Supporting Partners:
.png)
16-18 September 2025 | Melbourne/ Naarm
The 2025 Indigenous Youth Mental Health & Wellbeing Forum is now CPD Accredited. Attendees will receive 7 points per day, with a certificate immediately following the event.
.png)
Grounded in Culture, Guided by Mob:
Shaping the Future of Indigenous Youth Mental Health
We are proud to welcome you to the Inaugural Indigenous Youth Mental Health & Wellbeing Forum, hosted in partnership with First Nations Wellbeing and Engagement Division Headspace National, VACCHO and The Balit Durn Durn Centre of Excellence. This gathering comes in the wake of a government commitment to increase accessibility to youth mental health services, whilst culturally safe services for Indigenous young people remain sorely under resourced and largely absent from the political conversation.
Join us in centring grassroots innovation, cultural strength, and First Nations governance in both community led and mainstream mental health services. Together, we honour the vital role of culture in healing and social and emotional wellbeing; while spotlighting pioneering, community-led research that is reshaping how clinicians and early intervention services support our young people.
This forum is a platform for knowledge exchange, led by mob, grounded in culture, and guided by a shared commitment to build a future where all our young people can thrive.
.png)
Cultural Safety
A healing team made up of Indigenous counsellors and psychologists will be on site to provide support throughout the forum. You will always be able to access a healing team member in one of the venue’s counselling rooms, where you can have a confidential chat, get some peace and quiet, or simply rest on a comfy lounge.
On Site Cultural Activities
We understand that discussions around mental health can take an emotional toll, which is why we have set up several on-site cultural activities to allow you to re-centre and recalibrate, engage with some deadly Indigenous cultural practitioners, and connect with your peers from across Australia.
Forum Dinner
In the evening of Day One, we welcome you to kick off your work shoes and relax as we host a community social gathering.
Key Speakers
Daniel Knapp
Executive director of First Nations Wellbeing and Engagement
Headspace
Jason May
Founder and Chief Executive Officer
Bawamarra Cultural Services
Joshua Brown
Headspace Alice Springs Community Engagement Lead
Central Australian Aboriginal Congress
Luke Allbon
Youth Frontiers Program Team Leader
Bungree Aboriginal Association
Interactive Cultural Workshop Day, 18 September
Join us on day three in a more relaxed setting to further explore the self-determined solutions to accessibility of culturally grounded Youth Mental Health and SEWB services. Here you will connect with your peers in the sector to reflect and consolidate your learnings from the previous two days whilst being immersed in the local culture.
More details coming soon!
Who Should Attend:
Those working to enhance accessibility to social and emotional wellbeing and culturally safe mental health services for young people in Indigenous communities, including:
-
Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations
-
Community Members
-
Indigenous Youth Leaders
-
NFPs
-
PHNs
-
Government Health Departments
-
Emergency and Correctional Services
-
Local Councils
-
Universities
Reasons to attend:
-
Learn what the future generation of leaders identify as critical to their social and emotional wellbeing
-
Take inspiration from numerous case studies of culturally affirming programs happening in communities across Australia
-
Increase your capacity to work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people to heal and build resilience
-
Bridge the gaps between research and practice, and between policy and grassroots action
-
Understand the critical intersection of justice and youth mental health
-
Engage in conversations and solutions to build the capacity and reach of early intervention and prevention methods
The Forum will take place in a premium venue in Melbourne/ Naarm.
Delegates will be notified closer to the Event.