The ‘Men of Bourke’ Forum is here to stay

Participants in the Men of Bourke Forum last week l-r: Ben Orcher, Jamal Wright, Ali Bond, John Fetuani, Dr Quake (BACHS), John Bassett, Joey Williams, Gavin Gibs, Max Robinson, James Moore, Buddy Moore, Lukas Williams, Meli Nawaqavou, Timothy Katiba, Lauia Newman, Ivan Clarke, and Kwabena Ansah. Photo TWH

Last week, Bourke Aboriginal Corporation Health Services (BACHS) and other partners held a Men’s Forum with participants discussing trauma, discovering wellbeing tools, and building resilience.

A group of men from different walks of life participated in the Men of Bourke Forum, with the likes of Joe Williams, Ivan Clarke, and Lukas Williams as guest speakers.

The forum also had a youth forum component with Corey Anderson as guest speaker.

CEO of BACHS, John Fetuani, said the forum has been months in the making, and through a consultative committee of service partners, including CatholicCare, Aboriginal Legal Services, Community Corrections, Maranguka and REDI.E, we were able to collectively come together and produce a benchmark event for the men of Bourke.

“The topics we covered were hard-hitting but necessary; topics such as trauma and identifying how trauma impacts all men, especially Aboriginal men.

“Uncle Ivan Clarke’s keynote speech addressed the issue of Aboriginal men being stigmatised as bad men.

“However, he rephrased this to say that, in fact, Aboriginal men are traumatised men impacted by attitudinal and lifestyle choices.

As CEO of BACHS, Mr Fetuania said it was heartening to see participants open up about their trauma and discover wellbeing approaches like participating in a yoga session. […]

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