realised that actual money had been spent on such horrendous iniquity.